get to know me ✨🫶💕🎀🩷

ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴇᴛ ʙʀᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴛᴏ ɪᴛ, ʏᴏᴜ'ʟʟ ɢᴇᴛ ʙʀᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ɪᴛ 💕✨🫶

🩷✨✨✨✨🎀✨✨✨✨🩷

🤍 My Story: Hey y'all, welcome to my #intro! My name is Rhetta (Rhett-Ah or Red-Uh if you're southren like me) & I grew up for a good portion of my life in a small town in Appalachian (Appalachian Trail in Georgia ) Georgia ♥️ Now my home and heart are in Knoxville , Tennessee (#govols) & I am in love love love with my big small town. I'll probably post a lot about my family (mom of 2 presh boys - Alex & Harrison - and my husband is Tom or TT 🥰💕) my local area, Fountain City, and all the cute and fun and cozy little spots to visit and check out if you're a local or ever plan on visiting, as well as posts about my everyday life! Nothing too exciting or necessarily TOO poppin', might even be boring or basic or cheugy to some. But I'm totally okay with that! Something I've discovered since I've very recently started posting on TikTok is that I'm not doing this for likes or views or validation from strangers online. I'm doinf this for fun and because it brings me joy! So if you wanna go and take a ride with me... I'd love for you to stay follow along for the crazy, wild, boring, cute and fun 🥰✨🫶 Also feel free to follow me on my other socials which I'll link on my profile but also add here:

Instagram 📸: rhettaj

TikTok 🎥: rhettam

In this post, I want to discuss something personal and health related. There are trigger warnings for all the ones out there that don't want to read abojt the following: blood, periods/menstrual cycles, pain, cysts, surgery, healthcare issues or healthcare/medical related things in general ❤️

The following words are about my issues with the aforementioned and my journey that's still ongoing to find a cure or solution for my chronic pain and cysts. Let me make it clear that my intentions with these words is not to seek pity or sympathy, but to hopefully help others. Maybe someone will read this and know they're not alone, they'll feel seen and heard, they'll know that something that feels like an invisible illness is visible to others and that there are doctors, nurses and others medical professionals out there that will believe you. Your pain and symptoms and feelings are so valid. Don't give up or lose the faith because there is hope out there 🩷

In the fall of 2023, I underwent an ablation for my uterus to help slow down or altogether (🤞) stop my periods. Along with the ablation I also had a tubal removal done, which is a common step with an ablation. You'll need a birth control solution after having this procedure done because it is literally removing/destroying the lining of the uterus.

Since I started my period at 9 - young, I know - they've always been awful. When I say awful, I mean awful for me. Perspective is reality, and my cl🩸ts and cramps were so bad that I would cry, sometimes miss school and later on, work, bleed through clothes, pads, tampons and bedsheets and just generally be miserable. I'm not afraid to admit that my tolerance for pain isn't very high.

At first, things were going great post-surgery; my bleeding was so light, the cramping had disappeared, the length of my cycle had gone from sometimes being 7+ days down to like...3... What more could I ask for?! I was truly over the moon about the procedure and how lucky and blessed I was.

Here's where I should mention that in February of 2023, I was diagnosed for the first time with an ovarian cyst. It was probably 4-5 CM big, which I understand is small in comparison to some of the ones in the ovarian cyst community, trust me. But from Feb 2023 through October 2024, I was in the emergency room every month once a month for the pain the cysts would cause. Each time they would find one ranging from 5 CM up to 7 CM.

Around this time I started seeing a doctor at Fort Sanders in Knoxville and we built a rapport. Getting to know one another, we both decided that for a lot of reasons, a hysterectomy would be the best decision for me. So in October of 2024, I had a partial hysterectomy done at Fort Sanders here in Knoxville. Recovery was a little harder than I anticipated with some unexpected pain along the way for a couple of days, but honestly I think that could have been from me just overdoing it one day. If it hadn't been for that mistake on my part, and the hardest time I've ever had waking up from anesthesia post-op, I would say it was an easy recovery.

From the time I had my surgery (Oct 2024), where my wonderful and truly amazing doctor removed my uterus & cervix and also ended up popping a 6 CM cyst on my ovary, up until January of 2025, I was finally pain free! It was so...dope honestly to be that way. For the first time in a long, long while I was able to enjoy my life without worrying about when the next cyst pain would hit me. But then in January of '25 as I was decorating my home for Valentine's Day one evening, the sharp and stabbing pain returned. It caused me to double over; I ended up gathering my old routine things for the ED because I knew the pain wouldn't stop that night. After checking in at the ER and having multiple tests and scans, they discovered another 5 CM cyst on my left ovary. That was over the weekend and as I'm writing this, I haven't had an opportunity to call my gyno to make a plan.

If you've made it this far and this story resonates with you, then thank you for staying and letting me share. If you're going through similar pain or just dealing with your own version of #chronicpain then I want you to know that #yourenotalone ❤️ Drop a lil love letter to me 🥰💌 or give me a follow and we can be buddies! I'm an open book about most of my life so if you have any questions or curiosities then just ask!! Don't be shy!!

#healthjourney