New gal

Being a rather busy person, I had been doing my paps and pelvics at my internists. The paps always came back fine, but the doc failed to realize the my uterus was getting larger (12 weeks). I waited another 5.5 months for a gyn visit at the end of Jan.

Since then I have had two pelvic and transvaginal ultrasounds (one w/saline), hysteroscopy, biopsies, and d.c. The result of this is thankfully benign: a large uterus, hyperplasia (my endometrium is 4-5 times normal thickness), and large fibroids.

While I have had heavy periods forever and cramping some of the time, I lacked any other symptoms.

My new gyn has sent me to the head of gyn at the hospital and I have a consult w/another doc 4/3 to determine if I am a candidate for LAVH. I'm almost 54, w/o any menopausal symptoms. If possible would prefer LAVH to TAH, even if it means taking something like Lupron to shrink everythings.

The long and short of it is have your mom, sister, daughter, etc. do their at exams at a gyn.! Jan

Hi Jan,

Welcome to hystersisters!!! Please let us know how things turn out with your appt. with the 2nd gynecologist. It's good that you are getting his opinion as well. Peace of mind means so much.

Well, I saw the second dr. this afternoon and I'm more confused than ever!
The good news is he does LAVH and he has done them on other with a uterus as large as mine. In fact when I asked if he has ever had to switch from LAVH to and abdominal during surgery, he said only once in 700 cases.
He said I might try high doses of progesterone to keep things in check and go for natural menopause--since I'm already quite past the average age. While this is appealing, it would also negate any HRT later, as the fibroids might continue growing. Also my regular gyn would need to monitor the hyperplasia through biopsies or other means. I'm not sure, I want to take a chance on things taking a turn for the worse.
Due to the number, size, and locations of my fibroids he said surgery either LAVH or abdominal would be interesting! Jan

Hi Jan,

I am happy to hear that this doctor does the surgery you prefer. Sorry that the information has you so confused. It is a difficult decision to make, but getting all of your options looked at is important. I know that sometimes the amount of information is overwhelming, but breaking it all down to one piece of info at a time helps. Good luck with your decision. If you are still questioning what you have been given for medical advice, it doesn't hurt to seek out yet another opinion. Your date is still quite some time away, this will help you in dissecting the information and researching all of your options.

Hi J.L.

From what you say it sounds like there is no rush about this and you can take your time to make a decision. My gynecologist always tells me that HRT isn't something you have to commit to for life. You can always stop and start. I chose not to have a hysterectomy before menopause because I wanted the experience of going through menopause naturally and there wasn't any reason, except for my own comfort, to do one earlier. I was finally menopausal at age 55 and HRT did not work, due to severe adenomyosis, therefore was not an option as long as I had my uterus. But I stopped having hot flashes and was quite OK until I got tumours on my ovaries that required a hysterectomy. (Well, they required a laparotomy, so might as well take the uterus and cervix so I could use estrogen was kind of how it went.)

I am not sorry I waited. I am healing nicely (at age 58 with underlying medical problems) and don't question my decison now, as it was pretty much a no brainer.

I'm not saying you should wait, only that it sounds like you have time to make sure you are doing what you really want to do. I always find that if I am sure about something I can handle it better, and this was really an easy one for me to deal with.