It's a Tumor Baby!

The gastro dr sent me for a CT scan which showed a mass in my abdomen. It's 20 cm or 10 inches (about the size of a 5-month old fetus) so it will need to be taken out. The pain and discomfort is caused because the mass is displacing my intestines and other organs. And I thought I was just gaining sympathy weight for SJ, SM and M! DH thought it was too much chocolate pie! After he found out, he says I can have as much pie as I want- score!

I had an ultrasound yesterday which showed that it is mostly fluid. The mass obscured the dr's view of my girly organs so they can't see if it's attached to anything, but they think it's most likely attached to my ovary, as that is the most common thing.

Overall it's good news, ovarian cancer is very rare to begin with, especially in someone at my age and even more rare in someone who hasn't had any children. Plus, since it is mostly fluid, that is also a good sign of it being benign.

The bad news is that I have to have full surgery to remove it, as it is so large and I have a lot of scar tissue from surgery as an infant so laparoscopic surgery is not an option. We haven't had our pre-surgical conference yet so we don't know much more at this point. However, my internet research (which may or may not be accurate) indicates that I'll probably be in the hospital for about 4 days and out of work for about 4 weeks. When DH had his stomach surgery, he was back at work in about 3 weeks.

Anyway, we'll keep you posted via email. Any questions, just ask. I don't have many answers yet (including when the surgery will be), but I can ask the dr when I next see her. Please don't worry as this really all seems to be quite common and easily taken care of with the surgery. The bothersome part is just how much work I'll be missing, but even that is not a big deal as I have been saving up all of my vacation time and sick time and working extra hours so I have about 5 weeks available. It's true what they say, everything does work out for a reason. I just didn't know that the reason was an all-expenses paid, all-inclusive trip to Bellevue, WA :^) A very cheap vacation destination!