Mass, Not Just For Catholics

Don't adjust your monitor. You haven't stumbled upon the latest poorly written Movie of the Week. It is high time you hear part of the story that makes NATUI tick. Here is the beginning:

Hubbie and I were married in the late autumn. We'd been together for ages, and now that we were married we thought we'd better get cracking on that baby thing. The Pill? Out the window. There was no specific time table in mind. Just lots of newlywed sex and things would go about their natural course. Right?

I had my yearly girlie exam that February. Not a care in the world except let's get the damn thing over with because I had to go to work.

My OB was nice enough. Even speaking English to me because she knew it made me more comfortable. I asked her a few questions about ovulation. I still wasn't thinking anything hard core, I just wanted to be sure I had my facts straight.

She told me that ultrasound technology had gotten so advanced that one could look at a patient's ovaries on the screen and tell them that they would ovulate in two days, or that they had already ovulated and had missed their chance for the month.

My exact quote? No shit!

I thought that was the coolest thing I'd ever heard.

I had my PAP. I was literally getting up off of the table when I said to her I couldn't wait to tell my friends about the whole ultrasound thing. It was just too groovy.

I almost kept my mouth shut.

But I didn't.

Her response? Go ahead and get back up on the table. I'll show you.

She was serious.

I hopped back up, and had my first introduction to the vaginal ultrasound wand.

See this? she asked. This is your right ovary.

NATUI squinted at the squiggly screen.

Then, it was my OB's turn to squint.

What's this? She peered closer.

You have a mass on your ovary.

Oh.

She then looked at my left ovary. And proclaimed that I had a mass on my left ovary as well.

I don't recall much more after that point in the exam. I know that she scheduled me for an appointment with a special ultrasound lab in the city that used color to diagnose these types of things.

I still don't know if I had ovulated or not. I don't think she ever told me.

I walked out of her office and crossed the giant bridge to catch my train. The sky was a bright, shining blue. People walked past me and laughed and joked and went about their business.

I was twenty seven. And I wondered if I was going to be here a year from that day.