LAH scheduled for Feb 9 - Back and forth, back and forth - need wisdom, please!

Hi there -
I'm scheduled for an LAH with removal of both ovaries on Feb. 9. With the holidays coming to a close, I'm starting to get nervous about all this. Quick background - multiple uterine fibroids, uterus about the size of 16 week pregnancy, tried almost everything to beat them to menopause (I'll be 51 in March), thought I'd made it pretty far into menopause last summer, when periods, cramping, heavy flow, bloating, discomfort came back after starting a teeny-tiny bit of natural thyroid for subclinical hypothyroidism. Dr. Gyn says that at this point, she can't tell me if it will continue for a year, or three. BTW, Gyn is great - been
working with me over the last 5 years taking the "watch and wait" approach, even though she's amazed I've made it this far! She is a holistic Gyn, and is co-author of the greatest book, titled "The Rapid Recovery Handbook", for preparing for, and healing after, surgery.

My mom died of ovarian cancer at 51 (hence, taking the ovaries if someone is goin' in there for anything else).

After not having periods for 6 months last spring into summer, then having it all come back with a vengence, I decided to go ahead and schedule the LAH. My "problem" all along has been, that I haven't fell crappy enough for long enough to have surgery yet. Of course, I'm in an "I feel OK" stage, and questioning if I should have the hysterectomy. If I have 3 weeks of cramping, followed by 3 days of a Super-Plus tampon every 45 minutes again, (like last month), I suspect I'll be running to the hospital!

So, I'm planning on going ahead with the surgery, but have this doubt around a few things:
1. I keep thinking about this being an 'elective' surgery, even though the Gyn has said that according to the 'milestone' measurements an insurance company uses to determine if this surgery is medically necessary, I've met them ALL. Years ago. I keep asking myself, "Am I really signing up for this?"

2. I've never had surgery, never been under anesthesia...so, I have a bit of fear around it all. I'm working with that fear, but it creeps in in the early hours of the morning, and thoughout the day. I feel ready as far as physically, and support-team wise, and can swing the time off from my private bodywork practice (time off for healing is my #1 priority).

Yet, I still doubt my ability to get through this well. (Sometimes I think of myself as one of those highly sensitive types, but then think about all the pain and discomfort I've lived with with these fibroids, and wonder if my pain tolerence is higher than I realize).

Blah blah blah - you probably hear the conflict I'm experiencing. I won't bore you with the rest of the doubts.

Any words of wisdom, or encouragement will be greatly appreciated!

Jennifer

My TLH is scheduled for 2/9 also. My symptoms do not seem near as bad as yours. I suffer with moderate to severe pain for 2 to 3 weeks out of every month and my period is coming about every 20 days. My doctor suspects adeno and adhesions. Maybe some endo but he doubts it. I guess we'll see. Also I have several fibroids around 2 to 3 cms.

Anyway my point is I have no doubts. I have had anesthesia several times with no complications. If that is of great concern to you, maybe you need to look into having an epidural. Then you only need moderate sedation. There are some recent post regarding epidurals.

I'm hoping this will end my pain or at least improve it.

Sherri

My case was very similar to yours, except that I did not have any pain. I absolutely did not want to have surgery!!! Never had it before, didn't see any need to have it now!! So, we took the wait and see route, and eventually the fibriods kept getting bigger and pressing on my bladder. Not very comfortable! I finally said ok to the surgery, but now the fibroids were so large that my doctor wasn't sure whether he could do a vaginal surgery. This was important as I have diabetes, and he was concerned about healing issues with a large incision.

Long story short, my surgery was long but successful, he was able to do it vaginally, so no big incision, and I've healed well with no complications!

The moral is, you can wait too long, and then have to have an abdominal due to the very large size of the uterus and fibroids. So, the bottom line is, sometimes it isn't really elective surgery! I think you have made the right choice.