The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #78778 Message #1421251
Posted By: rich-joy
26-Feb-05 - 12:40 AM
Thread Name: BS: Hysterectomy vs Fibroidectomy: Opinions?
Subject: RE: BS: Hysterectomy vs Fibroidectomy: Opinions?
I am led to believe that the USA leads the world in the number of scalpel-happy surgeons, who make more bucks by ripping out women's insides at the drop-of-a-hat and with about as much consideration to the after-effects as if they were speying a cat.
As you may conclude, I am NOT a lover of hospitals or doctors!!
I therefore decided to "sit it out" with my fibroids.
But then, I am one of the "luckier" ones, because my symptoms did not include really heavy periods and lots of pain. "Just" the weight gain, some pressure on bladder and bowel, some loss of libido and some sexual discomfort, tiredness, backache - and that permanently-pregnant feeling when trying to tie your shoelaces or do the housework!!!
OK, all that sounds bad enough when considering "quality of Life" issues, but to me, with all I had read of the Hysterectomy Horrors, it felt like the best decision. If you don't have a innate fear and distrust of hospitals, you may be quite OK.
However, I did have an MRI scan, as the largest of my fibroids was fairly big (10x15x12) - just to ensure that there was no evidence of cancer.
If I could have afforded it, a few years ago I would have had a UAE : Uterine Artery Embolisation - but the proceedure was regarded as relatively "new" in Oz and would have cost me a minimum of A$7000.oo - and I had nothing like that figure to spend!!!
When I was first diagnosed, there seemed to be little information on Fibroids, in Oz - in fact, most women I spoke to were unaware of such a thing!! Now there is a stack of info on the wondrous Internet and many books are available. e.g.
"FIBROIDS : the Complete Guide to Taking Charge of Your Physical, Emotional and Sexual Well-Being" by Johanna Skilling.
Marlowe & Co, NY, 2000
There are also websites where (similar to Mudcat), you can discuss every aspect with other women in your situation ...
Meanwhile, at almost 54 years, I take Chinese herbs, have acupuncture, don't WALK nearly as much as I should to get that circulation going!, try to release the issues that may have contributed to this uterine congestion in the first place - and wait for the end of Menopause when they are supposed to shrink anyway!!
But I have to admit, Life With Fibroids can get a trife Teejus!!
Cheers! R-J