Guest guest Posted October 26, 1999 Report Share Posted October 26, 1999 Hello All: Schizophrenia is a pretty good way to describe the medical profession & their approach to fibroids. The first 2 gyns who saw me for my fibroids tried to convince me that I'd better get a hysterectomy or suffer horrible consequences including a slow, extremely painful death from cancer. The second gyn also made a very big issue over my anemia. Guess they couldn't see past the dollar signs in front of their greedy eyes! I have been trying to find an IR give me a consult for UFE. And of course my insurance company isn't being too cooperative either. Surprise, surprise! As soon as my insurance company denied coverage for UFE due to failure to justify need for the procedure, the first IR more or less told me that maybe I should just live with my symptoms as they weren't that severe and I was 51 and approaching menopause anyway.....Who do I believe, the doctors who think I'm on Death's Door or the guy who thinks my symptoms are relatively mild? Am I missing the point here, or are the doctors basing my care or lack of care due to the amount of money they think they can get out of me and my insurance company? I tried to see another IR last week but that experience left me so depressed that I am taking a vacation from doctors, at least for now. I had so hoped to have this procedure behind by the end of the year, but don't think that's going to happen. Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 26, 1999 Report Share Posted October 26, 1999 I'm new to the group and I find it great. Congratulations everyone on an excellent egroup. I first discovered I had a fibroid about a year ago. The first thing that struck me was the medical profession's schizophrenia on the condition. On the one hand they were saying 30 per cent of women over 40 have them and its nothing to worry about and on the other hand it was, oh if they contribute to heavy periods or grow enormous, there's really nothing for it but a hysterectomy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 27, 1999 Report Share Posted October 27, 1999 I took three 200mg iron tablets a day for anaemia of 9.7 grammes of haemoglobin per litre of blood (as opposed to normal level of 12 grammes per litre) and within a couple of months the anaemia was gone. Now the heavy periods have gone too. A D & C can establish whether a fibroid is contributing to heavy periods or not. Basically if it sticks inward, rather than out, it will have more effect because it increases the surface area of the uterine lining. A fibroid between the uterine lining and the wall, rather than in the wall, has most effect on menstruation. I am in the process of changing my doctor. One that is willing to terrorise me to promote a treatment I don't want as a life-style improvement is a health hazard more than anything. Think of all the stress they cause. For me the important distinction is between life-threatening and quality of life. Only a directly and immediately life-threatening condition such as a cancer, for which there is no alternative treatment, would prompt me to have a hysterectomy and I pray I am never in that situation. My sense is that surgery in such an interior organ is not a simple matter and I am wary of considering any major surgical op for any condition that affects my quality of life but does not threaten my life. If my heavy periods had continued I would have put up with the inconvenience and iron pills and need to keep equipped for menstrual emergencies. It is a drag but not that bad and I would be in one piece and not putting my body at risk by potentially hazardous treatments. After the menopause fibroids do shrink because they are no longer fed by oestrogen, so if one can get away with just leaving them that seems to me personally the better option. Better still if one can find some way to address the hormonal imbalance that apparently causes them and prevent them growing. Some fibroids are stable at a given size and others can grow very fast, I understand. Where the borderline lies between quality of life and life-threatening, I don't know. A fast-growing enormous fibroid presumably would be life-threatening. Bigger ones presumably cause more pressure pains and perhaps affect the bladder and bowel. Everyone's threshold of pain and discomfort is different, so I suppose it would be very much a personal judgement. But this UFE thing sounds worth knowing more about and I await Carla Dionne's write-up on it with interest. Re: polyp/hysterectomy >Hello All: > >Schizophrenia is a pretty good way to describe the medical profession & their >approach to fibroids. > >The first 2 gyns who saw me for my fibroids tried to convince me that I'd >better get a hysterectomy or suffer horrible consequences including a slow, >extremely painful death from cancer. The second gyn also made a very big >issue over my anemia. Guess they couldn't see past the dollar signs in front >of their greedy eyes! > >I have been trying to find an IR give me a consult for UFE. And of course my >insurance company isn't being too cooperative either. Surprise, surprise! As >soon as my insurance company denied coverage for UFE due to failure to >justify need for the procedure, the first IR more or less told me that maybe >I should just live with my symptoms as they weren't that severe and I was 51 >and approaching menopause anyway.....Who do I believe, the doctors who think >I'm on Death's Door or the guy who thinks my symptoms are relatively mild? Am >I missing the point here, or are the doctors basing my care or lack of care >due to the amount of money they think they can get out of me and my insurance >company? > >I tried to see another IR last week but that experience left me so depressed >that I am taking a vacation from doctors, at least for now. I had so hoped to >have this procedure behind by the end of the year, but don't think that's >going to happen. > >Liz > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >Learn2 Avoid Junk Mail. Learn2 Shop for Bargain Airfares. Learn2 >Weatherize Your Home. Learn2 Speak Wine. Learn2 Get by in French. >Learn2 Negotiate a Raise. http://clickhere./click/965 > > > >eGroups.com home: /group/uterinefibroids > - Simplifying group communications > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 27, 1999 Report Share Posted October 27, 1999 Liz: I know exactly how you feel. In August my hemoglobin was 5.9 and I was told I needed an immediate hysterectomy; there were no other options. I too am 51 and was hoping to hit menopause and the fibroids would shrink. Thanks to this eGroup, I learned about UAE and am now in contact with an IR to do the UAE. Just got off the phone with him and he is contacting my insurance company to see if they will cover the procedure. I saw 2 gyns and they both felt that AT MY AGE a hyst was the only option since I would not need any of those female organs anyway. Hopefully, things will work out. I've already had a myo but the fibroids came back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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