Re: Upcoming Surgery - Need Advise

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the input!

[Guest guest]

For my myo, the doctor definitely told me that

hysterectomy was definitely a possible risk but that

it would only be done if there is an emergency. She

said they had to warn me of all of the risks and I had

to sign a paper stating that I realized this. But,

never did the paperwork say that I may possibly have a

hysterectomy. You need to trust that your doctor is

going to do everything possible to keep your uterus in

tact so that you can have children. If you are really

uncomfortable, then I would talk to your doctor again

and see if he makes you feel any better about the

surgery. If you still don't feel comfortable with the

doctor, you may want to consider seeing another doctor

to see if their attitude is different. Good luck!

[Guest guest]

Hey Habon, I had a myo in 1998 and my OB/GYN told me the same thing. I had

to sign a paper saying if any major problems that the doctor could perform a

hysterectomy. Yes, it is very scared I was 29 years old when I had my done.

The doctor was able to perform a myo. My tumors came back last year and I am

having problems more now than I did in 1998. If you are that worried why

dont you consider a UAE procedure. I myself will never redo a myo again and

the reason being is because the tumors will come back. I know some of the

women on here will disagree with me, but I have done research on the

internet and it says the tumors will usually come back within 5 years after

the myo.

[Guest guest]

that's exactly what I was told that the tumors

will come back within 5 years.

--- Abee wandsabee@...> wrote:

> Hey Habon, I had a myo in 1998 and my OB/GYN told me

> the same thing. I had

> to sign a paper saying if any major problems that

> the doctor could perform a

> hysterectomy. Yes, it is very scared I was 29 years

> old when I had my done.

> The doctor was able to perform a myo. My tumors came

> back last year and I am

> having problems more now than I did in 1998. If you

> are that worried why

> dont you consider a UAE procedure. I myself will

> never redo a myo again and

> the reason being is because the tumors will come

> back. I know some of the

> women on here will disagree with me, but I have done

> research on the

> internet and it says the tumors will usually come

> back within 5 years after

> the myo.

>

>

[Guest guest]

that's exactly what I was told that the tumors

will come back within 5 years.

--- Abee wandsabee@...> wrote:

> Hey Habon, I had a myo in 1998 and my OB/GYN told me

> the same thing. I had

> to sign a paper saying if any major problems that

> the doctor could perform a

> hysterectomy. Yes, it is very scared I was 29 years

> old when I had my done.

> The doctor was able to perform a myo. My tumors came

> back last year and I am

> having problems more now than I did in 1998. If you

> are that worried why

> dont you consider a UAE procedure. I myself will

> never redo a myo again and

> the reason being is because the tumors will come

> back. I know some of the

> women on here will disagree with me, but I have done

> research on the

> internet and it says the tumors will usually come

> back within 5 years after

> the myo.

>

>

[Guest guest]

that's exactly what I was told that the tumors

will come back within 5 years.

--- Abee wandsabee@...> wrote:

> Hey Habon, I had a myo in 1998 and my OB/GYN told me

> the same thing. I had

> to sign a paper saying if any major problems that

> the doctor could perform a

> hysterectomy. Yes, it is very scared I was 29 years

> old when I had my done.

> The doctor was able to perform a myo. My tumors came

> back last year and I am

> having problems more now than I did in 1998. If you

> are that worried why

> dont you consider a UAE procedure. I myself will

> never redo a myo again and

> the reason being is because the tumors will come

> back. I know some of the

> women on here will disagree with me, but I have done

> research on the

> internet and it says the tumors will usually come

> back within 5 years after

> the myo.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Wow I haven't gotten this far but this would certainly

concern me. I think you should definetely be asking

questions since you don't feel comfortable. You need

to stress to all of the doctors you speak with that

you want to keep your uterus.

[Guest guest]

Wow I haven't gotten this far but this would certainly

concern me. I think you should definetely be asking

questions since you don't feel comfortable. You need

to stress to all of the doctors you speak with that

you want to keep your uterus.

