Fibroids & how life is unpredictable

 I am 3 weeks post open myomectomy surgery and almost a month since I was admitted for acute anemia. March has been a bittersweet month for me.

I got hospitalised/admitted for the first time in my life and had a major surgery which is crazy. Life has taught me that things could change any minute and death is not as far as we think. Life can literally end at any minute.

March has been bitter because I've had to endure peak pain and discomfort from my struggle with heavy and painful menses, to the many injections and blood transfusion in the hospital to the quiet and cold room moments before theatre, the epidural injection and the anaesthetist that i hated so much, the discomfort during surgery, another cold waiting room moment after theatre, the journey back to the ward after surgery, the pain minutes before every next dose of pain killers, the first night after surgery, the removal of the catheter, the first trip to the toilet, first pee, first long call, the pain of sleeping on one position the whole night, the trip from the hospital back home after discharge, the transition from a comfy and flexible hospital bed to a just comfortable bed at home and the pain every single night three weks post surgery.

But March was also sweet because the fibroid that almost killed me was taken out on the 9th of March. I had plans to do the surgery this year but God knew I needed to be pushed. I am finally free from it even though there are chances of them growing back. This month i received so much love from my parents, siblings, my lovely partner, friends, work mates, church and even kind strangers. I made friends in the female ward, had craziest encounters like seeing a family come for loved one who passed on at night in the ward and the realisation that life is short. I've had a lot of time to rest and reflect and to just live life without thinking about the past or the future even though I've had to think a lot about my next trips to the toilet.

Life has been hard, but I'm grateful to God because everything went well and everything is okay now. I am recovering well even though i have to endure a lot of pain every night. 

March turned out different, unplanned and so random, but it turned out successful and I am alive. The story would have been different, but God has been faithful.

I had one fibroid 7cm the size of an orange. The symptoms that i had were heavy and prolonged bleeding, painful  cramps, and  blood with big clots.  

You'd be surprised about how many people around you have fibroids or have done the fibroid removal surgery.

Which makes me want to share my story more because the reason why i did not go for surgery immediately after diagnosis is the discouragement that you are given by some random people, the fear of surgery and them growing back and not having anyone who has gone through this journey to advise us well. 

Surgery might not always be the option, but most times it is a good option to improve the quality of life. Living with fibroids and any other reproductive health challenge is hard.

I saw someone talk about the endometriosis tax and come to think of it the fibroids tax is the same. With fibroids(atleast for me) i had to choose clothes to wear on my periods, my movements were limited, i had to always stay close to the washroom, always carry extra clothes, always carry a whole pack of sanitary towels, had to worry about always soiling my clothes, endure close or more than 10days of menses, always live on pain meds, always have extra money for bolt incase I over bleed and the emotional burden that comes with all these. I've had days that I had heavy bleeding like that of a women miscarrying a two month pregnancy.

This is just fibroids, there are others like endometriosis, cysts... etc

Women go through a lot and I have had my fair share. I have been a fighter, been strong and resilient... I might not be sure about how this fight will end but I am sure I'm alwsys going to win at the end.

To any woman struggling, you are not alone. Follow up with your gynaecologist to see what's best for you. Do whatever you have to do to be better, the pain and discomfort is not worth it...

To all women; You all are super women, you are stong and i love that about being a woman.