Why I had to visit my doctor

You're all probably wondering why I had several trips to the doctor last month.

Five months ago I found out that I had a polyp in my endometrium.  

My doctor said that she had to do a D&C under hysteroscopy.  That means she's going to insert a hysteroscope which is a thin tube with a camera to see where the polyp is then do a d&c.  

At first, my problem was the cost of the procedure.  She said it would cost around 80k. Since I didn't have

a health card, that was something that Ruel and I had to worry about.  We had just spent a lot on our wedding and we were not yet ready for another big expense.

I decided to seek for a second opinion.  A relative of my mom who is a surgeon at the Chinese General Hospital referred me to Dr. Patricia Tan who recommended the same thing that my first doctor did.

I finally resigned to the idea that I had to undergo the procedure.  The D&C under hysteroscopy package at the Chinese General Hospital costs only around 55k.  That's inclusive of the procedure cost, private room, and professional fees of the doctor and anesthesiologist. 

The problem was I couldn't have the procedure anytime.  I had to wait for my period and then have the procedure scheduled after the heavy flow.  The even bigger problem was that I had an irregular period. I don't really know when the next one would be and every time it came, the doctor was always not available to do the procedure because of a seminar or an out-of-town engagement.

When things like this happen to me, it's like everything comes to a halt.  I can't move on until it's over. The worst thing was, even our "operation get pregnant" was put on hold.

My last period was supposed to start on the 9th of August so when it didn't start on that day, I got all stressed out about it. I was so desperate to have my period and get everything over with that I started drinking a lot of Coke.  I was told it could trigger menstruation....and when my period still did not start, 

I resorted to drinking beer.  My friends told me beer could do it.  I drank beer twice and then finally, it came.  I don't know if it was just a coincidence or if it was really the beer's work but I didn't care. All I cared about was the fact that I could finally have the procedure.

I was happy.

I decided to go back to my first doctor in Medical City, looking forward to moving on with my life with nothing to think about but regular family life with Toots and Ruel and getting pregnant.  

I was told to take some antibiotics to prepare my body and primrose oil to soften the cervix. I was also given  an informed consent form which I had to sign. 

All the risks and complications associated with hysteroscopy were there.    The rare and very rare complications were so scary that I couldn't even bring myself to talk about them with other people aside from those I was really very close to  or to write about them here.

Scared as I was, I was determined to have the procedure.  I had to undergo several tests which included ecg, x-ray, urinalysis, complete blood count, etc.  I also had to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound which did not allow my doctor to see the polyp clearly.  She recommended saline transfusion sonography which I underwent an hour later.  This was more complicated and more painful than the trans v because this procedure entailed the doctor to transfuse saline water into my uterus. I felt cramps in my uterus just like the cramps pregnant women feel when they are about to give birth.

I got the test results the next day and I was sent to another doctor  to get my clearance for the procedure. All he had to do was ask me about my test results.  Afterwhich he printed something which said that it was okay for me to have the procedure.  Imagine my surprise when I was asked to pay Ps. 2,000.00 just for that!

On the day of my admission at the hospital, my mom called me on the phone very early in the morning telling me to think twice about having the procedure. She said that I had to make sure I needed it, that I just might subject myself to an unnecessary risk, etc. etc.

So, instead of going to the hospital at 5pm for my admission, I went to my doctor's clinic early to ask her some more questions about the procedure.  My mom's advice plus the doctor's answers to my questions confused me and made me doubt my earlier decision to have the hysteroscopy.

To make the long story short, I ended up calling the doctor on the day of my admission and cancelling the scheduled procedure.

I regretted my decision the minute I placed the receiver back to its cradle and found myself going to another doctor three days after.

The new doctor was a lot older than my previous doctor but he's the head of the OB Gyne in Medical City.  There's also a calming quality about him unlike the previous doctor who just ended up scaring me.

So, this new doctor will be the one to remove the polyp on Tuesday morning. The polyp has to be biopsied afterwards. I hope they won't find anything wrong.

Please whisper a short prayer for me.  I'm still a little nervous.