Just over two weeks...

... until my oophorectomy.

I haven't given this surgery much thought since I first made the decision to have it. Therefore, it's kind of crazy to me to think that it's just over two weeks away.

This surgery was originally scheduled for August 4. My pre-op assessment is when a tumor was discovered in my bladder, and things very quickly detoured at that point. I was diagnosed with bladder cancer and have had treatments for that.

And now pre-op is in just three days again. I'm hoping and expecting that it will go fine. But it's hard not to think that it won't, since it went anything but fine last time.

So on November 17, I will be having my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed. After this surgery, I will go into "surgical menopause." I don't think Dr. P. is planning to put me on HRT (hormone replacement therapy), but I intend to clarify that on Friday. I won't be able to naturally have more kids, but I am extremely content with the kids I have, so that doesn't phase me at all.

This upcoming surgery is more life-changing than I've allowed myself time to think about. But now that it's coming soon and pre-op is happening soon, it's on my mind a lot. I am so excited to ELIMINATE my risk of ovarian cancer. I am, as always, nervous about being put under anesthesia for the surgery. But it's a short outpatient surgery (just expected to be a couple of hours), so I hope and expect it to go as well as the TURBTs I've had in the past couple of months. This one does require gas to expand my abdomen, and I've heard that can be a bit painful until the gas works its way out, but I'm okay with that. Small price to pay for some medical peace of mind.

And now I am back to where I have to tell people things. One of my kids sort of knows what's going on but the others have no clue. And some of my family knows what's going on but others have no clue (some really do need to know, others don't). So I have to find time and a way to tell the ones who need to know.

A bit of advice for anyone going through anything similar to what I am: All of this is as hard emotionally as it is physically. Give yourself time, space, and grace to deal with the emotions. Don't feel bad or dumb or selfish. It's hard. But you WILL get through it. You are STRONG and you are WORTH IT.