Strange cramps?

[skay210.livejournal.com]

Hi all! Have a question about strange cramps I've been having around the time of my period lately. I guess my main question is -- what do your cramps feel like for you? I'm curious to get a sense of how other people describe theirs. 

I have never had terrible periods/PMS, and although I get cramps usually during the few days prior to my period arriving and the first few days I have it, but they tend to be mild and sort of...all over? Lower abdomen, lower back, just a general achy feeling. The past couple times I've gotten my period, my cramps have been much more localized and sharper...I've been getting almost "flares" of pain in my lower pelvic regions on the sides, like right above my hips. Imagine where your appendix would be on the right side, and then the same spot on the left. Is this where my ovaries are?

I should also note that I was recently diagnosed with bladder cancer (and I'm 24, so wtf, but that's another conversation for another day), and I've had a myriad of procedures done...cystoscopies, surgery, the treatment is a fluid inserted once a week via a catheter...etc. There's been lots of activity down there. I've noticed that the weird period cramps seemed to start in a similar timeframe that all the stuff with my bladder has been going on, so I wonder if it's related somehow...

In any case. I'm wondering, what do your cramps feel like, and is what I'm feeling "normal", and also has anyone had a change in their cramping feelings?

(Sorry this is so long!)