Decisions, decisions: Ablation, hysterectomy or nothing?

I am new to this but here is my "brief" story: I am a 35 year old mother of 3 with no plans for other children. At my annual, I discussed with my dr. the painful heavy periods I have: one-two days of extremely painful cramps with episodes of cold sweats, almost passing out and nausea. This may last a few hours or a day. There is also a day or 2 of my cycle where I am pretty much homebound due to the "great flood"--extremely heavy bleeding and passing clots. I get terrible PMS where I am very moody--I really feel bad for my husband and children!!! I have uterine prolapse (2-3 degree). I have had stress incontinence issues and have seen a uro-gyno for this where I was told I have urethral sphincter issues. I have been taking Sanctura and this seems to have helped some but was told that I am a good candidate to have a sling operation.
My regular OB told me that I could consider ablation or a hysterectomy. I am trying to figure out which is best for me. If I have the sling operation, it will put me out of commission for the same time a hysterectomy would...having the ablation would be much less recovery but no guarantees. My biggest issue with ablation is that I would still have the PMS symptoms, pain, and possible failure. My biggest issue with hysterectomy is the question of am I trading one bad problem for another? Any guidance or experience from those in similar situations is greatly appreciated!

Bennesdream,

My doctor gave me the option of the ablation due to large fibroids, however, he said that due to my family history I would probably be back in the same position in two years or less (My sister had the ablation and now has many large fibroids again and is now looking at the hysterectomy). I too, had periods that were horribly painful and increasingly so over the years (I'm 44yrs old). I have bad PMS symptoms as well. The pressure on my bladder from the fibroids was terrible. My doctor felt that the (LSH) supercervical hysterectomy was my best option. He left my cervix and one ovary(my left one was in bad shape). I am only 3 weeks post-op, but feel like it was the best thing. I figure that if I can at least feel 80% better than I did before surgery then it was a good thing. My doctor cautarized my cervix so hopefully I will not have any monthly bleeding. I noticed that I did get PMS symtoms this month when I normally should have but they were not near as bad as they were before surgery. There are many options to look at. After my initial meeting with my doctor, I went home and did a lot of research on my options. Then I scheduled another appointment with my doctor to talk to him now that I had more information. I left that appointment feeling like I had made the right decision. The LSH was a breeze for the most part. Due to the fact that I still have one ovary, I will not go into menapause until either I go naturally or my other ovary needs to go. Anyway, look carefully at all your options and talk to people who have had the same problem (this is the best site for that). Remember I am only one opinion. Good Luck!

Patty

Bennesdream,
Just make sure that you look at all of your options and research them. Look at the positive outcomes as well as the negative ones. Remember there are short term and long term side effets to just about all procedures and surgeries.
If I had it to do over, I would have opted to exhaust all avenues before getting to the hysterectomy. Good luck with your decision and bless you.

Just Being Me, why do you say that? Do you regret something about your choice?

	Quote:
Originally Posted by enoughalready Just Being Me, why do you say that? Do you regret something about your choice?

Kind of. I regret not exercising my choice. Not investigating. It happened so fast. Anyway, I had a lot of problems, still have some problems. If I would have looked into it more and had more facts, I would have opted for something else first. Maybe I would have still had to have it done later, or not.
It is a very important choice. Each of us have to live with the outcome of our choices good or bad. Some women do have problems with side effects after. It doesn't happen to everyone but it can happen. I am not trying to scare anyone. This is only my opinion and experience.

I'm new here also. I'm 39, no children, nor do I want any. I had the Essure sterilization surgery 18 months ago, I had endometrial thermoblation 7 months ago. It made my symptoms worse. Now I have been told that my best options is for the Laparoscopic Hysterectomy. I have a consultation with the surgeon on the 21st of April to schedule the hysterectomy and answer any final questions. What I'm going to do is make a list of my Top 5 complaints, if the Hysterectomy won't relieve at least 75% of them, i'm not going to risk the surgery. I hope you make the best decision for your health and happiness. Good luck

I had an ablasion 2 years ago to cure heavy bleeding. It worked, no period after that. This year my doc found a mass on my ovary, went in for removal of one ovary 5 weeks ago and woke up from surgery with a full hysterectomy. My fibroids were so bad and scar tissue from my 2 c-sections that she had no choice but to take everything. Thankfully the pathology came back perfect. I was given the choice of hysterectomy at the time of the ablasion, looking back- I should have done the hysterectomy 2 years ago.

I had an ablation in 2007 at the age of 25 because of debilitating cramps and excessive bleeding-two weeks on, two weeks off. I thought it would help without the risks of a hysterectomy, and hoped it might be easier to convince a doctor to do it. The ablation stopped the cramps but I continued to have 7 day periods. After a year it failed and the two week periods returned, this time with alarming health consequences. I decided to have a hysterectomy. My doctor strongly recommended an LSH and after weeks of debate I agreed. I was worried about the possibility of continued bleeding. The LSH went pretty well all things considered. Unfortunately I have continued to bleed from the cervix. I now have light 7 or 8 day periods with painful cramping and am debating the wisdom of a trachelectomy (removal of the cervix).
All things considered, the ablation didn't really harm anything other than my pocketbook but it also didn't last that long. It bought me only a year of respite, and that wasn't perfect. This seems to be the case for several of the women on here. If you want a permanent cure you might be better off skipping the ablation.
If I had it to do over again I'm pretty sure I would have insisted on a total hysterectomy and taken the risks instead of being faced with the logistical nightmare I have now. Many women have an LSH and do very well with no problems, but then there's the minority that have problems. With any type of hysterectomy-or other surgery-there's always the risk of problems. I'd recommend doing a lot of research and then weighing the potential problems against what you are dealing with now.

I would suggest looking for information about an ablation here: Endometrial Ablation Discussion Group. Generally speaking, ladies here at HysterSisters have not had the best experience with an ablation and thus they are here looking for another option. However, that does not mean that the ablation does not work and is not successful!

Seeking a second opinion before making your final decision is a wise move as well! Consider all of your pros and cons to determine what is best for you! Any procedure can turn out differently than we expect!

S

I too had ablation and then four years later LSH. The fibroids came back, then I had adenomyosis (terrible cramping). If I had to do it over, I would save the $$$ and go straight for LSH (I've wanted everything out for years I've always had cramps, headaches, PMS, etc. I got it all out (except cervix) and have felt so much better! Just my story, and I know we have to exhaust other things (especially due to insurance). Best of luck to you!