Elana/Abby: Cutting through ABDOMINAL MUSCLE during MYO

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Elana: My doctor (Dr. Quagliarello at NYU) also did a bikini cut,

without cutting through abdominal muscle, to remove what turned out

to be a 25 cm (yes, that's right -- about 9 in. long) fibroid from

the top of my uterus. It had looked on two ultrasounds like 2-

3 " smaller " fibroids but even then the sizes were thought to be 10 cm

and 7 cm. My bikini incision is fairly large (6 " ).

I was very interested in this question before my surgery also and had

a hard time finding any info. It seems like there is a lot of

variation among doctors on this. I have a friend who had a radical

hysterectomy for uterine cancer several years ago who was very

surprised to hear me say my doctor did not cut the ab muscles (hers

were cut). She even asked her oncologist who also confirmed that yes,

with myomectomy it is not necessary to cut the ab muscles. I would

imagine that this would make a huge difference in recovery.

Good luck to you in finding more info on this.

Abby (and any other runners): On another note, are you the runner? If

so, I am very curious about your recovery. I would **love** to

compare notes, please? I had abdominal myo on 12/8 and at my 2-week

follow-up my doctor said I could do anything that didn't hurt or make

me overtired, including running, when I felt like it (I was slightly

anemic during surgery -- not from fibroids but from banking my own

blood -- so even though my blood count came back up to normal as soon

as my own blood was returned to me, he thought fatigue might persist

some). I did my first very short, very slow run exactly 4 weeks after

surgery. I had been walking every day starting a couple days after I

came home and could walk as long as I wanted, like an hour, within 10

days after surgery. I held off from running until 4 weeks though

because I feared the impact would be uncomfortable. It was not. It

felt completely normal except that I was quickly tired. I've been

slowly picking up since then. Would love to hear how a real athlete

is doing!

I am not at all on an " athletic " level, just a regular, 3-mile, 2-

3x/week runner, 48 yrs. old, been running for about 15 years, slowed

down some in the last couple of years by aging knees. Also yoga 1-

2x/week.

Looking forward to hearing about your experience Abby.

Sunny

> > Hi, Ladies-

> > As my surgeon explained to me, it is possible to either cut

> *through* the

> > abdominal muscle when doing a myo (w/bikini cut) or to kind of

> work " around " the muscle by moving it aside while removing the

> fibroids.

> >

> > If I understood him correctly, he feels that because of my large

> fibroid (12

> > cm) it is faster and easier (and thus safer) to just go ahead and

> cut

> > *through* the muscle. Thus, that is the procedure that he uses.

> >

> > While I know that he is a great surgeon, that thought troubles me

> a little.

> > Not that I have any muscle tone *now*, you understand but I

> still have

> > fantasies of someday exercising and having a nice flat tummy

(once

> that tummy is fibroid-fruit-free!!)

> >

> > I would greatly appreciate hearing your thoughts on this, and

> input from

> > anyone who has had a myo w/muscles cut. Do you think the

recovery

> was any

> > tougher? Did you notice any reduction in muscle tone post myo???

> >

> > Thanks!!

> > Elana

> > Monterey, CA