18 Fibroids removed in Germany by Dr. Krystek

[Guest guest]

Hi Everybody,

I am 31 years old,live in Germany and I just had 18 fibroids removed

(myomectomy) on August 23. I am very pleased with the outcome. At the

end of December 2001 and in May 2002, I had miscarriages (m/c) at 10-

11 weeks and 8-9 weeks respectively. I know, definitavely, that the

second m/c was not due to the fibroids but to hormones - apparently

too much progesterone and the placenta developed too fast.

Anyway, I discovered that I had fibroids after visiting the doctor

prior to my wedding in April of 2001 in order to discuss birth

control options. I was not a virgin, but still me and my honey

decided to abstain from sex before marriage as we are both

Christians. I had a really stressy job so I had not been to the

gynecologist in 2 years prior to this examination. I was shocked to

discover " Fibroids . "

I had not a clue what they were at the time and did some searching on

the internet. I discussed it with my fiancé and said that there might

be a chance that we could not have children together, but he said

that he still wanted to marry me anyway and that we could adopt

Anyway, as a college student and to early to mid-20's, i had problems

with my period (bleeding out of cycle and heavy periods) and the

doctors always put me on birth control pills to sort things out. I

think that this is the wrong treatment as fibroids feed on hormones,

especially estrogen. Moreover, I also went to a gynecologist who did

not do the exams with ultrasound. As a result, my fibroids, when they

were small, were likely missed with a hand examination. By the way,

my mom had fibroids too and she had a hysterectomy in her early

thirties.

During the pregnancies the fibroids grew enormously and at the end of

the first miscarriage my (former!) gyn, told me that my uterus was

a " sack of potatoes " and that I should have it take completely out.

He said that he always knew that my pregnancy would end disastrously.

Needless to say I was devastated at his callous behavior, but I knew

that I had other options and began to investigate more extensively.

Through the help of various chatrooms I began to contemplate

myomectomy or uterine artery embolization (arteries leading to the

uterus are blocked with particles and the fibroids shrink). I chose

myo, because I felt that it had the best recorded success rate with

women conceiving and carrying to term afterwards.

I had my surgery in Heidelberg at St. fskrankenhaus with a woman

gyn/surgeon named Dr. Elke Krystek. She was excellent: competent,

good bedside manner, wanted me to keep my uterus, etc. She does tons

of these surgeries and is keen to have women retain their uteruses.

The atmosphere at the hospital mirrored exactly her positive

attributes, as well. And to those of you who live in Germany and know

how unfriendly people can be, at times, you know that this is no mean

feat!

So the 18 fibroids (half a kilogram or a little over a pound) were

removed with a bikini abdominal incision and basically she cut along

the last wrinkle on my adomin before my pubis. She sewed from the

inside so that there should not be a puffy scar there and once the

pubic hair grows back (I had to shave), then the scar will not be

visible at all!

I feel really good. Eventhough my stomach is still swollen, it is a

lot smaller than it was before the surgery. So I look forward to a

flat stomach when the swelling goes down . I can walk upright and do

not have any pain only fullness in the stomack area. Dr. Krystek said

that we could try in 6 months to conceive.

Anyway, the best of luck to everyone and please write to me if you

have any questions!

Frechesmaedl

Here is a list of my favorite sources of fibroid info:

Book: Fibroids by Johanna Skilling

German chat room: http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/gebaermuttermyome

US info sites:

http://thefibroidplace.com/surgery_tips.htm

http://www.myomectomy.net/abdominal_myomectomy.htm

http://www.uterinefibroids.com/

http://www.thefibroidplace.com/fertility.htm

http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/3533/fibroid.html

U.S. Chatrooms:

http://forums.delphiforums.com/fibroids/messages?fpi=yes

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ttcmyomectomy/?yguid=94086606

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/uterinefibroids/?yguid=94086606

Info on St. fskrankenhaus and Dr. Krystek:

http://www.josefskrankenhaus.de/gynaekologie.htm

http://www.josefskrankenhaus.de/Gyn.htm