How long would you put up with unpredictable, extreme, embarrassing bleeding episodes?   Turns out my limit is 7 weeks.

Tomorrow I am going in for a D&C.    If you don’t know what that is (I didn’t), here is the Wikipedia explanation.

My issue, which I’ve posted about under the category Fertility, has not resolved itself naturally.    I wanted it to work itself out.  I have been so patient.  But it has not resolved itself.  I have run out of patience.

My doctor suggested that it is time to surgically resolve this “missed miscarriage”.  I have to agree.  As much as I don’t want to have a medical intervention, and I certainly do not want to be anesthetized, I have to agree that this is the only option left.

I don’t have the option to stay home and wait this out.  I have a job that although flexible, still requires me to be in all day meetings, and go on site visits,  and travel.  I just can’t be sure that I’ll be anywhere near a bathroom when I might need one.    And unlike an intestinal disorder, I can’t hold this in while I scramble to get to a toilet.  When it flows, it flows, and I cannot do anything about it.

I have only had one surgery in my life, my wisdom teeth extraction when I was 18.  I have always stayed healthy and have been lucky to have avoided an surgical procedures in the last two decades.  I even gave birth my children without medical intervention.    I am not thrilled about tomorrow.  But I am desperate.

My doctor says I only have to be under for a few minutes, so it is less of a risk than a longer surgery.  I am not comfortable with anything that requires an anesthesiologist, but there’s no avoiding it here.  I did some googling on having a D&C with a local anesthetic and the forum posts read like horror stories, so a general anesthetic it is.

There are other reasons I know it is time to do something proactive about this situation.  My goals (running and weight loss) have been on hold for the last two months.  I haven’t been able to run without incident in weeks.   Lately, most likely due to low iron, I have been excessively tired.  And then there’s the fear of embarrassment due to uncontrollable bleeding.

So, yeah, surgery tomorrow.

My doctor won’t tell me when I can run again after the D&C until he sees just how low my iron count is.

I think I’ll be running this weekend, tired or not.

Sitting patiently on the sidelines has me itching to get back out on the road.  I still can’t believe how running has become a part of me.  But it has.  I get wicked jealous when I hear people talk about their runs.  My boss ran 8 miles in 53 minutes today at lunch.  I was jealous on so many levels.  (He runs twice as fast as me!)  But mostly I was envious that he was out there and I was sitting on the bench.

I will soon be posting about my runs and training instead of about my reproductive system.  Please stay tuned!