Possible fibroids? Now what?

[dan-o]

My FS is now suspecting fibroids, as my recent scans have been a little iffy.
I'm having a hycosy & HSG next month.

What happens next, if they do find them?

 

[bbhopes]

depends what type they are and how big they are, and where they are located. If they are submucosal and in the inside of the womb (where the baby would implant) they are rarer of the type but can be troublesome, if they are intramural and inside the wall they can be more painful but not as troublesome in fertility. Also depends how big they are and where in the walls tehy are located. I wish you well, I have several myself, they were unable to remove mine, so I am just kept an eye on to be sure they do not grow larger. Hoping all goes well!

 

[Basel]

Hi Dan-o,
I was just browsing but signed up to pass on our experience with Intra Uterine Fibroids. I'm a guy, my wife had them, 2 to be exact. One was embedded half in half out of the rear uterus wall, and one very large one that was in the uterine cavity, but on a stalk. This one was basically filling her whole uterine cavity and preventing any form of implantation.
She had very long periods with heavy bleeding, to the point of anemia. It took a long time to discover them. We had diagnosis of possible miscarriage, possible endomitriosis etc. Now she is a bit of a fan of Chinese medicine and absolutely fears any form of surgery, so we went down the road of trying to reduce them naturally. This was a big waste of time. After 12 moths another Ultrasound showed if anything they had grown. Coincidentally a friend recommended a specialist who is a leader in the field here. He was fantastic, great manner and very reassuring. We decided to go with the surgery. It was done laparoscopically, via keyhole surgery mainly through her belly button. The large one on the stalk was removed completely, and the surgeon suggested it had been growing for a couple of years at least. The other one that was half in the wall was left in because removal risked damaging the ovary near it and would take a fair while to heal. Instead he performed ligation, which is cutting off the blood supply that feeds the fibroid. The uterus has several blood supplies, so this was safe to do as it only cut one.
The surgery was the best thing we ever did. I cannot tell you how great the improvement has been, she is like a new person and feels like she is in her 20's again. The procedure only took an overnight stay in hospital and wasn;t that expensive, although we have a good public health system in Australia and we also have private health cover personally. She did have some pain for a couple of days after, and also gets some twinges from the ligation, but that is considered normal and nothing too bad. Her follow up scans have shown a reduction in size of the remaining fibroid.
The best advice I can give is don't be scared of the surgery. Please don't bother with any 'natural' solutions. We wish over and over we had gone for the surgery straight away, but then hindsight is 20/20 as they say. We wasted 12 months trying, then it took 3 months to see the specialist, then another 4 to get a surgery date with him because he is so popular.
Talk with you FS, but if you need it find a good fibroid oby gyn and go for it.
Regardless of whether we end up concieving or not as a result, I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see her felling as good as she now does.
Good luck, and please keep your man in the loop. I went to all the appointments with her, got to know the surgeon well but I still could have chewed through a concrete wall waiting while they were operating, I was so nervous. It will be that much easier to cope if you both stick together and keep the communication open and honest throughout.
All the best.

 

[dan-o]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply Basel, your information has been very helpful to me.

I'll get my other half to read this too, when he gets home.

I'm fortunate enough to live in the UK, so I would be having them removed/motitored in an NHS hospital. That's one less thing to worry about I guess!

Thanks again & I hope your TTC journey isn't much longer now!

 

[Basel]

Yes, get your man involved. Tell him there are lots of cool looking bits of technical gear involved. The ultrasound machine looks better than a V8 engine, and the keyhole surgery is done by scaling down the surgeon's hand movements using robotics! It's very manly..
Happy trails.

 

[summerbreeze8]

Now that's what you call a helpful and loving husband!