The ongoing saga of my running career is beginning to get me down. I really haven’t been feeling myself, not feeling strong, having trouble getting any speed going, feeling weak on the hills. And the hot flashes have been increasing to several every day, not just a few a week like they’ve been. Ugh.
About a month ago I went to my regular annual appointment with my gynecologist with hopes that I might get a different approach for dealing with this life change. What I found out was that I had ovarian cysts. One had burst and the one in the other side was about 3 centimeters. Not huge but because I’m in peri-menopause, they wanted to keep an eye on it. I went back on Friday, just under a month later and it was up to 6.5 centimeters. So now the doctor really recommended surgical removal, but she also gave me the option to wait and see what might happen which seems like a prudent approach. But she also told me that as a runner, this large of a cyst could cause the ovary to twist causing a lot of pain and requiring emergency surgery. So I could wait and see if the cyst goes away on its own, but basically I probably shouldn’t run while I’m waiting because I could end up in the hospital.
So, I’m going to give her a call on Monday and see if I can get this surgery scheduled. I can’t wait another month with no running, that will be bad for everyone…. I’ve had friends who have had it done and said it was no big deal. It’s done laparoscopically so there’s a very small inscision in the belly and they just suck the cyst out. I’ll find out more details on the procedure on Monday but I think this is my best way forward. No running for now, but hopefully I’ll only be out for a few weeks rather than a month or two. With any luck I will be back for the fall racing season and feeling much more myself!