fibroids

My dr. told me that i have a fibroid! He said it wont go away and that i will have to have a hysterectomy! I'm just now starting to get the symptoms. I dont want any more kids, im 35 years old. What should i do?

Dear kattail:

Are you having any symptoms that bother you? I would recommend you get a 2nd or 3rd medical opinion. There are many different treatments for fibroids (if they are bothering you), besides the major surgery of hysterectomy.

Get smart about your symptoms and your options, and make the best choice for YOU. I am sending huge cyberhugs

There are some very good alternative therapies for fibroids these days.

Myomectomy - surgical removal of only the fibroid. Depending on where it is and how big, this can often be done hysteroscopically (through the vagina if the fibroid is on the inside of the utuerus) or laproscopically if it's in the muscle wall or outside the uterus. Sometimes an abdominal surgery is done for larger fibroids.

Uterine Fibroid Embolization - an embolization material is released into the arteries that nurture the fibroids to cut off their blood supply. This is a rather simple procedure where the line is inserted through the leg artery. You go home the same day, though the results of the treatment take several weeks to months to take effect.

MRI Guided Focused Ultrasound - one of the newest methods where they use ultrasound that is so powerful it heats up the fibroid and kills it while preserving the surrounding tissue. This is not widely available yet, but if you live in a large metropolitan area, you might be able to find someone who practices it.

The last is hormones. Some women find that hormone therapies such as going on a low does birth control pill can help. Some women also go on a course of Lupron which causes chemical menopause and deprives the fibroid of the hormones that keep it growing. This sometimes shrinks the fibroids and allows the other procedures mentioned above to be more successful.

If your doctor did not tell you about any of these therapies, please find another doctor - you deserve to know all the options out there and he's doing you a terrible disservice by limiting your choices.

Find another doctor or see an interventional radiologist. There are also some good web resources about fibroid treatment options, even if you can't go to their clinics you may find information that you can use to find a doctor who can work on the right solution for you.

Just because you're not planning to have kids doesn't mean that you're done with your uterus.

Take care.

You may also want to also consider an ablation. My friend went through this treatment and it was successful for her.

Good luck with your research and decision!

Please get another opinion or two, don't go to a doctor your own doctor recommends, you want fresh eyes looking at this.

Even though you don't want anymore children the uterus is not useless, it is a reservoir for hormone production and it is also a sexual organ, not just reproductive.

Another thing you may want to discuss with your doctor is the Mirena Coil which is a intrauterine device which releases progesterone only directly into your uterus so you don't get horrible side effects from oral progestin. I know a few women who have it fitted and are doing great, they have fibroids and heavy bleeding which is under control now. The coil lasts for approximately 5 years and is also a contraceptive as well so you will kill two birds with one stone.

Lastly, please do not let yourself be another statistic of unnecessary hysterectomy. There are so many other options out there that will help you. Personally I would run from any doctor who recommended a hyst for fibroids. Just in case you are not aware, fibroids are caused by excess oestrogen. This is why the Mirena coil is very useful.

Please get a second opinion before consenting to this, do not let yourself be another statistic.

Kattail...

What kind of symptoms are you having? How much are they bothering you? I had fibroids for at least 10 years (that I knew of), and never really had any symptoms.

I had been bleeding pretty much non-stop (although very lightly and mostly old blood), for about a year before I had my hyst. The bleeding started right after I had a LEEP for severe dylplasia and carcinoma in situ of the cervix. The doc swore that there was no connection.

I had my hyst because the doc had found what he thought was a complex cyst on my ovary. He said that my ovary needed to come out, and we'd have to rule out cancer (though he didn't think I had it). When he did the ultrasound, he looked at my uterus and said that it was pushed back and "distorted" with fibroids, and that we might as well take it out, too. I was conflicted about they hyst--I asked him 3 times if I really needed it. I never got a satisfactory answer. His answers were: (1) I wouldn't tell you you needed one if you didn't; (2) your insurance wouldn't pay for one if it wasn't necessary; and (3) Look, I'm really more concerned about your ovary! (Clearly he was irritated with me by this time )

The only reason I consented to the hyst was because I suffer from severe chronic back pain, and when I asked the doc if my uterus could be causing it, he said that it was possible. I also thought that it would be kind of nice to end this non-stop irritating bleeding, and no longer need birth control.

Interestingly, my cervix had pre-invasive cancer on it just 13 months before my hyst, and this doc talked me into keeping my cervix. He wanted to do a robotically assisted laparoscopic supracervical hsyt. If he had done a regular vaginal hyst, he wouldn't have been able to use the robot. This would have been my chance to get rid of my high risk for cancer cervix, which sounded really good to me. But, I let him talk me into keeping the cervix. Stupid me!!!!!!

When he did the surgery, he discovered that he had misdiagnosed the cyst, he didn't need to take my ovary, but he went ahead with the hyst anyway. Grrrrr.....

Then, right on track, I got monthly bleeding--again, light and mostly old blood, but it lasted for 12 days! So, clearly, this excessive bleeding was not coming from the fibroids since they weren't there anymore. After 6 months of this--and lots of cramping--I went back to my old doc who I'd moved far away from, and he removed my cervix. Endometriosis had been growing on my cervical stump! And then, 12 days after that, I overdid it and ended up hemorrhaging.

Since you are new to all of this, you probably have little idea what I'm talking about. But, my point in telling you all of this is, if you just go ahead with what one doctor says, you run the risk of inviting all sorts of unnecessary problems. My back pain was made *much* worse by all of this, and I'm still trying to dig myself out from my huge pile of medical bills.

I think it's safe to say that I was one of those women who had a hyst unnecessarily! Like (((Aus Chick))) says, I'm another statistic.

(((juniper))) mentions all sorts of other possible treatments for fibroids. And, your doc just said: "you need a hyst." I don't like the sound of that!!! Does he not know about these other less invasive options? Is he surgery-happy, like my doc clearly was?

You really owe it to yourself to get a couple more opinions. I didn't, and I learned the hard way to never do that again. I occasionally write out this whole story so that others will learn from my mistakes.

OK, off my soapbox now...I hope you make a decision that you are comfortable with, and that all goes smoothly.



Margot

Whoa! If all your DR told you was you have a fibroid and therefore that is reason alone to have MAJOR surgery , in my opinion, you definitely need a second opinion.

Did your DR tell you what kind of fibroid you have, what size it is and where it is specifically located? Most fibroids do not require hysterectomy just because they are there. Usually surgery is indicated if they are causing heavy blood loss, chronic severe pain, or they are so large that they interfere with bladder or bowel function. It sounds like you are not experiencing any of this.

When I was first told I had fibroids, my GYN told me that at some point I may have to have a hyst because of the above reasons, but in the meantime he took a wait and see approach. He also ran a lot of tests to rule out other hormonal problems that could have been aggravating my symptoms, which at that time were heavy and painful periods.

I had my hyst three years later, and only because one of my fibroids started to degenerate. In my GYN's opinion (I was seeing him every six months at that point), that put me at a high risk for an emergency hyst because became concerned about infection and/or major blood loss. And, my PCP concurred.

Sabino

kattail,
I echo what everyone here said about getting a second opinion. Having fibroids doesn't automatically mean hysterectomy. This is my second go round with them and this time around I am choosing the hysterectomy alternative. I had a hysterscopy and a D&C the first time (when I was your age) and now seven year later this is the best option for me. I must add that I still have other options even now, but I did my research and have weighed the options and I feel that this is best for me. PLEASE GET A SECOND AND THIRD OPINION. That way if you end up still deciding to go through with this, you will have peace of mind.