To Chris - only my opinion

[Guest guest]

Dear

You are on the right track of getting as much information as you can before

deciding on any treatments for your fibroids. And I am glad that you are

seeking more opinions than the sole recommendation of the RE you have seen.

In my opinion, do go see another RE if you can find one in a different

clinic or city than your first RE. There may be a fertility center in your

town or one that does take a drive to get to, but since it's your health and

your life we are talking about, driving a long way to see the best doctor

you can is worth it!

The fact that your first RE said he could not resect your submucosal fibroid

worries me. Did he give you a definite answer why this is so? Is it that he

is not trained to do resection surgeries? I have been seeing a trend here

quite a bit from LOL that they have symptomatic submucosal fibs (altering

their lives) and their RE's tell them their fibs cannot be resected. This

could be so, but often times it is because that particular surgeon does not

have the experience to resect the fibroids.

Granted, some submucosal fibs are deeply embedded in the endometrial lining

and cannot be totally and completely removed during a resection. But a

skilled surgeon can remove much of them first before suggesting an abdominal

myomectomy. I was fortunate to go to a RE who was willing to perform

several resections to remove my multiple subm. fibs.

I had a few subm. that were over 10cm in size (along with over twenty

smaller versions) and was not told they were impossible to remove via

resection. My RE warned me of the risks and the fact that it may take two

or more resections to completely clear my endometrial cavity of fibs. He

gave me the choice to have them removed all at once in an ab myo or slowly

one by one during several resections. I chose the resections because they

were easier to heal from and I had had an ab myo a few years ago and didn't

want to do another major surgery if it was not necessary.

After three resections (in a period of four months time) I have no more

fibroid symptoms! I suffered from pain like you, bleeding too terrible to

describe in one sentence, and all the extra side effects from anemia. Now

that my subm. fibs are gone I am living an anemia-free life without heavy

periods and without pain! I do have one intramural fib that was not

operable via resection. But my RE did not think it would cause me any

problems or symptoms. I am off the pill and ttc for the first time ever! I

never thought I would ever have a normally functioning uterus after

experiencing so many awful symptoms. But once I found the right doctor (my

RE at my town's fertility center) I can now live a better life. And I can

tell you... over the years I went to multiple doctors and surgeons for

multiple opinions of treatment. Their opinions did vary, and that is why I

waited so long to seek treatment. I wanted better answers, and being

persistent came through for me.

Since you already know you have one of each type of fibroid, it is in my

opinion that you find the right RE with the best answers for you. It is

possible that your pedunculated subserosal fib causes you pain. If it's

twisting or compressing on other abdominal organs it could be quite

painful. But coming from a woman who has had two separate abdominal uterine

surgeries and three resections, I would suggest you find a RE who will

remove your subm. fib via resection before you agree to any ab myo.

After your resection you can then decide if your pain and bleeding levels

decrease. A resection leaves you with little to no pain, you are on your

feet and home in the same day, and you may even feel well enough to go back

to work the next day. There are no incisions, minimal scarring, and no

heavy pain medications needed. You can request a general anesthetic or a

spinal, but this can depend on which your doctor allows as well. I chose a

general because I'm squeamish and would rather not be aware of the surgery

taking place. It took longer for the general anesthetic to completely wear

off, but I woke up with no pain, and the surgery was done!

I know you are in the East, I am in Oregon, so I cannot recommend my Re to

you unless you want to make the trip. But I hope with enough research on

your part as well as help here from LOL that you will find one that gives

you the answers you are seeking.

Good luck to you my dear. Keep educating yourself... for it makes you a

better patient and a better healer!

Feel free to e-mail me privately if you need.

Cheers,

:)Sonja

[Guest guest]

Thank you to Sonja, Cheryl, and everyone else who responded to my

post.

> And I am glad that you are seeking more opinions than the sole

> recommendation of the RE you have seen.

This is really the scariest part of the whole thing, isn't it? --

finding someone you can trust. It's certainly been a long road for

me in terms of even getting information about the treatment options

available. My first OB/GYN told me to either live with it or have a

hysterectomy!

> The fact that your first RE said he could not resect your

> submucosal fibroid worries me. Did he give you a definite answer

> why this is so? Is it that he is not trained to do resection

> surgeries?

He is trained to do resections, but he seemed to feel that the

fibroid was too deeply embedded and in a difficult position. I felt

at the time that he appeared to be fairly experienced, but now I'm

having some second thoughts on that point. At least it wouldn't hurt

to have a second opinion. He never mentioned the option of trying

multiple resections. My submucosal fibroid is smallish in size and

as far as we can tell, there is only one. I also have an intramural

and a pedunculated fibroid (at least that's what has appeared on the

ultrasound and MRI).

> After three resections (in a period of four months time) I have no

> more fibroid symptoms! I suffered from pain like you, bleeding too

> terrible to describe in one sentence, and all the extra side

> effects from anemia.

I am so thrilled for you! Some times I feel a bit hopeless, as if

I'll never have a normal period again. It's good to hear the success

stories. Boy, do I long for the days (as recently as five years ago)

when I barely had a flow and didn't even know what a bad menstrual

cramp was.

I was diagnosed as anemic for the first time in January (not sure how

I managed to avoid it for the first 2+ years). Twice daily iron

supplements seem to be helping. I no longer have that weird desire to

eat chalk ;-) and I can walk up a flight of stairs without gasping

for breath again.

Right now, I think I'm leaning towards the UAE. I like the IR I'm

seeing a lot and he seems confident that the pedunculated fibroid and

the small submucosal have only a small risk of sloughing. Fertility

is not much of an issue for me, but I do want to avoid major

abdominal surgery.

Chris