[Guest guest]

Wow I haven't gotten this far but this would certainly

concern me. I think you should definetely be asking

questions since you don't feel comfortable. You need

to stress to all of the doctors you speak with that

you want to keep your uterus.

[Guest guest]

Trust me they do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

>

>

>that's exactly what I was told that the tumors

>will come back within 5 years.

>

>--- Abee wandsabee@...> wrote:

> > Hey Habon, I had a myo in 1998 and my OB/GYN told me

> > the same thing. I had

> > to sign a paper saying if any major problems that

> > the doctor could perform a

> > hysterectomy. Yes, it is very scared I was 29 years

> > old when I had my done.

> > The doctor was able to perform a myo. My tumors came

> > back last year and I am

> > having problems more now than I did in 1998. If you

> > are that worried why

> > dont you consider a UAE procedure. I myself will

> > never redo a myo again and

> > the reason being is because the tumors will come

> > back. I know some of the

> > women on here will disagree with me, but I have done

> > research on the

> > internet and it says the tumors will usually come

> > back within 5 years after

> > the myo.

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Responding to both Habon's original post and 's response below.

Habon: if my doctor who was about to perform a myo on me was saying

the things that you wrote; i.e. " All he kept talking about is what

could go wrong and the word hysterectomy came up quite a bit. He

stated that there could be a lot of bleeding due to blood vessels

and that could mean having to perform a hysto. " .... I would cancel

the surgery and find another, more skilled surgeon. In my (not so

humble) opinion, any surgeon who is reciting the horror stories

about excessive bleeding in a myo and pushing you to a hysterectomy

is simply not sufficiently skilled to perform a myo.

When I had my myo to remove a fairly large mass of fibroids, my

doctor told me afterward that my blood loss was an amount less that

what was taken from me during pre-op blood tests. If you scan the

archives here, I think you'll find my thoughts repeated by others -

the threats by doctors of excessive bleeding with myos that could

lead to a hyst are usually indicative of a doctor who is not

adequately skilled at myos. Granted, there are a few women who have

posted here about a myo that converted to a hyst, but as I recall,

their situations were rather unusual and the hyst truly was

warranted (and wasn't due to the surgeon's lack of skill).

Regarding myos and fibroid regrowth: yes, that happens to some

women, but there are a LOT of us who have successfully had myos

without any new fibroids growing. (And, the fibroids that were

removed do NOT " come back " , rather in some women new fibroids do

appear.) If you want to have children, while there are women who

have successfully conceived and delivered babies after a UAE, there

has not been a sufficient volume of clinical studies/research done

to fully understand the impact of a UAE on blood supply to the

uterus for conception and gestation of a baby. So, most doctors

recommend that any woman who desires to retain fertility to have a

myo over UAE.

Finally - somewhere back in the archives (probably over a year ago),

I posted information that Dr. provided in a presentation at

the NUFF's Opening Doors conference in January 2003 re: the

statistics associated with the probability of new fibroids after a

myo. It's lower than one might think, and is highly linked to each

individual's situation; i.e. age at time of first myo, the number

and nature of the fibroids initially removed, etc. I'm in a bit of

a hurry so can't look for that right now, but if one is interested,

search for my name about a year ago and you can probably find it.

I'm just compelled to share this info again, as a number of recent

posts have stated that " after a myo the tumors will usually come

back " , and that is not a statement that can be made based on

scientific, clinical studies that tracked women (whereas the

statistics that Dr. provided were drawn from clinical

research). When I have a bit more time, I'll try to find more

original posting on this and re-post it.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

> Hey Habon, I had a myo in 1998 and my OB/GYN told me the same

thing. I had

> to sign a paper saying if any major problems that the doctor could

perform a

> hysterectomy. Yes, it is very scared I was 29 years old when I had

my done.

