.when being a girl isn't so fun.

I want to start by saying: I love being a girl. I think I'm good at it. Way better than I'd probably be at being a guy.

Regardless, there are times in life when being a girl flat out stinks.

And now I'm going to talk about something that, if you're a guy, is going to be grody.

This one's for the girls though...

Ladies, have you ever had an ovarian cyst? Oh, ew. Yeah, it's kinda disgusting. More than that, it's darn painful. And I have one.

Or, should I say, I had one??? (Please, God, let it be gone. Let that horrific, relentless pain I felt earlier today be what the doctor described as the cyst "resolving itself.")

AKA, with any luck, that little nugget of pain is ruptured. But I don't really know for sure. All I know is this:

(Here's my cyst-tastic story.)

So, apparently back in June I felt a pinching feeling in my right ovary. I have that recorded in my calendar. The emptiness on my July and August calendars tell me those months must have been blissfully pain free.

The pain reared its ugly head again in early September. I remember three solid days of that pinching feeling on my right ovary. I was walking bent over a lot of the time, and, even though  I still went to work, I would unbutton my jeans on the way to work to try to help ease any pressure that might be causing pain in that area. Obviously, I made an appointment during this time.

For the first time in my life, I had an ultrasound (which are kinda fun and relaxing in a way -- the belly jelly is warm -- who knew). I also had a (close your ears, potential boy readers) vaginal ultrasound. Gag me, right?!?!

But I'm so glad I was proactive enough to get these done despite being nervous. I got a call a few days later telling me that I do in fact have a tiny cyst on my right ovary that would, in time, "resolve itself." These are apparently very common in women of child-bearing age.

Why haven't I heard any of my friends talking about this before? Huh? Where's the info? Way to leave a sistah in the dark.

Fast forward to today. I start feeling achey, like maybe a fever is coming on. It's Sunday, so I feel justified in taking a nap anyway. Upon waking up, I feel even worse. I'm running a low-grade fever, shivering, and my ovary abruptly starts hurting. Doesn't take but a blink of an eye for the pain to escalate to the point of me writhing around on the bed, whimpering in pain. I send a text to my husband (who is watching Nascar in the living room) and ask him to come in the bedroom.

When he gets there, I (while in excruciating pain) manage to get the words out that I need some Aleve. It probably takes about a half hour before it really kicks in, and during that time I experience the worst pain I think I've ever felt. I decide in that moment that if what I am feeling is anything like what being in labor feels like, my new life motto is going to be, "Get me the epidural."

I'm praying that what I felt was the cyst rupturing and that relief is here. If the cyst is still there, I'm dreading the next time it gives me grief. Besides that pain on my ovary, there was excruciating pain in my whole lower area (sorry for the TMI but some women need to know), the fever and chills, and nausea. All are symptoms of a cyst rupturing.

I'm sharing this info on my blog in case any other ladies have questions about this particular issue. Being a woman is (most of the time) amazing. Our bodies and what they are capable of are nothing short of miraculous. But for the times when being a woman isn't all it's cracked up to be, it's good to know we can share our struggles with each other.