Ladies have a seat. Reproductive health. Over a period of time, it occurred to me that most ladies are not well informed about most reproductive health issues. They experience bouts of occasionally really bad scares once they develop any abnormal reproductive health issues. I would use myself as an example. Honestly, I was not interested in knowing much about reproductive health until I got a fair share of my portion of anxiety and extremely painful pangs in early 2019.
Enters my ordeal. Early that year, in the first quarter, my body was not the healthiest. I developed a hormonal issue that caused me so much turmoil. One of the ailments that came with the hormonal imbalance was, I developed ovarian cysts. This was laced with scathing pain in my abdominal areas. The first instinct was to ignore it away and so I did. Things got worse really quickly and I threw in the towel. My mum recommended seeing a doctor. My place of abode then was Eldoret as I school there. My search for a good hospital landed me at the gates of Mediheal Fertility Centre which is arguably one of the best in Eldoret.
An accent as clear as glass cuts along the corridors. Dark silky hair. Expensive glasses I can only dream of. A shrill voice. Stethoscope loosely hanging on a slim neck that is delicately balancing on an equally delicate frame with firm shoulders. I notice the red dot on the temple of her face and immediately conclude that this is Dr. Palavi Mishra. “Aaah thank you Lord. Waah” I murmur heavily under my breath. Yes, your guess is as good as mine. If you were me, you would definitely prefer a female gynae! First visit. But I was sure there would be taking of samples. I hate those small containers. Okay too much digress, where we were…the Indian mama. She is likeable.
I tell her the troubles I am having with my little kitty, she writes nothing, unlike the typical chemists and pharmacists who faithfully write everything including your murmurs. Scribes those ones. She recommends a physical examination. All this time I thought I was ready but no…anxiety. She did a physical examination, which is actually one of the ways of diagnosing an ovarian cyst. Then she goes, “I feel something in your upper uterus area but I don't want to make any conclusion yet, so i will send you for an ultrasound scan.” All this time I was just composed and very collected. I did the scan and the results were sent back to the doctor.
She calls me in again. I sit eagerly waiting for the results. I am eating my nails imagining apocalyptic level eventualities and hardly breathing. Like the smart doctor she is, oh all doctors are smart, she tells me her understandings of the scan. She tells me I have ‘something’ in my left ovary and she tells me she thinks it could be an ectopic pregnancy! My shoulders shrink in disbelief and fall in despair. The only thing that fails to fall is my heartbeat and shudders. I am visibly shook…I almost tell her she is wrong, almost tabling evidence,lol. But you can’t argue with science. She adds salt to an injury by telling me that if the pregnancy test turns out positive then I am going in for surgery in less than 24 hours! At this point I am throwing my hands in busts like I have burn them. I want to cry. I am barely 19 for Pete’s sake, aren’t this big people problems? Kidogo nikae tu chini.
An ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy in which the fertilized egg implants outside the uterus and in most cases this is in the fallopian tube. The fertilised egg can’t survive outside the uterus and if left to grow it may damage nearby organs and cause life threatening loss of blood. In summary, so, you are telling me that I have some growth in my fallopian tube or ovaries and I could be having an ectopic pregnancy. Woah!Mimi? Hold up, that was a lot to take in. The moment I heard the words ectopic pregnancy and in danger and surgery in the same sentence I lost my composure and started sobbing literally. I was with my friend at the hospital and I told her that I needed to talk to my boyfriend because things were getting really ugly.
We call him and explain everything. Interestingly, he was calm and composed. He said that he would come and pick me in case of anything and that I should update him thereafter. I was sobbing like a waterfall and he was not even surprised. I later learnt the reason for his calmness; there was no way I could be pregnant unless I was Mary mother of Jesus, whatever he meant.
I then go for the pregnancy test and I don't know why but I felt that that was the longest time I had to wait for a test result. Forever is how long I waited (all pun intended). The test results came out and the lab technician was smiling eerily. He had earlier attempted to give me the talk, yes, the talk African parents avoid like they avoid buying snacks when you have food at home. Miserable. He failed miserably. His smile was like the Joker’s smile. No, like Pennywise smile. The calm before the storm.
He hands the envelope to my friend and I tell Sonnie “I only need good news. If it’s bad I’ll kill you here and to
day.” I am sobbing and shaking uncontrollably. The test was negative and I went back to the gynae. I feel relieved…lasted a minute. “So what you are having is an ovarian cyst.” What?! She explained to me and told me we would try use medication to break down the cyst and if that fails, we would have to go for a surgical procedure in order to remove them manually. What followed is something I can hardly forget…