It's "Just" PMS

     I got my period this morning, for once right on time. Lounging in bed a little longer, still sleep addled, I could laugh...maybe this last week of overwhelm was part of a bad dream, just a rough run of PMS.

If I simply said what I felt: the sleep troubles and some back pain, moodiness and fatigue, bloating and cramps, would I be able to pass it off this time?

Coffee in bed and fully awake, I took a little time to wonder:

How many cycles? How many months? Truly, how many years has it been "Just"? 

It's not my favorite to begin at the End when I tell the start of my story now. Though I suppose this is the Beginning of the End. For the cancer, obviously, not me personally. For me, it rather seems as though this is an awkward introduction; I've come late to the party being thrown by strangers in my own house. And awkward indeed, the number of times this last week I have had introductions and had to start this story, repeating myself. Maybe more embarrassing truly in saying that I was oblivious to the growths and extensions that have made themselves at home and are all stretched out and thriving. 

                         Cheese faces with the best running crew at the Medcity races Spring 2026


It will sound like rationalization to tell you that I was absolutely clueless. Hilariously, I was feeling determined these last few months, having reinvested in a healthier (read:a lot less carb- filled, no alcohol) diet and was running up to 5 miles every day. I had even lost 13 pounds and had been proud of my dedication to healthier habits. My 1k lap splits were getting faster without really pushing myself, and I was getting optimistic that perhaps I could manage a 10K nordic ski race in January instead of only the 5k. 

Unfortunately, one of the last few runs I did, probably two weeks ago now, something pulled funny on my right side, sharp enough to make me slow my pace, not stop. When I got home, a hot bath and some stretching completed, that spot felt better and I vowed to warm up and cool down with more diligence. Probably "JUST" getting too aggressive in my routine though I did note the pull as reminiscent of the left-sided ovarian hernia I've had fixed before.

A few days of normal runs later and I thought I was in the clear, "JUST paranoid." 

Problem was, Tuesday before last, I was doing intervals on the way back home, in the last 2 miles of my route, when that pull came back.  This time it was stabbing down into my groin, and this time it came with a separate sensation, not exactly foreign to me: right shoulder strap pain. This wasn't a side stitch or a muscle tension from poor posture. This was a special locus for pain that I have felt before and it sounds alarm bells for internal bleeding. 

Perhaps I've "JUST" ruptured an ovarian cyst, that is where my only ovary lives and where I'm at in this cycle....                                                                                                                                                        

(I'll pause here as you may think me dramatic. Please peruse some of the older blog posts, 2014 and 2015, if you'd like to read about the events that involved this specific pain historically). 

Aware of the strain, I limited myself to a walk for the rest of the route and when a bath and stretching wasn't relieving the groin pain, though the shoulder strap pain had dissipated, I called the triage RN line. I couldn't agree to the nurse's recommendations based on her algorithm, to report to the ED and when I declined, she was kind enough to set me up with primary care for the morning. A restless night later, a coffee with MiraLAx for good measure (didn't need to aggravate a hernia further, certainly wouldn't hurt a burst cyst!), I was seeing the Family Practice NP.  She was reassured that there wasn't an obvious hernia but as I've had one before, she ordered an US. That afternoon, the report was in:






 We could have shrugged and left it at that. Maybe it's "JUST" a sports hernia, a muscle tear. Easy recommendations to watch and wait were all I expected, "Just take it easy, slow down the training, give it time and see if it improves with rest." I was actually heartened when she opted to take it a step further and ordered a CT scan, a sigh of relief for a time when someone else wasn't going to "JUST" me, even when I'm doing it myself. 

I had to wait a couple days to complete the CT scan, and rushed through it and headed out of town for the weekend. We were all shocked when the results came back last Friday evening. 





Turns out it isn't "JUST" a few partygoers, it's a wild rave in there!

 


Phew! That was quite a phone call a week ago. Not the hernia I was expecting. And I've been hard at work, literally working while navigating so many tests and procedures. Shout out to my colleagues for helping me get things scheduled in the right places, in rapid time, and for covering me while I took a tick to check off the next steps. 

This test was "JUST" the start of a week of overwhelm, and probably some PMS. 

                                  Also, shout out to coffee and MiraLax for keeping me going all week!


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