Fibroids

Just read about about surgery for fibroids. My first time for posting. I may be headed in that direction although I'm dreading it. My doctor is doing a procedure this week to locate exactly where my fibroid is, I have asked her about embolisation(utrerine)to cut off blood supply, she seems apprehensive due to the fact that some type of "plastic particles are injected into the artery" Has anyone had this done? How safe? Any info will be appreciated! thanks!

Hi sparklingwater. I had a TAH 3.5 weeks ago for fibroids. I had read about embolization, as well as other treatments for them, but decided on the hyst for lots of different reasons. The first being that I wanted a permenant solution. I was finished having children 15 years ago so that was not an issue.

Have you done a search for embolization? Just use the purple search button at the top of the page and see what posts you can come up with. You might also try your post on the post-op message board....or try the "Alternatives" board. I'm sure someone who has more info than me will reply to your post.

I'm glad you are doing lots of research. You will be much more comfortable no matter what your decision if you get all the info you can now!

Good luck, Diane

Welcome!

I had that option also but I said, "No" to it because, 1) I don't want anything in my arteries 2) afraid the fibroid would only half die and then it would rot!!!! 3) I have too may fibroids and they are all different locations so it would be like killing off 1/3 of my uterus! Plus, I don't trust plastics and I don't want anything that would cause a clot.

However, I read that it is very successful. Have you had an ultrasound yet?

When researching my options for fibroid treatment a couple of years ago (I ended up having a myomectomy) I looked at UAE but decided it wasn't for me. For one thing I don't like the idea of plastic being shot into my body and for another there were very few studies on the long term effectiveness of the procedure. At the time I wasn't looking to maintain my fertility but it was also not known what the procedure would do in that case.

Those are just my opinions. Good luck!

Sorry for making another post but for some reason the system won't allow me to edit (says I'm not signed in, though I am!)

Anyway, last summer a friend of mine had a UAE for multiple fibroids and it never took. Her fibroids continued to grow and now she's back to square one.

JUST WANTED TO SAY THANKS TO ALL FOR YOUR INPUT ON UTERINE EMBOLIZATION-I'VE HAD A VAGINAL ULTRASOUND,BUT WILL SOON BE HAVING A PROCEDURE TO DETERMINE EXACT LOCATION(WATER FILLED). THIS IS A WONDERFUL WEBPAGE!

however, my doc reported that the few he had participated in had pretty heavy pain after surgery. I understand that the actual "dying" of the fibroid can be painful. I skipped it and had laprascopic supracervical (kept my ovaries and cervix). I'm not interested in children so this was best option for me. Do a google search, too. Lots of information out there that you should review.

Good luck!

Hi sparkling water ! I had researched UAE also and when I asked my Dr. about it, he wasn't crazy about the idea either. He also had concerns of dying, rotting mass inside the body, still new procedure, and no guarantee new ones wouldn't grow again. He also offered, ablation, myomectomy, but weighing the risks the end result for me always ended up with TAH. Ablation might have worked for fibroids growing in the uterine cavity, but would do nothing for the ones in the wall and he would have to keep me on meds to control bleeding. With the myomectomy, he would remove the fibroids only and depending on how many and how deep into the tissue they were and how many holes he'd have to repair, he may have still ended up doing a hyster. With myomectomy there was also a chance of injuring neighboring organs. BC pills worked for a couple of yrs. to control the bleeding, but my last bleeding episode and anemia could no longer be treated with pills. Also, my Dr. wanted to see what was actually going on inside. I spoke with several women and all had abdominal procedures. I hadn't come across one who had UAE so I really didn't have any comparison for that procedure. I'm sure there are women out there who have opted for less evasive procedures and who have had success and that's great. I weighed all the options and pros and cons of each and for me the result always ended the same - TAH. The childbearing factor wasn't an issue with us either so it was a matter of my health. This is my experience only. Gool Luck and keep researching!