> The doctor was able to perform a myo. My tumors came back last

year and I am

> having problems more now than I did in 1998. If you are that

worried why

> dont you consider a UAE procedure. I myself will never redo a myo

again and

> the reason being is because the tumors will come back. I know some

of the

> women on here will disagree with me, but I have done research on

the

> internet and it says the tumors will usually come back within 5

years after

> the myo.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Responding to both Habon's original post and 's response below.

Habon: if my doctor who was about to perform a myo on me was saying

the things that you wrote; i.e. " All he kept talking about is what

could go wrong and the word hysterectomy came up quite a bit. He

stated that there could be a lot of bleeding due to blood vessels

and that could mean having to perform a hysto. " .... I would cancel

the surgery and find another, more skilled surgeon. In my (not so

humble) opinion, any surgeon who is reciting the horror stories

about excessive bleeding in a myo and pushing you to a hysterectomy

is simply not sufficiently skilled to perform a myo.

When I had my myo to remove a fairly large mass of fibroids, my

doctor told me afterward that my blood loss was an amount less that

what was taken from me during pre-op blood tests. If you scan the

archives here, I think you'll find my thoughts repeated by others -

the threats by doctors of excessive bleeding with myos that could

lead to a hyst are usually indicative of a doctor who is not

adequately skilled at myos. Granted, there are a few women who have

posted here about a myo that converted to a hyst, but as I recall,

their situations were rather unusual and the hyst truly was

warranted (and wasn't due to the surgeon's lack of skill).

Regarding myos and fibroid regrowth: yes, that happens to some

women, but there are a LOT of us who have successfully had myos

without any new fibroids growing. (And, the fibroids that were

removed do NOT " come back " , rather in some women new fibroids do

appear.) If you want to have children, while there are women who

have successfully conceived and delivered babies after a UAE, there

has not been a sufficient volume of clinical studies/research done

to fully understand the impact of a UAE on blood supply to the

uterus for conception and gestation of a baby. So, most doctors

recommend that any woman who desires to retain fertility to have a

myo over UAE.

Finally - somewhere back in the archives (probably over a year ago),

I posted information that Dr. provided in a presentation at

the NUFF's Opening Doors conference in January 2003 re: the

statistics associated with the probability of new fibroids after a

myo. It's lower than one might think, and is highly linked to each

individual's situation; i.e. age at time of first myo, the number

and nature of the fibroids initially removed, etc. I'm in a bit of

a hurry so can't look for that right now, but if one is interested,

search for my name about a year ago and you can probably find it.

I'm just compelled to share this info again, as a number of recent

posts have stated that " after a myo the tumors will usually come

back " , and that is not a statement that can be made based on

scientific, clinical studies that tracked women (whereas the

statistics that Dr. provided were drawn from clinical

research). When I have a bit more time, I'll try to find more

original posting on this and re-post it.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

> Hey Habon, I had a myo in 1998 and my OB/GYN told me the same

thing. I had

> to sign a paper saying if any major problems that the doctor could

perform a

> hysterectomy. Yes, it is very scared I was 29 years old when I had

my done.

> The doctor was able to perform a myo. My tumors came back last

year and I am

> having problems more now than I did in 1998. If you are that

worried why

> dont you consider a UAE procedure. I myself will never redo a myo

again and

> the reason being is because the tumors will come back. I know some

of the

> women on here will disagree with me, but I have done research on

the

> internet and it says the tumors will usually come back within 5

years after

> the myo.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Responding to both Habon's original post and 's response below.

Habon: if my doctor who was about to perform a myo on me was saying

the things that you wrote; i.e. " All he kept talking about is what

could go wrong and the word hysterectomy came up quite a bit. He

stated that there could be a lot of bleeding due to blood vessels

and that could mean having to perform a hysto. " .... I would cancel

the surgery and find another, more skilled surgeon. In my (not so

humble) opinion, any surgeon who is reciting the horror stories

about excessive bleeding in a myo and pushing you to a hysterectomy

is simply not sufficiently skilled to perform a myo.

