Am I missing something?

I've had pap smear/pelvic exam, pelvic and transvaginal ultrasounds, a colonoscopy, CT scan, CA-125.
My CA-125 is only slightly elevated (35), the ultrasounds were inconclusive (turns out my uterus and ovaries sit so high up, nearly in my rib cage, that they couldn't see them), colonoscopy was clear, CT scan showed nothing abnormal. It was suggested here that I see my doctor regarding possible DVT, and that turned out okay. He was very thorough.
Thursday is my hysteroscopy/D&C. If my gyn doesn't find anything wrong, she says we'll just keep an eye on my CA-125, repeating it in 3 months.
I've been bleeding for 6 weeks, and am 2 years postmenopause. It was very light the first week, then one day of clear/pinkish egg white consistency that was very heavy (and weird!), then very, very heavy bleeding and lots of large clots. It seems like it just came out of the blue. I've had no spotting/bleeding of any kind since menopause, til now. Before menopause, I never had a bad period. Medium bleeding lasting for 6 days like clockwork.
Could it be my ovaries?
I'm afraid that if nothing shows up Thursday, we'll be missing something and I'll have something growing inside of me that isn't being treated. Maybe I'm just anxious for nothing. My gyn said that bleeding 2 years after menopause isn't normal, and something is causing it, so I don't want to just wait if the D&C shows nothing, but I don't know what else can be done. Aygestin slows the bleeding down, but I shouldn't need to take something to keep from bleeding so heavily - it just shouldn't be happening. Without the Aygestin, I was soaking through a super-plus tampon and hospital pad every 1.5 hours. I also have pretty bad pain in my left side, toward the back, just in the last couple of weeks.
I'd really appreciate anyone's suggestions or experience with these symptoms.
I've gotten good advice here in the last few weeks, and I'm grateful for that.

Denise (yeah, I'm a wimp, but I have to ask - will I hurt after the D&C? I was hoping to work Friday)

Comments

  • kellyw314
    kellyw314 Member Posts: 51
    Hi Denise,

    I had a D/C etc prior to my diagnosis of uterine cancer -- following procedure I was tired and had light bleeding which stopped by night -- my doctor recommended taking off the next day which I did -- I could have really gone to work and experienced heavier bleeding 2 days post the procedure when I did return to work -- I had no cramping although doctor had suggested I might -- I think you will be fine at work on Friday but hope you continue to pursue the cause of your bleeding -- my case was diagnosed as stage 1-c uterine cancer which resulted in a total hysterectomy 3 weeks following my d/c kellyw314
  • groundeffect
    groundeffect Member Posts: 639 Member
    Hi Denise, I hope you've gotten some conclusive answers to your problems by now, and that you'll let us know the outcome of your hysteroscopy/D&C. I trust your doc will have material biopsied from that. Your symptoms sound a lot like mine, only I hadn't really even started menopause (that I noticed, any way), and I know how miserable it is. I wish you the best of luck!
  • DeniseLR
    DeniseLR Member Posts: 6

    Hi Denise, I hope you've gotten some conclusive answers to your problems by now, and that you'll let us know the outcome of your hysteroscopy/D&C. I trust your doc will have material biopsied from that. Your symptoms sound a lot like mine, only I hadn't really even started menopause (that I noticed, any way), and I know how miserable it is. I wish you the best of luck!

    I had my hysteroscopy/D&C on April 26th, and it went pretty well. I went in with a migraine, and they gave me Morphine in my IV, plus 2 Vicodin before I left. I felt no pain at all.
    There was 1 polyp, and it wasn't cancerous.
    On May 29, I'll have an ablation procedure. My doctor said she usually puts women to sleep for this, but they had trouble getting me to sleep and waking me up for my D&C (never had that happen before), so she wants me to be awake. She said it will feel like a hard labor contraction for about 2 minutes. I'll take Valium and Cytotech the night before and the morning of. Also Toradol IM (injection) the morning of.
    I'll have another CA-125 in 3 months. If it's still elevated, I think I'll make an appointment with a gynecological oncologist.
    She said the ablation will make it impossible for me to bleed vaginally anymore. I hope this is all good enough.

    Denise