Guest guest Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 > > He suggested some alternatives. A uterine ablation procedure to remove the > endometrial lining and/or a UAE; however, he said that in 20% of cases the > UAE does not work and they end up having to do surgery anyway and I would > also be left with the fibroids dying inside me. > > What to do! What to do!!!!! I would guess the 2nd gyno said that UAE's don't work because HE doesn't do them!!! It's no money in his pocket if you have the UAE instead of the hysterectomy. I, personally, think his statistics are WAY off! If you do any reading on the yahoo " EMBO " board--VERY few women have to go on and have a hysterctomy. And that old " scare " tactic of " dying fibroids " doesn't ring true either. Yes, the fibroid is " killed " with the UAE and either sheds out of your body OR (depending on the type) is reabsorbed by your body or becomes calcified. If you read back on this site--a number of people have had fibroids die (on their own with no surgical/medical help) and the people are still living and not dying. Do some more research. I had a gyno tell me that I needed a hysterectomy about 2.5 years ago. The idiot had waited 3 exams to tell me that my uterus was enlarged (I didn't have the kind of fibroids that bleed) and now the only thing she could do was an abdominal hysterectomy. Oh yeah--she also offered " watch and wait " . I was 48-49 at the time. As soon as I left her office ==I hit the computer and started doing some searches. By the time I had the ultrasound her office had set up--I had an appointment with an Interventional Radiologist(and he had received copies of the ultrasound report) and he sent me for an MRI. Result--I had the UAE at about the time the gyno wanted to see me again to check on the fibroid size. Can you take an educated guess as to whether I even bothered with that gyno again? Check out www.sirweb.org--this is the professional site for Interventional Radiologists who actually DO UAE/UFEs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 > endometrial lining and/or a UAE; however, he said that in 20% of > cases the UAE does not work and they end up having to do surgery anyway and 80% success rate sounds like pretty good odds to me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 21, 2004 Report Share Posted January 21, 2004 <What to do...> You're not sure, and it's an important, poerhaps irreversible decision so I think you need a little more time (But weeks or months and not years) and some further research in that time, looking at sources that tell it like it is and bring together the various things you need to know. It's worth doing properly. I think the best summaries and compilations of info will be your own, from web surfing print off's and books. 1) I think request a little more time to make your big decision without a deadline for making the decision. That will take the pressure off. 2) Yet more research. Check site links, web surfing on various key words to make sure you've located some of the best sites and forums and books for different treatment options. Some groups you've probably already heard mentioned include hyster sisters, healing fibroids naturally, the Yahoo embo group, The Fibroid Place, Smartgroups UK or Germany, ttc myomectomy. & there is an endo one I think. Not everything or everyone is impartial. A lot of the books I've seen run through different treatment types, doing a piece on each. 3) Run through (On paper to pin down and hold your thoughts) possible treatments weighing up how that treatment could be applied to *YOUR* your case and the pros and cons for *YOUR* case. Cons might also include how reliable you think is the research info? Has someone got a reason to do the hard sell? (For instance enthusiasm for their dept's pet novel research project) Put them in a ring binder even. Are your notes thin to non existent for some options? Are there some you can now weed out as unsuitable for you? DO you feel very wary and unhappy about one of the options? Why exactly? 4) Look at PubMed site. It comes up on a search of that name 5) Return to the gyn, having mulled it over and formulated more focussed questions. Here are some starting points... What do ladies who've had hysterectomies say after the operation about their decision? How your age and aspirations fit your decisions Are you a myomectomy candidate or acandidate for a combination of treatments or a certain approach to the myo? For example could the fibroid be cut into smaller pieces before removal, shrank by the lupron or by UAE? Where do you stand on surgery anaesthesia with a lung clot? Are you a candidate for each of the treatment options you are considering,or are there contra-indications, such as the lung clot problem? Are some of the very newest treatments too new and not trusted yet by different specialists? What do ladies with a combination of fibroids and endometriosis on the forums say? Who else has a similar case to mine on the forums and what have they discovered? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2004 Report Share Posted January 22, 2004 What was once thought to be fibroids, ended up being polyps but still causing extreme pain and bleeding, brought me to undergo endometrial ablation 14 months ago. Sucess rates are somewhere in the 80-85% range, depending on various factors: The procedure is less invasive but only patient and doctor (patient moreso) can really make the judgement call. In my case after 14 months of spotting, the pain and bleeding have returned and now I am facing the whole process again...(which procedure: hysterectomy or another ablation to have perhaps ANOTHER ablation?)... Again research and discussion are our best tools... > I thought that ablation could be used as a treatment to control heavy bleeding from some types of fibroids? Is this not true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2004 Report Share Posted January 22, 2004 What was once thought to be fibroids, ended up being polyps but still causing extreme pain and bleeding, brought me to undergo endometrial ablation 14 months ago. Sucess rates are somewhere in the 80-85% range, depending on various factors: The procedure is less invasive but only patient and doctor (patient moreso) can really make the judgement call. In my case after 14 months of spotting, the pain and bleeding have returned and now I am facing the whole process again...(which procedure: hysterectomy or another ablation to have perhaps ANOTHER ablation?)... Again research and discussion are our best tools... > I thought that ablation could be used as a treatment to control heavy bleeding from some types of fibroids? Is this not true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2004 Report Share Posted January 22, 2004 What to do? That's any easy one. Get another opinion! ASAP! Try an Reproductive Endocrinologist this time instead of an OB/GYN. Please before you do anything (and that includes Lupron) get more tests done. I don't know what you have had so far but please make sure you are positive what you have can only be dealt with through a hysterectomy. Good Luck, Diane P.S. an ablation will not remove your fibroid. --- sand & sea@... wrote: > I needed a second opinion in any case so I went back > to my old obgyn I had been seeing 10 years ago. He examined me and his > recommendation was a FULL hysterectomy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 22, 2004 Report Share Posted January 22, 2004 What to do? That's any easy one. Get another opinion! ASAP! Try an Reproductive Endocrinologist this time instead of an OB/GYN. Please before you do anything (and that includes Lupron) get more tests done. I don't know what you have had so far but please make sure you are positive what you have can only be dealt with through a hysterectomy. Good Luck, Diane P.S. an ablation will not remove your fibroid. --- sand & sea@... wrote: > I needed a second opinion in any case so I went back > to my old obgyn I had been seeing 10 years ago. He examined me and his > recommendation was a FULL hysterectomy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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