I had my biopsy as you already know, and survived. Ouchee! The next thing I get is an actual phone call directly from my gynaecologist to explain to me I had a thing called VIN at Stage 3.
Well, I’d never heard of that before. Vulval intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN) and it was at
Stage 3.
I was totally baffled, because I’d never even heard of that. Apparently it’s where abnormal cells develop in the surface layers of the skin on the Vulva which can turn into cancer, usually Squamous Cell Carcinoma, and at Stage 3, mine was high grade and could possibly be said cancer. There is no known cause, and at that stage, the Gynae explained the only option I had was surgery. He wanted to get me in to operate and remove it as fast as possible.
Here is a link to some info on it:
I really couldnt fault him for calling me personally to tell me though.
In the meantime, the dreaded itch was getting as bad as before - if not worse. I'm sure it knew I was on it, and ready to get rid.
Pre-Op Time
I got my letter really fast to be fair, to attend my pre-op assessment. It was for Sir Robert Peel Hospital in Tamworth, which is where my op would be done. I was quite happy about that because its such a quiet friendly hospital, I'd have my own room, TV, Wifi, and en-suite...nicey nicey.
So off I shuffled to my pre-op - well, I swear I was put through the mill! Lovely nurse, but zero sense of humour. She certainly didn't get my dark sense of humour at all and gave me some very funny looks at some of my answers. I think she got me in the end though, and just chose to ignore me lol.
All was going great, until she asked me for a urine sample. I duly went off to my en-suite and returned my sample to the pre-op nurse. Great, I thought....or not so, as it happened.
It appeared I had an E-Coli water infection!! WHAT!!
Now lets just be clear here - I've had water infections before, and they are vile and very painful, but I'd not had one for a long long time, I had no symptoms of said infection whatsoever, and was kinda baffled at that one.
Pre-op nurse told me, she would send my wee off to the lab, just to confirm it, and would call me with the results of what antibiotics it was sensitive to. So off my wee travelled.
Lo and behold, she called me the very next day, and said I needed to ask my GP for some Trimepthorpin to clear this infection. I did as asked - even though I still had no symptoms or signs of a water infection. I took the 5 day course, as I was told to and that was that....nope wrong again - more on that later.
In the meantime, I was still using the Dermovate Steroid Cream, the gynae gave me, I was taking antihistamines now twice per day, and was rapidly losing the will. It had now got to the stage where I couldn't wear anything except loose joggers, no knickers of any kind and I couldn't even use toilet roll it was that painful. I was having to have a stand fan on, blowing cold air on my poor lady bits all night just to sleep - I won't go into the graphics of that, but it wasn't exactly ladylike I will say!!
This is where my genius husband really came good. Off he went in search of something I could use, instead of toilet roll. Well, what a godsend. He found Andrex Hypoallergenic Wet Wipes, which only contain water! They are also totally flushable so good on the environment too.
The best thing since sliced bread.....
These things really are a total godsend for me! (Thanks hubby)!! Using the washlets and cream, plus the antihistamines got me through, and I actually still use them now, they are brilliant - plus all my bits are immaculately clean everytime I go the loo! Winner Winner! I even carry a pack in my bag too. They are fabulous. (Can you tell they worked? lol).
Well, all I was waiting for now was my actual operation to get this awful thing gone. I'd had enough. It was so debilitating and the worst thing I'd ever experienced and I've had my appendix out at 18yrs and a stroke when I was only 34yrs old! None of that was on a par with this. It is horrific to go through.
My operation details came through, scheduled for 21st October 2022. I was to have a full anaesthetic simply because of the area my gynae was to remove. (Something else I'll explain later). He explained he would put a solution on my lady bits which would highlight the areas
where the abnormal cells were, and then remove them as necessary. He was still convinced at this time I had more than VIN Stage 3, but he couldn't really say for definite until after the op and the lab had my bits to test. He was amazing in preparing me for the ultimate news though, and at the same time did tell me he wanted to be wrong, he was genuinely brilliant.
The Operation is up on the next blog post so dont forget to follow - Thanks again for taking the time to read, and don't forget know your normal! Check check check again!
See you soon for the next instalment. Much Love x
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