Total Abdominal Hysterectomy done 07 April 2008

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Total Abdominal Hysterectomy done 07 April 2008

Total Abdominal Hysterectomy done 07 April 2008

Date : 05-18-2008 - 11:08 AM - Readers : 575

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Hi there .... At my annual physical in October 2006, they told me that my uterus was buldging and that I needed to have an ultrasound done. When I went back for the results, the doctor advised me that I would need to see the gyno. When I asked the student doctor what this meant - he said without much thought or sensitivity "How attached are you to your uterus?" I said, I don't know never been asked that before" and started to cry from shock.

I have always had painful cycles, the PMS, the cycle, and the Post PMS ... 3 weeks a month, I was up, I was down, and I was always tired.

On 05 May 2007, I met with my gyno and found out that my uterus is the size of a 14 week pregnancy due to the innumerable amount of fibroids. Hence, the constant pressure on my bladder.trips to the powder room and intense cycles.

We discussed various options - None of which are viable as they are temporary fixes. And at the end of the treatment, I would be back to square one – not acceptable for me.

So then we talked about UFE – which would be a surgery where they attack each fibroid separately … now if I had one or two fibroids this would be a consideration however with the number of fibroids and the size of my uterus … lends the doc to say that a blood transfusion would be required due to the blood loss during the surgery … and there is nothing to say that even if the surgery was successful that more fibroids would grow again and then I would have been back in the same position – square one. The doctor did not want to entertain this option at all.

So that left me with a total hysterectomy – now or later – the doc says that with the size my uterus is now, it is without a doubt that I would need on when I am older as the fibroids continue to grow and cause my constant pain and PMS.

So in a nutshell, I had to ask myself: Do I want to have surgery now - in my 30's, or wait 15 - 20 years to have it. The surgery is inevitable.

In regards to fertility – If I stayed at the painful status quo, a successful pregnancy is probable but never guaranteed. I know that I can always adopt or possibly have a surrogate carry the child for me.

The one question that the doctor asked me to consider was how I feel about giving up my fertility and then to consider how I would feel if I met Mr. Right tomorrow - is my answer the same? I said yes - "if he was my Mr. Right he would be willing to adopt." She said true enough. :-)

Outside of that, I have a few things to consider:
-Do I want to do this now or wait? It is inevitable …
-If I don’t the pain will get worse as the fibroids grow and my uterus continues to expand.
-Do I really want to stay at the status quo? There are no other real options that would be viable, so I would stay at square 1 until I decide to have surgery.
-Can I afford to have my energy levels zapped every month while my body recovers from another difficult cycle?
-when would be the ideal time to take 6 - 8 weeks off work?
-will I be financially stable to take time off?
-will this improve my quality of life?

She told me that I did not have to make this decision right away– but I felt that two months is more than enough to think about it all cause really I had been pondering the question since Oct 2006. I scheduled an appointment for July 3rd to meet with the doc to let her know what I have decided to do. If I decided to go ahead with the surgery now – I could have it done as early as September 2007.

I decided to wait until the spring of 2008, allowing time to prepare financially, etc. Plus I wouldn't be in recovery mode around Christmas. My family lives two provinces away and I always go visit.

On my 36th birthday in Dec 2007, I got a phone call, at work, from the gyno's office with a surgery date .... 07 April 2008.

So here we are: hystersister TAH (vertical incision)post op 6 weeks - getting pathology report on 20 May 2008.

I am happy with my decision, recovering well and feeling better than ever!

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