Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride

This past week has been challenging, health-wise. Again I must issue a disclaimer - female issue ahead!! Just sayin'.

I mentioned my surgery on Sept. 9 for the removal of a uterine cyst and insertion of an IUD, which was supposed to help my psycho-cycle. It's normal to have some breakthrough bleeding/spotting for the first few months after IUD insertion and I have definitely been experiencing that. However, a somewhat disturbing pattern is emerging.

When I exert myself physically, i.e., exercise, the bleeding is heavier. After the 5K last Sunday, the floodgates opened to the point where I ended up in the ER on Tuesday, wondering if there had been a perforation or the device had shifted or WTF was wrong with me.

I called the doc who inserted the IUD on Monday and was given an appointment for the 12th. Now listen to this: I asked his receptionist - who had previously advised me that if I had any questions to call the office - if it was normal to experience heavier bleeding after exercise like this. She said "Well, if you're seeing a pattern of bleeding after exercise then I would say that's normal."

WHAT? No...what? What the hell kind of answer is that? Ridiculous.

At the time, the bleeding was heavy but not too horrible, so I figured I'd give it a day and if it hadn't got better by Tuesday, I would call back and demand to either speak to the doctor or get an appointment that day. Lo and behold, it got worse. Much worse. So I called back on Tuesday and was told the doctor wasn't in and if the bleeding was that bad, I should go to the emergency room. Great.

The situation was such that I couldn't hide it from my co-workers or bosses. I mean, I was in the bathroom most of the day. So late afternoon, I called Erich to tell him what I was doing - I didn't see any point in him taking off work to go with me - and headed to the hospital.

I had visions of being there till the middle of the night, but I guess when I told the ER staff how much blood I was losing, they decided to get me in quickly. So in total I was only there a few hours. Nothing really happened, though. I was examined by a doctor who told me the IUD seemed to be in place. An ultrasound was ordered and I had it, but when I called my doctor - the guy who inserted it, not the ER doctor - for the results, I was told they wouldn't have them till Tuesday.

So the moral of the story is: Suck it up and get over it. I guess. Jesus.

I have an appointment Wednesday morning anyway, so whatever. At this point the bleeding has completely stopped. I have no idea what the hell happened. Several people asked me if it was my period. If it was, it was 10 days early and the heaviest, weirdest (I'll spare you the details) period I've ever had in my life. It scared the crap out of me in part because of how sudden it started, coincidentally right after the 5K and how heavy/weird it was.

I'm now in a situation where I'm a bit hesitant to exercise. If I go to the gym and push myself, will that start up another geyser of the damned? Here's the one thing I know for sure: I must exercise to maintain my weight loss and I won't allow anything to get in the way of that. Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride. So...depending on what the doctor has to say on Wednesday, I may have this thing taken out immediately.

A couple months ago, I wrote a letter to the editor of "O Magazine" and found out today they published it. A friend told me about it on Facebook. I subscribe to the magazine but haven't even had a chance to take it out of the wrapper. I ripped it open right away (LOL) and there I was! Pretty cool. The letter I wrote was in response to an article they did about makeovers for women who had lost 100 pounds or more. Two women who had weight loss surgery were featured. I was moved to express my appreciation for this as it's a rarity to see a WLS patient's success validated in the same way as a non-WLS patient. So go Oprah for that! My letter appears in the current issue (November), if you're interested in reading it.