Finally, a Diagnosis!

So, after a frustrating process of trying to figure out what in tarnation was wrong with me, the docs decided the trouble was most likely being caused by fibroids (I also found out during the process that I have a kidney stone which was confusing the issue). Here's how it went down...

On Christmas day 2008 I had a "sick episode," after which I noticed something in my urine that looked like a lot of black pepper. I quickly went from eating a nice dinner spread to throwing up and had a raging fever. My first thought was that it was food poisoning. Aside from the "black pepper" in my urine I also noted something larger which I kept to show my general practitioner the next week. She thought it was likely a kidney stone. In addition to lower back pain I began to have the morning after being sick (I was only sick about 12 hrs) I was also slightly sore in my abdomen which alarmed her. She did not want to risk me having ruptured my spleen so she immediately ordered a CT scan that was performed that day (see image below).

I will mention here that I received not one but two follow-up phonecalls from my general practitioner's office saying that 1) I have a kidney stone in my right kidney and 2) *everything else looked okay*. They then referred me to a urologist. This visit was fairly useless (I had 2 x-rays but they did not show anything because the contrast I had drunk for the CT scan was still in my system from the day before) except as I was leaving the urologist said to me: "One thing that was noted by the radiologist regarding your CT scan is that you have "multiple, large fibroids and you should probably get that checked out." She went on to explain what they were and that they were very common and most likely benign. So, what did I do with this information? I tucked it away because I knew I had to deal with the issue at hand first, which I thought was the kidney stone problem.

I left that urologist with her giving me a prescription for a narcotic and telling me "good luck" passing it. She said that given its size (3mm) it had a 70% likelihood of passing. Off I went, but for the next few weeks I felt drained of energy. I'm usually an active person but I just didn't feel like doing much. I've been a runner for the past decade or so and did not feel like pounding the pavement at all. My back problems also began to escalate.

I made an appointment to see a different urologist. I underwent an ultrasound this time. The kidney stone was still there in my right kidney. Because the technician had heard that I was having pain he thought I may have recently passed another kidney stone. He wanted to take a look at my bladder to see if this was the case (and thank goodness he did!). When he looked in my pelvic cavity he was alarmed at what he thought was the size of my uterus (in retrospect it would have had to have been the largest of my fibroids). He said "your uterus is double the size it should be." I told him I had recently found out that I had fibroids and that was that. The urologist was only concerned about the kidney stone (he was not present during ultrasound) and said the symptoms I was having should not be caused by such a small stone. He basically told me to come back and see him in 6 months if I had not passed it.

At this point I was finally convinced that my symptoms may be due to fibroids and began researching symptoms online. I'm so thankful I did! I made an appointment with a gynecologist who was able to see me the next week. She only needed to look at me for a moment before she declared that my abdomen was that of a woman who is 3 months pregnant due to fibroids. She asked me if I was interested in retaining my fertility at which I answered yes. She promptly referred me to a doctor who specializes in endorcinology and fertility.

I went to see him and he did another ultrasound and ordered an MRI. I felt immediately comfortable with him and I finally felt like I was making significant progress in determining what was wrong with me. He was a good listener and I could tell he was very conscientious and wanted to have all the information he could before either recommending or carrying out surgery.

By the way, I totally recommend getting your hands on any images available from the various tests you may undergo. In my case, I had ultrasounds, a CT scan and an MRI, the last two of which have images that can be burned onto a CD or DVD (hey, we're paying for all this so why not see some products, right?). It may take a while to get accustomed to what you're seeing in the various images but it's downright informative and pretty cool if you ask me!

The 'broid Stats

Okay, I'm definitely no doctor (so pardon my lingo) but I've added this little CT scan eye candy image to illustrate the point that the fibroid was being a problematic little parasite. I actually had four fibroids (three of which were completely outside my uterus) and the largest is pictured here in plan view. My spine and pelvis are the bright features in the scan. The area between the white blobs in the center is my pelvic cavity. The fibroid appears as a grey blob in the upper center. It measures approximately 11 cm (left-right) by 7 cm (up-down). It's been problematic because at times it has pushed directly against my spine and has also squashed my bladder. All of you women out there with these symptoms know what I'm talkin' about! I do consider myself lucky for not experiencing the heavy bleeding that often occurs with these little monsters.