The Tennis Ball: An Update

The post title is a little misleading because it's not as though the Tennis Ball is up to anything. It's not even up to, you know, existing. But I finally had my follow up appointment with Dr. D. last week and thought the news was worth recording. So here is the final chapter in the Tennis Ball Saga. I like to call it The Tennis Ball Saga: Full Color.

The most exciting part of the appointment was that I finally got to see the photos Drew saw a month ago. It's a strange thing to see the actual insides of your own body. It looks so straightforward in a medical diagram but really it's just a bunch of squishy things squished next to other squishy things.

But what you're all REALLY wondering is what the heck did this Tennis Ball look like? Right? Well. I'm sorry to say I don't have copies of the photos. But here's a little recreation I whipped up in Photoshop:
You knew that was coming! Here's the real deal:Pink, shiny, veiny. It reminded me very much of a slightly deflated balloon, and Dr. D. said it almost as large as the actual uterus. But it's no more and apparently the removal was very straightforward and simple. Even though I never felt it I have since realized it would sometimes be squashing my bladder. Yep. Unsquashed Bladder: the unexpected side effect of being Tennis Ball-free. And hopefully this is the last time my bladder comes up in a public venue.

AHEM.

Another photo I saw was of the endometriosis creeping all over an ovary. It looked like chocolate sauce, to be honest, but you'll just have to imagine that one--I draw the line on medical illustrations at fibroids. So, they removed all that, but he suspects there's more elsewhere in the region, and that it is most likely the real culprit in preventing offspring thus far. Just as a brief explanation of endometriosis is, it's when cells from the uterine lining (the endometrium) grow outside the uterus, which leads to various problems. The cause is unknown so there's no real cure either, and it's more about management. I can't say the news was a terrible surprise, and it won't be to anyone else who has known me through my younger years. Dr. D. thinks either my symptoms haven't been too bad or I just have a high pain tolerance. I'm not really sure either, not having been in anyone else's body for comparison, but I would say I have an Advil-assisted pain tolerance. Oh, Advil, how I love you and your sweet, sweet medicine.

Did I mention they found some cysts too? Of course! Those are gone now too.

So, that's just kind of what's going on now. No more tennis ball. Also no more surgical glue (hurray!). Just me and the endo. And Drewbles. Two out of three isn't too bad, eh?