When I had my myo to remove a fairly large mass of fibroids, my

doctor told me afterward that my blood loss was an amount less that

what was taken from me during pre-op blood tests. If you scan the

archives here, I think you'll find my thoughts repeated by others -

the threats by doctors of excessive bleeding with myos that could

lead to a hyst are usually indicative of a doctor who is not

adequately skilled at myos. Granted, there are a few women who have

posted here about a myo that converted to a hyst, but as I recall,

their situations were rather unusual and the hyst truly was

warranted (and wasn't due to the surgeon's lack of skill).

Regarding myos and fibroid regrowth: yes, that happens to some

women, but there are a LOT of us who have successfully had myos

without any new fibroids growing. (And, the fibroids that were

removed do NOT " come back " , rather in some women new fibroids do

appear.) If you want to have children, while there are women who

have successfully conceived and delivered babies after a UAE, there

has not been a sufficient volume of clinical studies/research done

to fully understand the impact of a UAE on blood supply to the

uterus for conception and gestation of a baby. So, most doctors

recommend that any woman who desires to retain fertility to have a

myo over UAE.

Finally - somewhere back in the archives (probably over a year ago),

I posted information that Dr. provided in a presentation at

the NUFF's Opening Doors conference in January 2003 re: the

statistics associated with the probability of new fibroids after a

myo. It's lower than one might think, and is highly linked to each

individual's situation; i.e. age at time of first myo, the number

and nature of the fibroids initially removed, etc. I'm in a bit of

a hurry so can't look for that right now, but if one is interested,

search for my name about a year ago and you can probably find it.

I'm just compelled to share this info again, as a number of recent

posts have stated that " after a myo the tumors will usually come

back " , and that is not a statement that can be made based on

scientific, clinical studies that tracked women (whereas the

statistics that Dr. provided were drawn from clinical

research). When I have a bit more time, I'll try to find more

original posting on this and re-post it.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

> Hey Habon, I had a myo in 1998 and my OB/GYN told me the same

thing. I had

> to sign a paper saying if any major problems that the doctor could

perform a

> hysterectomy. Yes, it is very scared I was 29 years old when I had

my done.

> The doctor was able to perform a myo. My tumors came back last

year and I am

> having problems more now than I did in 1998. If you are that

worried why

> dont you consider a UAE procedure. I myself will never redo a myo

again and

> the reason being is because the tumors will come back. I know some

of the

> women on here will disagree with me, but I have done research on

the

> internet and it says the tumors will usually come back within 5

years after

> the myo.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Habon,

Wow, your post hit a chord with me. I just had a myo last week, which

means that my pre-op was last Tuesday (6/15). In the several days

leading up to the pre-op appointment I was *terrified* at the

possibility of having to sign a " hysterectomy consent form, " which I

had learned about through this group. I'd never heard of it, but

apparently a lot of doctors and/or hospitals will ask you to sign a

consent that says a hysto can be done if necessary to save your life.

So there I was, two days before surgery, in total fear that I would

have to sign away my uterus in the event of emergency or ineptness of

my surgeon. The upside? At least I had a couple of days to think

through this issue and raise it with my doctor at the pre-op

appointment.

When I brought up the possibility of hysterectomy with my doctor --

and my total fear of it -- she let me know that she'd never had a

situation of having to convert a myo to a hysto, it was extremely

unlikely, and furthermore wrote on the consent form " No hysterectomy

except for life-saving; consult with husband as necessary. " Other

than that, there was no specific " hysterectomy consent form " -- which

meant I could go back to worrying about other things ;->.

So, all that said, I have to agree with 's post. Your doctor

should be trying to ease your mind at this point, not terrify you.

Letting you know the risks of a procedure is certainly legally and

ethically appropriate, but letting you think that you might end up

with a procedure different than the one you've requested, well that

seems, I dunno, *wrong* to me. (As I said to my husband, I'm having

surgery to solve a problem, not create one. I chose myomectomy to

preserve both my uterus and my fertility; all I wanted to be rid of

was the fibroid.)

