I found HysterSisters two days after being advised to have a hysterectomy. In 1998, I was diagnosed with two fibroid tumors the size of golf balls. Since they weren't causing any problems, my doctor took a watchful waiting course of action.
In 2000, I started having menstrual problems, which started with a period that went on for three months. My doctor put me on a six-month cycle of Provera, which I took ten days each month. The Provera soon took care of the problem and my periods returned to normal.
Then in December of 2001, I totally skipped a period. Wonderful, I thought. Don't have to deal with Aunt Flo this month. How dumb could I get and still breath? January 3, my period started and went on until the end of February, when my doctor once again prescribed Provera. This time though, it didn't work. The bleeding stopped for a few days, then came back even worse. It got so heavy that I was afraid I would hemorrhage to death. This happened for a couple of more months, until finally, I was extremely weak and fatigued from anemia due to the excessive bleeding.
I also started having a lot of abdominal pain, which was constant, not just during my period (which was constant too!) In March, I ended up in the emergency room because I was very dizzy and weak. While there, I was having shortness of breath, so I was admitted for a cardiac workup. My heart was fine; the shortness of breath was from the anemia. While in the hospital, five doctors, including my GYN who was called, recommended that I have a hysterectomy. I wanted to have it done while I was already in the hospital, but since it was Easter weekend, no one would do it, so I had to call and schedule it when I was released from the hospital.
When I did get my surgery date, May 23, 2002, it was almost two months away. I started doing research for information on hysterectomies and that's when I found HysterSisters. The amount of information I found at this site was incredible, but even more valuable was the support and caring I found here. While in my "real-time" life, I obsessed about my surgery to the point of almost alienating my friends, family, and co-workers, I knew I could find ladies at HysterSisters who knew exactly what I was feeling, who had been and were in my shoes. This website kept me sane for those many weeks and gave me the strength and courage to face my very first surgery. I am very happy now to be able to give back, in some small way, some of the caring and support I have found here.
My surgery was May 23. My uterus was the size of a cantaloupe, and the fibroid twins had grown to the size of oranges (a regular fruit bowl), and one of the fibroids had twisted around on its stalk, died, and broken off, which was causing my pre-op pain. I also had adhesions; my uterus was stuck to my bladder and my bowel. I did keep my ovaries, but let the cervix go.
The surgery was not as bad as I had feared. I had very little pain, and I wasn't as helpless as I was afraid I would be when I returned home. The waiting was truly the hardest part. As of this date, I've had a very uneventful and easy recovery. I feel better now than I have in months. I know this decision was the right one for me, and I look forward to my life as a "new" woman.
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