Hello. Wanted to share some thoughts 5 weeks post op from Marsupialization of a golf ball size bartholin cyst. I have had the cyst since my early 20s. At one point I was given meds and it went away but it came back. I've never had infections but I found it unsightly and was embarassed over having this ball-thing noticable in the entrance of my vagina. 

I was scheduled to have surgery for myomectomy for a large fibroid and my gynaecologist offered to remove the cyst at the same time, citing the cyst surgery would cause me down time at work so why not do it while I was recovering from my myomectomy. I did not do enough research on my own or ask enough questions.

After surgery I finally started looking into it. At first on my pre op papers it said possible excision of bartholin gland and i started freaking out, not realizing I may have had my whole gland removed. But after complications from my myomectomy, I asked the resident gynaecologist about it and she said no I just had a masupialization. (Goes to show how much research and knowledge I had going into this).

Now, after grasping the situation, I seriously regret trusting my gynaecologist without question or exploring more options. While most of the pain has subsided (it was a long uncomfortable journey), and I still am experiencing discomfort and tenderness - my main regret is I feel disfigured. I took a photo of myself with my phone and was horrified at what I saw. The incision sits right near the entrance so if someone is being intimiate with me I feel like there would be no missing it. It looks so ugly to me. It looks like I have a tiny anus on the side of my vaginal opening. I dont even know how to describe it. 

After reading threads on this forum and others, I feel like my dissolving sutures maybe dissolved too soon? It just looks very obviously like two pieces of skin unnaturally cut and stuck together, and jagged? It took me 4 weeks to be brave enough to look, as I hoped it would be mostly healed by then, but it just doesn't look healed at all. Even if this does heal properly and close up more in time, I feel like itll take 6-12 months to see any real progress or improvement. And I dont think it'll ever be like it was before. 

And now ive been reading about sensitivity, chronic pain, painful sex for years, regrowth of the cyst, infections. The emotions behind this are strong. I'm questioning why I didn't just leave it alone. When the cyst was there it looked ugly to me but I felt like to a guy it wasnt that obvious? If anything it just made me look um "tighter". But now there's an even uglier scar/deformity that is going to be obvious and unnatural looking to anyone who sees it. So much for cute nudes...

Ladies, seriously, heed my advice. If you are considering this, please do not do this surgery until you have explored every other non surgerical option before you move forward. If you arent having any pain, I dont even know if its worth it at all because now Ive just suffered for over a month from surgery, have no idea how long or in what ways this will effect me, and have a hideous incision making me feel so insecure and broken.