Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

A little troubled tonight

I went to the gynaecologist today,  and I have to admit,  I'm a little concerned about my health. At the very least,  it looks like I may have a urinary tract infection. But I also have to have a transvaginal ultrasound due to some symptoms that could indicate a condition,  endometrial hyperplasia, that could (in some cases)  lead to things such as uterine cancer and hysterectomy. I'd never heard of it.  I have risk factors like obesity,  never having children,  and having diabetes and polycystic ovarian syndrome.  It's an overgrowth of the endometrial lining of the uterus due to hormonal issues,  especially too much oestrogen. It can cause bleeding outside of normal menstruation.  Dr Elkinson wants to rule it out,  at least. It is treatable with hormones. She also checked my thyroid because that could be why I'm hot so much.  Now it may just just be normal perimenopause,  so I'm not going to panic just yet.  But it's not something you want to hear when you're about to lose your health insurance in six to nine months. I also had the normal Pap smear and breast exam (I had a mammogram in April). She was very thoughtful,  when I explained that I hadn't been sexually active in awhile, and used a small speculum.  It still hurt though--there are reasons women tend to put this off. Anyway,  with that I think I've covered all the preventative health screenings I need for awhile--I'm not due for another colonoscopy till sometime between 2020-2023, for example.  I at least got what I could while I have insurance. I really need to start comparing Affordable Care plans,  I guess.

I'm home,  I'm tired.  It's been a busy week. I'm going to try to get a nap in.

2 comments:

Bob said...

Do you qualify for Medicaid?

Eilir said...

Not at the moment, but after the job loss in April, maybe. I'll be eligible for unemployment, but it looks like that will be about $500 at least less a month than currently. But I'm a family of one, so I may not qualify. I may have to pay a lot up front to get the type of plan I need. I did look at continuing mine (which is really, really good) under COBRA, but it would be about $680 a month, which isn't very viable at all.