The crud that’s been going around over the past couple months has been brutal to say the least.
Recently I’ve felt like as soon as I get over a sickness, I turn around only to discover I’ve caught something else and the fun begins all over again.
I hope you all are taking care of yourselves and doing what you can to stay healthy.
November began with a cold shortly followed by a stomach bug and by the end of that week I was experiencing a stomach pain that I attributed to being sick.
Between the cost of healthcare and taking time off work, I think most of us have those moments where we really have to deliberate when it’s time to actually go in.
It was the day of the Grizzlies football playoff game when I realized I might have something more serious going on than just a short sickness.
The pain in my stomach became so intense that I ended up making a trip to the emergency room thinking I maybe had appendicitis, gallbladder issues or something along those lines.
After about five hours, blood work, two ultrasounds and a CT scan they discovered the cause of my pain were a few ovarian cysts, one of which was pretty large.
After a few appointments and a lot of information, I’ve learned a lot to say the least.
The human body is amazing, interesting, intriguing, baff ling and disgusting, as well all know.
There are several types of cysts but the kind that I have has been determined to be a dermoid cyst.
Odds are good that they’re benign but I’m going through all the steps and will likely have them removed because of the pain they’re causing.
One of the first things the doctor said was that sometimes this type of cyst has hair and teeth.
Yes, gross. But I needed to know more. The body is weird you guys.
So naturally, as a lot of us do…I hopped on Google for a quick search.
If you’re not too disgusted and these things intrigue you, do a Google search for ovarian dermoid cyst.
The pictures are gnarly and show just how complex and strange cells in the body can be.
A dermoid cyst is typically a benign growth on an ovary that develops from trapped cells and contains mature tissues like skin, hair, teeth or bone.
They’re basically there from birth and develop over time until they cause some sort of issue.
These growths form from underdeveloped reproductive cells that get stuck during fetal development, leading to a cyst filled with various body tissues, often appearing as a lump with fatty material, hair and even teeth.
Hair and teeth!
Isn’t that wild? I told the doctor I definitely want to see what it looks like after they remove it.
Does it have hair? Teeth? Bone? I want to know.
This is the stuff for a horror movie or novel.
Picture it — you go your whole life with this thing growing inside of you.
Maybe there’s more than one!
As you enter adulthood, hair and teeth begin to develop.
Maybe it even starts to develop it’s own brain and personality before later emerging from the body.
Anyone seen the movie Alien?
Okay maybe that’s taking it a bit too far and I definitely don’t want a mutated alien with random hair and teeth emerging from my body.
I don’t know where I was going with this column but we somehow got here.
How was everyone’s Christmas? As I close in on 40, I was barely able to make it to midnight on New Year’s Eve because of my “old age.”
Just kidding, it was hard to stay awake till 12 because … can you guess?
Yes, I’m sick, again.
The crud is back and I’ve been dealing with a cough that just won’t seem to end.
It makes think about all the kids who have been on break who are returning to school after visiting family.
I’m sure there will be a whole new set of sicknesses coming into the schools as soon as students return.
I don’t know how parents and teachers do it when their kids are constantly passing new germs around.
You guys are the real heroes.
According to the CDC, the f lu has been pretty intense this year.
Last week, more than 19,000 people with inf luenza were admitted to hospitals with about 10,000 the week before.
The CDC estimates at least 7.5 million people have been sick and over 3,100 people have died from the f lu this season.
I hope everyone is staying healthy and taking care of themselves in the best ways they can.
If you do get sick, don’t take it lightly.
Amanda White is a staff writer at the Mariposa Gazette and can be reached at amanda@mariposagazette.com
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