to suziedee1

[Guest guest]

hi, suzie. i have pains similar to yours along with heavy bleeding

(lasting 7 to 12 days with flooding episodes and only two weeks

between each period) that i let go for two years because i thot it

was all related to just getting older (i'm 41 now)! i was shopping

at a warehouse store with my mum one day and i was throwing boxes and

boxes of super tampons and overnight pads into my shopping cart. she

asked if i was stocking up for the year and i said, no, just a couple

months. she told me to get myself to a doctor (i hadn't been for a

few years - i don't like going to doctors due to a few mishaps from

several years ago - i walked around on a broken ankle for two years

and then, years later, one told me i had leukemia and should start

winding up my affairs - after six months of blood tests, i was told

it was an error ... i was getting false positives from shots i had

before i traveled around the world (including australia)). anyway,

back to this. so i go and am told i have at least one fibroid.

well, one year later, i have several, the largest being canteloupe-

sized with two tennis balls and several smaller ones. i also get the

dull ache pain with sharp twinges that cause me to catch my breath

and what is now chronic back pain. the pain has become much worse in

the last six months. waited four months for a gyn i'd heard very

good things about and she said my uterus is four times its normal

size and it was time to think about doing something about it. i do

part-time medical transcription from home (in addition to my full-

time job) for obgyn.net and about 80% of the work involves fibroid

info from conferences, so i have learned a huge amount about my own

problem. i went through the four remedies with my gyn and have

decided on a partial hyst as i don't want children and i don't want

more than one major surgery. i have a difficult time understanding

women who would put themselves through two or three myos and won't do

that to myself, but everyone has their own reasons and i respect

that. only you know your own body and the limits you will put

yourself through. i asked my doc what she would do in my shoes (or

should i say, if she were in my knickers?) and she said a partial

hyst but that she would leave it to me and that i could even change

my mind in the operating room to a myo if i so wanted and that is

what she would do. i have talked to two dozen women in my office

(over 400 employees) who had have this procedure and they all said

there were no drawbacks or negatives for them. they are felt better

by day five and are now relieved they don't have to deal with all the

mess and pain from before. my doc also said her patients who have

had this done come back to her for their post-surgery follow-up and

all said they only regretted not doing it sooner. i'm scheduled for

april as my mum is having heart surgery in mid-feb and i need to be

able-bodied (such as i am) to help my dad help her. i told her

she'll be recovered sufficiently by my surgery date to help me!

it is worth the discomfort to wait and find a doc you feel

comfortable with. poll every woman your age you know - personally,

at your work place, at the gym - and listen to what they say. i have

yet to meet anyone who has had negative things come from a partial

hyst. i feel confident in my decision and my choice of doctor. best

of luck to you. i think advil and playtex stock is on the up due to

women like us and it's time to stop!