20cm fibroid gone, out of hospital next day!

[Guest guest]

Well, it's done, gone, bye-bye. I actually had been schedule for a

UAE in December, but my IR (whom I completely trust, Dr Newman

at Cleveland Clinic) wanted me to see an OB/GYN that he's worked with

for a long time (Dr Bradley CCF). They concurred that because

of my symptoms (I could not urinate in the morning, had already been

to the E.R. twice for catheterization and learned to self-cath) and

the size (they thought it was a 10cm and two 5cm, turned out to be one

20cm fibroid) that I might not get the relief I wanted from a UAE. Dr

Bradley has done thousands of fibroids and does all treatments for

them. Her opinion (after talking 2 hours) was either myomectomy or

hysterectomy. I told her I was NOT doing a hysterectomy. She did say

it was my choice, they both did, but in the end when I talked to my

husband we decided to go with the myo and just get it done. I'd

already been in pain for months and though I did try

diet/exercise/vitamins and herbs (which all did great to relief my

discomfort), it seemed like it was time to get rid of my fibroid friend.

On January 23rd (last Friday) I had my myomectomy. The surgeon was a

bit surprised to find one very large fibroid instead of 3 smaller ones

attached to the back of my uterus. He said it was really distorting

a lot of my organs (especially my bladder and bowel) and it was a

difficult surgery (2 1/2 hours), but that he was sure it was a

success. He did not know until he got in there what he was going to

find, and did say if he had problems repairing the uterus (or if I had

problems under surgery) he may have to do a hysterectomy. I was ready

for anything and just happy to finally be over it all. It turned out

fine. I spent 2 hours in recovery, then slept in my room the rest of

the day with my morephine pump and a grumpy whiny roommate. At

midnight I stopped the morephine pump, it made me too naseous to eat

and too light headed to sit up. I asked for a different pain killer

and got Toridal, worked fine. They also gave me compazine for the

naseau.

The next morning (saturday) at 7am they took out the catheter and sent

me breakfast. I'm not sure why they though that eggs, sausage, toast,

and regular black coffee would be a good breakfast for someone a day

after surgery and anesthesia???? I ate the toast and asked for herbal

tea. At 9am I got out of bed and went to the bathroom. A little

pain, but not too bad. I had some discharge (like a light period) but

felt okay in general. I got another shot of Toridal and at 10am the

doctor came in to see how I was doing, glad that I had gotten up and

eaten something too. He said if I wanted to (and if I ate my lunch

and dinner okay) I could go home that night after dinner.

I was up and out of bed 4 more times, walking to the bathroom and into

the hall a few times (making sure the nurses saw me walking) and I ate

most of my lunch (bland chicken pot pie, but just what I needed),

drank LOTS and LOTS of water (3 pitchers I think). The doctor

prescribed 800mg of motrine as my only pain killer, I asked for

something a bit stronger and got percocet which was perfect. Killed

the pain enough for me to get up and about, but no naseau. I ate some

of my dinner (and had my husband finish it, yucky spaghetti)... but

the nurses thought I ate it and at 6pm called the doctor and brought

me release forms and a prescription for percocet.

My only mistake was (actually more the hospital's mistake) that all of

the pharmacies were closed at 6pm until 2pm Sunday. I got home okay,

struggled a bit with the car, but my husband carried me upstairs. I

was finally in my bed with my children smiling and no noisy nurses

station or grumbling old lady next to me! Ahhh... quiet! So I slept

and tried using Tylenol and Motrin all night for the pain, it was okay

but not the best. I woke up at 2am shaking and crying, I think more

from fever. Had some tea and tylenol and slept until 6am.

After my husband got me some more percocet on sunday I pretty much

slept (except to eat) until Tuesday. On Wednesday I was out of

percocet and switched to Motrin (did fine), but I had a fever (101)

and called the doctor, he said to come in right away. I think it was

from the percocet stopping, but I didn't want to get in the car or

leave the house, so I took motrin a few hours at a time and was fine

by Thursday. I didn't feel flu-like or like I had an infection, just

tired mostly.

