Yeowch.

Hello, O The Internet! It's time for another one of Platypus's Intermittent Blog Posts. I've been doing insane amounts of knitting lately, which is part of the reason I have completely neglected to update the blog. Also, not much of interest had been happening.

Things got very interesting on Monday morning, however. I woke up with absolutely excruciating abdominal pain, so Mr. Platypus and I trundled off to the emergency room. The docs poked and prodded and did an ultrasound, and then informed me that the ultrasound images looked rather...not good. My peritoneal cavity was filled with fluid, and there appeared to be a fairly large mass on each ovary. The "cancer" word was tossed about as a possible diagnosis. As I'm sure you can imagine, I just about shat bricks at the thought of having ovarian cancer. SCARY STUFF.

Anyway, the good doctors did a CT scan of my abdomen and discovered that no, I did not actually have a mass on each ovary and that the fluid in my peritoneal cavity was blood. (Apparently, in situations like this, seeing blood in the peritoneal cavity is an indication of fixable things rather than being an indication of cancer.) Turns out that I'd had a hemorrhagic cyst on my left ovary that went "pop" just like a giant zit of painful doom. At that point, they booked me for an emergency laparoscopic surgery to cauterize it and clear the blood out of my abdomen. Everything went well during surgery, and I am healing up nicely.

It was a frightening experience, though. I'd never had surgery before, and I felt a little bit spooked when the anesthesiologist came by to give me the speech about the risks of anesthesia and surgery in general. I think I was still reeling from the hour or so I'd spent telling myself "you don't have cancer, but if you do, here's what we're gonna do about it". The doctors and nurses were all absolutely wonderful about explaining everything to me, answering my questions, and holding both mine and Mr. Platypus's hands when we needed it. I had to laugh when the doctor heading up my case came by my hospital room day before yesterday to confirm that all my labs were normal and that I appeared to be doing really well...she did a little happy dance and everything. (She is seriously made of Teh Awesome.) They sent me home Tuesday afternoon, and I have since been alternating rest with carefully planned bouts of walking about to encourage my body to go back to its normal routines.

Plus, I have TEH GOOD DRUGS. Yaaay! The nurses told me that I should take one of the Percocet at the first sign of pain, since people heal more slowly if they're hurting than they do when they feel good. I've been saving those for when I really really hurt, though...if good ol' Naproxen will do the trick, that's what I'll take.

In other news, I picked up a copy of Morgan Llewellyn's book Red Branch at our local library yesterday...Red Branch had been one of my absolute favorite books when I lent my copy to a then-boyfriend years ago. (The lousy bastard absconded with my book. I KEEL HEEM!) It was wonderful to stumble across an old friend on the shelves, especially right now when I'm still feeling a bit of a need to stay well within my comfort zone. If you're into Irish mythology or sword-and-sorcery-type tales, go buy this book. It's a wonderful re-imagining of the Cuchulainn myths, and I'm absolutely positive you'll love it.

Today's planned adventures include a visit to the optometrist so's I can get new
eyeballs glasses and picking a headshrinker from the list of psychiatrists in my health insurance coverage plan book. Having health insurance again after so long without it is really weird! It's a relief, though...I shudder to think of how far my little ovarian escapade on Monday would have put us into the financial hole (that we're already in) without the insurance. Anyway, I will also probably finish the first sock in the pair of socks I'm knitting for myself, and then I will bake a layer cake (vanilla cake with strawberry preserves spread between the layers, then iced in chocolate) to take to my knitting group meeting tonight. I also plan to spend a good portion of my day giving affection and cuddlin's to Mr. Platypus.

So, Internet O My Internet, what mischief are you up to today?