New here, scared. Fibroid has suspicious marker on MRI

I am scheduled for an abdominal hysterectomy next Friday (13th)

I just turned 42 years old and was trying to get preg. with 2nd child. Did 2 fertility treatments, that were unsucessful. Next thing you know RE calls and says he is concerned about the growth of the fibroid and wants me to have a hysterectomy.

Shocked, I said I wanted to see a specialist to see what we were dealing with here before doing that.

Had an MRI on the 28th, and it shows a marker for the type of sarcoma a fibroid can turn into. New doc that was going to save my uterus, and remove fibroid, now wants to do hyster. to be cautious. Says chances are that I don't have the worst, but they cannot chance it. He says he as seen the marker before but that type of cancer is very rare and chances are I do not have it.

Went for 2nd opinion Tues to a gyne/oncologist. He told me that there is something on the MRI that cannot be ignored, but there are quite a few things he would think it would be first before thinking the worst. My fibroid is the size of a 18week pregnancy. He was furious that a RE would try to help me get preg with that large thing in there.

My hyster is scheduled for the 13th. I am very afraid. I feel like I cannot really mourn the loss of fertility, because I am scared I may have cancer.

I a going with the 2nd doctor I saw(the oncologist) I have heard nothing but excellent things about him--even my first doctor said he was excellent and several nurses told me that if a family member was sick they would not send them to anyone else. So I think I am in good hands.

Any encouragement would be greatly appreciated. Also what you think I should do ahead of time to prepare... WIll I be able to go up and down steps? Is the first week unbearable?

Thanks
Jenny

Oh I'm so sorry for all you are going through. I don't know anything about your condition, but keep in mind that people get all sorts of false positives from mamograms too, and they turn out to be nothing. Lets hope this is the case for you too.

My surgery is scheduled for 2/9/04 and it is all pretty frightening stuff. My doctor mentioned that he is concerned over the rapid growth of my fibroid....has sent me into a spin doing all kinds of research on leiomyosarcomas. They are extremely rare so I'm hoping that you get an excellent report. Good luck and keep up posted!

The Articles are different from the support message boards. They have lots of good advice. Follow it.

If anyone says "Let me know if I can help," let them. Have them distract your child (you didn't mention age) so you can sleep.

Expect a month or so of total fog, depending on pain relievers prescribed, anasthesia reaction and type of procedure.

When you come out of that, you'll THINK you feel better, and you'll be sorely tempted to do stuff. Don't do it. That's when you should review the Article about what's Allowed and what's Not allowed.

Learn to flip channels on the remote like a guy.

Expect to be tired and bored for at least 8 weeks, but know that this is okay and that it passes.

For me, my fertility was already lost due to endometriosis, so it's been less mourning than relief of horrendous pain. I'm only 31, so it's been pretty hard that way. Then again, there's a lady on here who's only 18. Sigh. I woke up from surgery with an Estrogen patch on, so I guess I'm glad I won't have to do menopause again. I was on Lupron for 6 months before surgery, which was medical menopause, and that was enough for me, thanks very much.

At seven weeks after surgery, I'm in so much less pain than I was before surgery. No more prescription pain killers. Just Ibuprofen when I ache.

I get very tired sometimes, and other times I feel more energetic. I still avoid the vaccuum cleaner like it's radioactive or something.

Keep a list of questions to ask Doc, because when you think of them it will be when you're home, and then you'll forget when you get there.

Ask about how soon after surgery you can do treadmill or other gentle exercise. It sounds contradictory, but it will make you feel better.

Um.......just read everything on this site you can get to, and post questions when you have them.

Good luck for your surgery.