A little over a year ago, Namine had surgery to address abdominal pain on their right side. That resulted in the right side of their uterus, along with the ovary and fallopian tube, being removed. There was still the concern that the same thing might happen on the other side, so they told Namine to let them know if that was the case.
It was only a few months before Namine started to experience identical pain, this time on the left side of their abdomen. Since then, they’ve been dealing with the pain, but it hadn’t gotten so bad that they felt like they needed to go to the hospital — until now.
With the severity of Namine’s pain, there were already known possible concerns. They still have unresolved hernias — one on each side — and it was possible that organs might have gotten caught and twisted (the word used was “torsion”) in or around them. They already knew that their remaining ovary has a cyst, and it could be enlarged and causing increasing pain.
The ER doctor suggested doing an ultrasound. It wouldn’t provide as clear an image as would a CT scan, but there were a couple advantages, not the least of which would be that it doesn’t involve radiation. An ultrasound would show blood flow, which would indicate whether or not there was restricted circulation. A CT would provide a clearer image, but would not show blood flow.
When the ultrasound was complete and its results analyzed, the doctors informed us that it did not reveal anything concerning or that we did not already know. The cyst on Namine’s left ovary, which we already knew about, had not changed much in size. (It was a little larger, but not alarmingly so.) There were no disruptions to blood flow, which meant no obstructions or torsion. Since there was no reason to rush Namine off to surgery, they sent us home — unfortunately, on nothing stronger for their pain than Advil and Tylenol. They’re still scheduled for surgery at the end of April.
For a little levity, this is the only kind of pain we want.
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