I Lost 22 Pounds in One Day (From Having an Ovarian Cyst Removed)

The title sounds like an introduction to one of those annoying online ads. But for me it’s true. Last Wednesday I had surgery to remove a 22-pound (10 liters) ovarian cyst.

For months I had been dealing with a rapidly expanding abdomen. What started out as a noticeable but small increase in the size of my belly in July grew to epic proportions by November. I looked like I was pregnant — with triplets. People were constantly rubbing my belly and asking what my due date was. I was blown away by such gestures and not in a good way. I tried covering it up with layers of baggy clothes, but that didn’t help. It took numerous appointments with my primary care physician to rule out everything from IBS to food allergies before insurance would cover the much needed CT scan that would reveal a 29 cm x 23 cm cyst pushing on quite a few major organs. Within three weeks of the scan I was having surgery, and by then the cyst had become much larger.

From July until December I had gone up two or three pants sizes and three shirt sizes. I was having to buy new clothes each week to accommodate my distended abdomen. The cyst was having an impact on my entire body. I suffered from increased blood pressure, irrational heart rate, and swelling. The relief I felt waking up after surgery knowing that the cyst was gone was immense.

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