On Friday I got up and went downstairs (14 stairs) and did okay. I

had a doctor's appointment, he said I was doing great. Today,

Saturday, I'm doing great. I've been up and down the stairs, took

down our Christmas tree (finally, but I just did ornaments), and had

breakfast with my family. I rest every few hours and nap in bed, but

I feel pretty good. The doctor doesn't want me to drive for 1 more

week or do anything strenuous (lifting etc)... but I'm doing okay. I

rest a lot, read stories to my kids, and watch TV or movies. I work

from home so I was back to work on Tuesday (from bed though) with my

laptop. It's been a much better recovery (knock on wood) than I

expected, and I'm glad the fibroid is gone and I can pee all the time

now... no problems at all.

I attribute the good outcome mostly too 1) looking up information and

finding out what was best for my situation 2) getting some really good

opinions (mind you I went to 6 different doctors until I was

satisified with my decisions) and 3) resting completely for the first

4 days after surgery (and before surgery too). Probably the positive

attitude helped also. I knew what to expect at the hospital and what

I wanted to do (I'd had a c-section 4 yrs ago, that made it a lot

easier to judge what I needed to do this time).

That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Good luck to anyone else

having surgery soon or worrying about their decision. I'm glad I did

the myo now, mostly because of the size... but if they grow back I am

going to be on the lookout and I'll do a UAE.

[Guest guest]

Fran (in South Africa),

Fran, you mentioned you had a UAE one year ago and now another fibroid is

starting to grow. May I ask if you had additional symptoms popping back up

after

the UAE? And how long did it take until you knew the fibroid was growing

again? Thanks.

[Guest guest]

That is great news, thank you for sharing your story. I was going to

go the hysterectomy route as I have 2 large fibroids, top and bottom,

but now maybe I will go for the myo. I already had UAE a year ago,

but they only managed to kill the top one. Now the bottom one has

started growing.

Fran in Cape Town, South Africa

> Well, it's done, gone, bye-bye. I actually had been schedule for a

> UAE in December, but my IR (whom I completely trust, Dr Newman

> at Cleveland Clinic) wanted me to see an OB/GYN that he's worked

with

> for a long time (Dr Bradley CCF). They concurred that because

> of my symptoms (I could not urinate in the morning, had already been

> to the E.R. twice for catheterization and learned to self-cath) and

> the size (they thought it was a 10cm and two 5cm, turned out to be

one

> 20cm fibroid) that I might not get the relief I wanted from a UAE.

Dr

> Bradley has done thousands of fibroids and does all treatments for

> them. Her opinion (after talking 2 hours) was either myomectomy or

> hysterectomy. I told her I was NOT doing a hysterectomy. She did

say

> it was my choice, they both did, but in the end when I talked to my

> husband we decided to go with the myo and just get it done. I'd

> already been in pain for months and though I did try

> diet/exercise/vitamins and herbs (which all did great to relief my

> discomfort), it seemed like it was time to get rid of my fibroid

friend.

>

> On January 23rd (last Friday) I had my myomectomy.

[Guest guest]

Hi

It was discovered soon after the UAE that they had only ever killed

one fibroid - the other had not been affected by the UAE at all, and

now it has started growing!

A big disappointment, specially since the UAE used up my life's

savings!

Fran

> Fran (in South Africa),

>

> Fran, you mentioned you had a UAE one year ago and now another

fibroid is

> starting to grow. May I ask if you had additional symptoms popping

back up after

> the UAE? And how long did it take until you knew the fibroid was

growing

> again? Thanks.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for your story. I'm currently in the process of scheduling a

myomectomy to remove a single large fibroid... I'm told about 12cm by

9cm. Not as large as yours, so everything you said was reassuring!

I've not been in a hospital since I was six years old, so I'm

extremely nervous about all of this.

ann

[Guest guest]

I think everyone has to judge their solution based on their own

bodies, so go for it. Whatever is best for you! I really really

wanted the UAE until the IR and GYN both said they weren't sure it was

best for my problems. I now know that they were right... but if these

grow back I will definitely watch for the symptoms and do the UAE

before it gets out of hand. I will definitely not bo back to my old

life-style of no exercise and bad diet. I am so used to eating well,

taking vitamins and herbs, and exercising now, I don't think I could

go back. DO what is best for you

> That is great news, thank you for sharing your story. I was going to

> go the hysterectomy route as I have 2 large fibroids, top and bottom,

> but now maybe I will go for the myo. I already had UAE a year ago,

> but they only managed to kill the top one. Now the bottom one has

> started growing.

> Fran in Cape Town, South Africa