Facing Hyster - Fibroids - Incision Length - Options?

Hello.
Im new in here, i am facing a hyster becuz of very large fibroids and a polyps. i have had heavy bleeding for years and now have had bleeding inbetween my periods. Im in my late 40's and dont want anymore children.
I am terrified to have this surgery becuz i have no idea what to expect after...
the doc told me I have to be cut long ways from my belly button down due to the size....not keen on that idea at all! i ask if there was anyway to do it the other way, he told me no.
Amyone else had it done this way?
Scared!!!!

Hi sweetpea1980
My doctor told me that I would be cut that way also due to the size of the fibroids. Maybe it's just the normal procedure when you have large fibroids. Hopefully one of the Sisters will be able to give us some info.

not sure if this is where I am suppose to post this or not?
Are you going to get yours done reader2010?
I dont know if anyone had any other way to deal with this or not?

I dont believe there is any other way I can go or not, my doc. made it sound like no. What has yours told you about this?

sweetpea -

You've found a good place for support.

I don't know if you've discussed your surgery with any other Dr.s Sometimes getting a 2nd opinion can be very beneficial.

I had the daVinci robotic assisted surgery. Although my surgery was for a cancer diagnosis I have heard it can be done on those with an enlarged uterus and fibroids. It might be something that you would want to check into.



G.

sweetpea1980 as of right now it will be the incision from my belly button down. I wish that I could do the daVinci surgery but it doesn't look like they do that procedure at the hospital that I will be having my surgery. But I will ask my doctor about it.

Not sure how large your fibroids are but I do know that very large ones do have to be taken out by abdominal incision....

I had a TAH BSO with vertical incision....the incision that you are talking about from the belly button down to the pubic bone....due to a 14cm ovarian teratoma, multiple fibroids and an enlarged uterus due to adenomyosis....honestly my incision didn't feel that bad , not something I would do again if I had a choice but also not so bad that I would skip a needed surgery because of it...

Get another opinion if you don't trust your Dr but more than likely if the firoids are very large they are going to want to do it with the abdominal incision

I also had a hyster (TAH) about 2 weeks ago due to a uterine fibroid. Mine was 10cm and I opted for the hyster vs. a myectomy because I don't want to deal with the fibroids coming back as it was so terrible bleeding ALL THE TIME and I also don't mind not having anymore children. My incision was made on my bikini line and the hysterectomy could not be done vaginally due to the size.
Personally, I didn't think they did incisions like that anymore, but like the others said....ask your doc or get a 2nd opinion.
Best wishes, and you found a great site for support!

They do still do incisions like that....I just had my surgery about 6 weeks ago lol ;-)
the reason my doctor gave for having the vertical incision is that there is more room to manuver everything around then if they do the bikini (horizontal) incision..they prefer to not have to do the vertical incision due to the fact that there is a lot more stress on it then the horizontal one....but if needed then they do it ...

Where do I begin. I knew something was wrong when I turned 40 my periods were unbearable. Never had trouble. Use to brag about it. I am 43 now. Pain but tolerable over the years. Got worser. Could not move at least 2 days each month. 2 turned into an eternity. Missed out on a lot of EVENTS. All had to schedule vacations around poor old me. In 2008 I pressured my primary doctor explaining I was not well. Something going on. Tired & week. Paps always came back normal. But I knew I should not be bleeding out of control. She finally gave Pelvic Ultrasound. Okay 3 tiny fibroids. Insured me they will shrink. So I sufferd the entire 2008. Okay 2009 check up. Told her I was still having pain & could not function. Okay scheduled a BIOPSY. Came back. Nothing wrong. So April 2009 inserted Mirena to help. Bled the entire time. Fell out in August. Suffered remaining of year. 2010 check up. Let her know I am still going through this. She said okay. We will send you to specialist. When I got home. She called & said meet her @ hospital for blood transfusion ASAP. What..Never heard of this..She said I am sorry I should have been reading your chart. Your blood count has been declining since 2007. 9.0 to 5.0. Needless to say this was 2-11. Spent entire weekend @ hospital. 2 pints of blood turned into 4. The fibroids had been bleeding out of control. I was merely a walking zombie & Thank God he was with me. They said the Mirena did not work due to Fibroids were stronger than device. Did not have a chance. While I was there Specialist came in & did check up. Right away he was like back pain-yes. Tired-yes. frequent urinating-yes all the time...All of the above. He said Fibroids was the size of 16 week baby. At that moment he informed me too big for any other procedure other than TAH. He said that he had to see if fibroids caused any other trouble. Open like a c--section. I was devistated I gave myself to 45 to have a baby. I did not cry nor blame God. All I knew is that I did not want to miss my niece Graduation May 27th due to Pain. A week later. Scheduled procedure for 2-25. I was like no period for Feb. All I can say is what I have endured mentally & physically these last 4 weeks has been a walk in the park compared to my 2 years of pain. I hope this will help with your decision. Awesome 2 months pain free. Love You

I am 42, had a TAH on 3/23/10 due to a large fibroid that was causing severe anemia and heavy bleeding. My doctor told me he was doing a bikini line incision even though the fibroid was 10cm. Although during the surgery, they found out that it was 14.5cm but took an extra hour taking their time to remove it rather than doing a vertical cut. I'm glad they did that! Get a second opinion if you feel that the doctor isn't addressing your concerns. Good luck!