Pyur's Great Uterus Yeeterus

Hi, I'm Pyur.

And I'd really, really like to get rid of my uterus.

The last time I had a menstrual cycle was sometime back in 2017. It just stopped, kind of out of nowhere. At first, I didn't think much of it. Nobody's a fan of having their period, so a few skipped months didn't seem too big of a deal. Until it wasn't just a few skipped months.

By 2018 I still hadn't had one again, so I talked to my doctor about it. She suggested trying birth control to see if it would jumpstart the plumbing into doing its thing again... But no dice. Even after half a year on birth control, the most I had was a single tiny bleed all of once after the first placebo pill in the cycle. Back to the drawing board.

A pelvic exam, pap, and ultrasound later, and by 2019 we still had no indicators of what was going on. As far as test results came up, everything read "normal." My uterine lining just... wasn't building up. Which, in some way, was reassuring... But it didn't give us any answers. Initially, PCOS was ruled out due to the fact that there weren't any polyps or cysts found at the time of that exam -- it seemed more likely to be something else.

Several expensive and extensive blood panels later, and trying more methods of attempting to jump-start the cycle, by 2020 things had to come to a halt because of the pandemic -- I just wasn't in a position to keep messing with it, and sort of let it fall to the side in lieu of more pressing matters. It was always there at the back of my mind, but I at least had the reassurance that my latest pap had been normal, still.

And come this year, we decided to pick up where we left off. More bloodwork, another pap - all still pretty normal except the sudden massive jump in my testosterone levels and some hyper-pigmentation spots on my cervix. That raised some alarm bells -- so on to (a new) OBGYN for some more extensive testing now that we had somewhat of a lead.

Was my endocrine system to blame? Turns out, maybe. This time when we did the pelvic exam and ultrasound, the OBGYN determined that -- while there still weren't any polyps or cysts to really fall under the classic description of "Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome" -- the rest of my symptoms merited the diagnosis. Finally, we had an answer! ... Sort of. PCOS is often an "everything else has been ruled out" classification. Trouble was, it doesn't help us much in figuring out how to treat the actual underlying cause of whatever was going on, it just gives us a name to call it.

By now, my partner and I have long since come to an acceptance of the fact that I'm likely infertile. I floated the idea of just having a hysterectomy and being done with things, since the risk of cancer or other complications only compounds the longer things go on. The OBGYN agreed that I was a good candidate for it, and she confirmed that she'd be able to do a robotic-assisted Laparoscopic Hysterectomy with Bilateral Salpingectomy -- in other words, total removal of the uterus, cervix, and both fallopian tubes. The choice to leave my ovaries was pretty easy to make since they're a vital part of the whole endocrine/hormonal system and without the rest, the risks of complications like cancer are pretty vastly diminished.

Needless to say, I was tentatively elated. She sent me on my way with a promise to reach out to my insurance and find out if they agreed about covering the procedure, and I settled myself into prayer and coming to terms with the next steps.

Friday, October 8th, I got a call from the OBGYN's office: not only was insurance willing to cover, but since I'd already halfway met my deductible for the year, my total would only be $896. I won't deny crying on the phone out of joy. Finally, finally, we were making progress at putting this behind me. They could even schedule me as early as Monday, October 18th!!! Making arrangements from there was surprisingly simple - and it, blessedly, isn't the part we're struggling for.

No, that comes from the news I got on Monday the 11th: the hospital's portion. Another $4000 dollars on top of the nearly $900? I was devastated. It felt like everything had built up, just to come crashing down. With encouragement from my friends and loved ones, I resolved not to give up. Yesterday (Tuesday) I called the hospital back, determined to find out what we could make work. This brings us to here:

The hospital's full fee -- thankfully less than the original number due to my annual Out Of Pocket Maximum -- is $2,939.17. If I can meet the full goal and have that amount by Monday to put down, it'll all be over. But that's still a pretty spicy number to try and meet just over a single weekend.

My glowing lifeline is that I only actually have to put down a third of that at the time of surgery - a minimum of $980. They agreed to bill me for whatever is remaining after my insurance finishes processing the claim. I'll have 18 months without interest in order to pay the rest off. Doable, but rough.

For this reason, I'm setting the fundraising goal at $3200 just to cover all my bases -- since GoFundMe takes a 5% cut, and there are service fees of around 2.9% for each donation. As long as I can raise at least a net $1000, I'll be elated. If we reach the full amount, I'll honest to God probably just cry. If you're able to help me close this tedious, uncertain chapter in my life, I... honestly, I'll never be able to repay it, but the gratitude I'll have is beyond words.

Thank you for reading this far.

Pyur Rune-Lief Day