Chaos, Tears, and Stitches

Let’s just say the last 7 days have been horrific in my tidy little world. I won’t apologize for not being here because where I have been is and will always be more important – by my baby girl’s side.

Last Friday morning our youngest was rushed to the hospital and that was to begin one heartbreak after another. To be clear up front, she is alive and home. Our girl had a 10₊cm chocolate cyst removed (look it up- seriously). This monster overtook her ovary, tube, a portion of her uterus, and sadly, far more. Her bowel is damaged, reproductive options limited, and diagnosed at Stage IV Endometriosis. I had no clue what that meant so being me, I did some research. Our baby girl has damaged cell scattered throughout her body. Cells that could become cancerous and kill her in a noticeably short period of time.

Why didn’t they catch this earlier, you might ask? Let me tell you. My daughter is on the medical card. For those of you from other countries, what that means is her life has less value than someone like me who has better, paid, insurance. She went to the emergency room 3 times and was turned away each time. The last time she went she did something I begged her to do and it worked. You see, our hospitals assume you are simply seeking drugs, so I told her to drop her pants, ask for a specimen cup, and urinate into the cup while they watched. She then handed it to the attending nurse and said, “Now, help me!” They listened because no one with drugs in their system would voluntarily do that.  They gave her medication to help with her pain then finally got her into a doctor’s office to be evaluated. Was it fast? Nope. Took a few weeks only for that doctor to tell her he wasn’t the right doctor. What!? So, they made further arrangements for her to go to a gynecologist. Yup, more weeks went by before that appointment.

That brings us to Friday. Keep in mind this journey has taken 8 months. Eight. Friday, she goes to the gynecologist and within 20 minutes she is being taken to the local hospital and prepped for surgery. Did the gynecologist find the cyst? Yes. Was she the first to see it? NO! She had this cyst this entire time but was told it was nothing. Her symptoms were extreme back pain (caused by the mass pressing against nerves), numbness in her legs (mass pinching nerves), horrific stomach pain (cuz there was a MASS in her belly), issues with bowel movements (mass pushing on the bowel lining) …and it goes on.

Because our medical personal have become so jaded to people drug seeking, they ignore what is right in their faces. When our daughter laid on her back you could see the cyst protruding up causing a bump on her belly. They ignored this. All of this and we were told if it took any longer to get the attention she needed – SHE WOULD HAVE DIED!! Died. Our amazing 27-year-old girl could have been taken from us because people wouldn’t listen. Because they made assumptions. Because she has the medical card.

Just so you know, this is far from over. Because of her diagnosis of Stage IV Endometriosis, she must have further treatment under the care of a specialist. She will be on medication for the rest of her life, have constant cancer screenings, and will require more surgeries.

So, were my posts important currently? No. She needed me far more than you needed the next chapter in this book.  She needed me to hold her hand and cry with her. She needed her favorite meals cooked and waiting in her refrigerator when she got home. She needed her mama to make cookies and vacuum her floors. I would stop the Earth from spinning for either one of my girls if it meant they could live better lives.

Hold tight friends, I may have to do just that.

**I will get back to the blog soon. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers, please. **