Ovarian cysts and me

Considering all of the lady problems that my nan and mum had it was surprising that it was only when I was about 15 years old when I rushed into a&e with a large ovarian cyst that had ruptured. Now cysts are really common which I had to keep reminding myself. Unfortunately that wasn't the last of the cysts and sometimes they came in twos and would cause sharp pains from my side all the way down my leg.

Thankfully the cysts would often resolve themselves so when offered an operation I would refuse. The scar tissue from an operation, in my opinion, would have been worse than the damage caused by the cysts and the cysts always came back so I didn't see the point. Ultimately the cysts meant I missed about two years of P.E. at secondary school. Now the first couple of years of school I loathed doing anything athletic but having finally found the sport for me- hockey, I really felt left out. Being a teenager that was the main thing on my mind.

Going from doctor to doctor I was put on the mini-pill to try and control bleeding and prevent the cysts. Unfortunately due to migraines you can't go on the combined pill. Also it turns out it's not normal to change your sanitary towel every 20/30mins for 9 days straight! Due to the sheer volume of blood trying to get out through that tiny little cervix, not all of it can so some of the blood can leave through the only other exit- the fallopian tubes. One doctor described it in a really interesting way... imagine the uterus as a sink and the drain a cervix, if the water comes out too fast it's going to overflow. This happening repeatedly leaves you with endometriosis. Unfortunately my mum has this and it is really a nasty disorder. When I was discharged from the gynae/endometriosis clinic the last thing they said did stick with me- 'come back when you're trying for a baby then we can discuss it'. I hadn't considered it but all of that damage would have built up.

Now not all mini-pills are the same, I had serious issues with micronor and feanolla, the only mini-pill that hasn't caused the cysts to return, even heavier bleeding or extreme mood swings was cerazette. Which the doctors continuously tried to change due to the fact it costs a lot more in terms of production. I used to go to the family planning clinic to get the mini-pill as it meant it was free and a lot faster to get. Saying that I did feel a lot of judgement going to the clinic by the receptionists. Thats not saying all but considering they are a family planning clinic if a young girl goes in there for whatever reason she should be made to feel as comfortable as possible. This was over 10 years ago and it has still stuck with me. Things have improved but now you need a prescription to get cerazette because they no longer give it out in the clinics!

Thanks to cerazette I had been cyst free for over 10 years, with the odd check up scan it seemed my left tube was twisted (a sign of endometriosis). They couldn't really check anything else without an investigative procedure. So I had 10 years of the possibility of not having children in the back of my mind. I am always quite open about my medical issues and I've had ex-boyfriends ask how I could do that to him because they wanted kids. Charming right? I did consider whether to bother with relationships. It was a huge surprise when I decided to go on a break from cerazette (10 years on a mini-pill is a long time), that after 6 months I then saw a positive pregnancy test. The love of my life knew there was a chance we wouldn't have our own family as long as we had each other it was okay. So his face lit up when I told him that he was going to be a daddy.