Hey guys,
I have a big lump inside my vagina, I'm having a lot of back and womb pain. My left leg is also swollen. The lump itself is rock hard at the bottom and covered by what feels like a water balloon. I've had a Bartolin's cyst before but this feels nothing like it! I've just gone through the menopause and I haven't had any bleeding, just awful bloating, running to the loo and th awful pain! I've realised I've had this lump for years, I never paid it much notice as I thought it was part off my anatomy it was so hard! I had been having pain after sex and feeling sick but I ve so many other ailments it didn't register (I had a 3cm benign lump removed from my thyroid in Nov). I've booked with my gp for next week but I'm really worried...hoping it will be a cyst or maybe prolapse. Apologies for asking but what did everyone's lump feel like? This feels weird, there's at least 2cm thickness of rock hardness running the whole length of my vaginal wall, then the whole thing is enclosed in a massive watery balloon.
Morning Jayda
Yes, I’m hoping that tomorrow will be the last for a while at least. It’s just exhausting, but my experience showed me you have to keep pushing and pushing or nothing happens. My fil was diagnosed with 2 separate primary cancers in February and finally got surgery this month. He is of the generation that doesn’t question anything and won’t push for things to happen, and in those 6-7 months he got no treatment at all. We have to hope that the surgery did remove everything, so just waiting to hear the pathology results.
I do understand not having the energy to fight for things when you’re already in pain, but what’s the alternative when no-one is listening? Could your wife not advocate on your behalf and call? That’s what ended up happening with me-and going to the gp surgery as soon as it opened to speak to someone in person on my behalf.
I just couldn’t have someone staying in my house I didn’t know- I’d be way out of my comfort zone with that. So I think you’re very brave if you go ahead with your plans. But I’m sure you’d have lots of stories to tell!
Sarah xx
Oh my…I definitely could not have strangers in my home!
Well, a phone call is better than nothing and I hope it will lead to a proper examination for you. I’m not a fan of dr Google myself as it would be so easy to go down lots of rabbit holes, and I can’t begin to tell you how many people I have read about in various forums self diagnosing themselves with advanced cancer on the basis of what they’ve seen and read there-they cause themselves so much unnecessary anxiety and it’s not something I ever did. It gives worst case scenarios for everything and cannot diagnose an individual. I’m not sure how it would be helpful when what you need is a real live professional having a good look!
Let’s hope your phone call makes some progress for you and you get to the bottom of what’s wrong. My poor fil has basically had no help at all since his surgery, no follow up, no visits from a stoma nurse(part of his surgery was bladder removal) and he is really struggling. But he doesn’t really advocate for himself either and so just gets left.
I had a good appointment luckily this week, so I am hoping that a final appointment next week will see me discharged from the breast clinic. The doctor there thinks this should be the case after next week’s visit and I need a break from medical stuff! 6 appointments in 2 weeks at 3 different hospitals, in 3 different counties and a gp visit has been quite enough, thank you!
Let me know how you get on after your phone call and good luck!
Sarah xx
Jayda make sure you report your spreading pain in your phone call and please push to be seen. You need to report new symptoms-first rule of thumb for all of us. There is clearly something which isn’t right, and I’m not sure how a phone call can resolve this. You are absolutely not panicking about nothing, and the sooner you are seen, the sooner this can be sorted out.
I know how much constant pain can wear you down-I had it long enough, but had a responsive consultant who was happy to prescribe better pain relief while I waited for surgery as she could see how much it was affecting me-but of course my meetings with her were always face to face and not on the phone at that time.
I’m sorry you feel you can’t talk to your wife about it, as that makes everything even more difficult. I am used to talking with mine, and don’t know how I would cope without that. Several times she has pushed me to be more upfront with medics, and always she has been right-twice resulting in calling an ambulance where I did actually need it but kept saying I was fine! Once it was a pulmonary embolism which could have killed me, and once a life threatening infection which could have done the same!
I have learned over the past five years since my diagnosis that if you don’t speak up and advocate for yourself, or have someone to it for you, then you get forgotten. The saying in the north east that shy bairns get nowt is actually true. Please be firm when you have your call, and don’t allow yourself to be fobbed off.
Sarah xx
Oh Jayda please don’t Google stuff! I understand why you’re doing it, but it can’t help you find out what’s wrong. At least you have a face to face appointment now at last. You need help and further tests/scans-I can’t believe you’ve been left so long without answers, but you don’t know it’s cancer yet, if it is, so deciding on a stage for it is just going to drive you crazy.
The issue can be that if it is cancer, the further it has spread the less chance there can be that surgery is a possibility. Bawl if you need to, beg, whatever it takes not to leave that appointment without a plan of action. Stand up for yourself-you cannot keep on living like this. I really feel for you.
Sarah xx