Have you asked your doctor how many of his myos ended up as hystos,

and the circumstances of those cases? How many myos does he perform a

year and for how many years? What techniques does he use for

minimizing blood loss? How frequently does he see a need to transfuse

a patient during a myo? Maybe more information will help ease your

mind and improve trust in your doctor. Or, you might realize that you

need to pause and get another opinion. There's nothing wrong with

delaying the procedure for your own peace of mind -- or any other

reason that you think is valid, for that matter.

Believe me, I know how hard it is to make the decision to have

surgery, and the stress as the event gets closer. (Really, you could

have peeled me off the ceiling the day of the surgery I was so

uptight.) Also, there's the ray of hope that finally, finally, there

will be an end to the discomfort, the heavy bleeding, the things

you've had to give up to accommodate the fibroids. However, if you

don't have confidence in your doctor, or you feel as though you're

risking your uterus you won't be able to focus on the positive aspect

of your surgery and the strength that you'll need for the healing

process to follow.

Anni

> Hi all,

>

> I have a myo coming up - next Friday to be exact and the closer I

get

> to the date, the more scared and worried I become. I went to my

Dr.

> today for my pre-op and came out terrified of what's to come. All

he

> kept talking about is what could go wrong and the word hysterectomy

> came up quite a bit. He stated that there could be a lot of

bleeding

> due to blood vessels and that could mean having to perform a

hysto.

> Afterwards, he gave me a piece of paper to take to the hospital to

> pre-register which stated that I would be having a myo and possibly

a

> hysto. That really freaked me out!!!!!!!!! I am 29 yrs old and

want

> to have children, and am afraid that this Dr. will end up

performing

> a hysto. Does anyone know if this is standard procedure for all

Drs.

> to tell their patients about the possibility of a hysto? Also, is

it

> common for them to state on the pre-registration form that a

possible

> hysto is scheduled? Lastly, should I be talking to him about what

to

> do in the event of having to have a hysto ? It's my understanding

> that there are different forms of hysto, i.e. where you can remove

> the whole uterus or you can keep your ovaries. I am really

confused

> at this time and have even thought about cancelling the surgery. I

> guess I have to start trusting my Dr., but after today, it's a

little

> hard.

>

> Habon

[Guest guest]

I just went to my doctor and signed the form today. I read it

carefully and there was no mention of a possible hysto. My doctor

and I talked about what I want and what I don't want. I told her

that unless it is cancer, I'm keeping my uterus and ovaries. She was

fine with it, assured me that she will take out all of the fibroids

she finds and nothing else, and never mentioned blood. It doesn't

sound like your doctor's form is standard procedure for all doctors.

Pam

> Hi all,

>

> I have a myo coming up - next Friday to be exact and the closer I

get

> to the date, the more scared and worried I become. I went to my

Dr.

> today for my pre-op and came out terrified of what's to come. All

he

> kept talking about is what could go wrong and the word hysterectomy

> came up quite a bit. He stated that there could be a lot of

bleeding

> due to blood vessels and that could mean having to perform a

hysto.

> Afterwards, he gave me a piece of paper to take to the hospital to

> pre-register which stated that I would be having a myo and possibly

a

> hysto. That really freaked me out!!!!!!!!! I am 29 yrs old and

want

> to have children, and am afraid that this Dr. will end up

performing

> a hysto. Does anyone know if this is standard procedure for all

Drs.

> to tell their patients about the possibility of a hysto? Also, is

it

> common for them to state on the pre-registration form that a

possible

> hysto is scheduled? Lastly, should I be talking to him about what

to

> do in the event of having to have a hysto ? It's my understanding

> that there are different forms of hysto, i.e. where you can remove

> the whole uterus or you can keep your ovaries. I am really

confused

> at this time and have even thought about cancelling the surgery. I

> guess I have to start trusting my Dr., but after today, it's a

little

> hard.

>

> Habon