Lori
I had suffered from a fibroid for three years.
Initially it was the size of a golf ball, but then grew steadily over the years to the size of a smallish football.
It basically went from hip to hip and pushed on the wall of my stomach to the spine. It stretched and flattened my uterus up and over it. It pushed down on my bladder and fed itself on a good portion of my blood supply.
I couldn't sleep on my stomach, I had to get up several times during the night to urinate, and it irritated my restless leg syndrome to the point of not being able to sit through a movie at home or a theatre, drive in the car for more than 30 minutes comfortably and sex was at times painful. My periods lasted 7 days and were not painful but debilitating in the sense that for the first three days I had to be near a bathroom every 50 minutes throughout the day and night.
I went through one box each of super plus, super, and regular size tampons as well as one big bag of regular pads that I had to wear with the tampon and one big bag of overnight pads which I had to wear three at night.
If I moved while I slept, I had to be prepared to jump up and run to the bathroom and change all three pads because they would be soaked before my feet hit the floor.
(It was pretty expensive every month. I would finish every box of tampons and all of the pads.)
I had to plan my vacations around my period.
I visited my gynecologist every six months to a year to monitor the growth of the fibroid and at a certain point it was suggested that I might be able to have the fibroid "filleted" off the top of my uterus, but to determine that, I would have to have a dye test and sonogram done. It was also suggested at that time, which was two years into the growth of the fibroid, that I might have fertility problems.
It was a lot of information to take in and I was only 35.
My mother was in the hospital suffering from ovarian cancer and died the next day.
I put the issue of my fibroid out of my head until one year later.
At that time the fibroid had gotten so large that it pushed my stomach out and was too large to operate on without having a hysterectomy done. At age 36 and not having children yet, I just didn't like that option, it was terrifying.
My gynecologist of 13 years plus, who I trust implicitly, informed me of one more option called uterine fibroid embolization.
He explained a simple process of simply blocking the blood flow to the fibroid, therefore allowing it to shrink away and all I would have to do to see if I was a candidate was have a simple MRI.
My gynecologist recommended wonderful, Dr. J.T.
I had my MRI, a consult with Dr. J.T. and two weeks later the uterine fibroid embolization procedure.
I entered the hospital on a Wednesday morning and was discharged the following afternoon.
I had some pain and discomfort for a short time, but nothing that typical prescribed painkillers wouldn't relieve.
I took the full ten day recovery time that was suggested and returned to work without any problem at all. I was an orthodontic assistant working in a high volume office and was up and down and running around all day.
Within three weeks I was sleeping on my stomach for the first time in three years, my restless leg syndrome was completely gone, I could sleep through the night without having to urinate, and my periods shortened to 3-5 days. I use regular to super tampons only when I feel like it and thin pads the rest of the time. I can sleep through the night with a regular pad.
The best part of all is that I am much healthier. The fibroid had taken up so much of my blood that I became severely anemic. My hemoglobin was at 4. My gums had turned white, my lips were pale and I couldn't walk across the floor without my heart beating out of my chest and feeling faint. I was the walking dead. I was always a very athletic person.
Now I am a normal body weight for my six foot frame, everyone has noticed my coloring has come back, I can jog, play golf, swim, and dance all night if I want without being winded.
The uterine fibroid embolization process that Dr. J.T. preformed on me has changed my life in so many positive ways and I still have the possibility of having children in the future.
At six months after the procedure, I write this message feeling healthy, positive and hopeful that many other women out there will have the same opportunity that I did.
I owe it all to my gynecologist for being knowledgeable of the most current options regarding uterine fibroids and Dr. John Thomas for skillfully performing the successful embolization.
Lori L Hartman
Initially it was the size of a golf ball, but then grew steadily over the years to the size of a smallish football.
It basically went from hip to hip and pushed on the wall of my stomach to the spine. It stretched and flattened my uterus up and over it. It pushed down on my bladder and fed itself on a good portion of my blood supply.
I couldn't sleep on my stomach, I had to get up several times during the night to urinate, and it irritated my restless leg syndrome to the point of not being able to sit through a movie at home or a theatre, drive in the car for more than 30 minutes comfortably and sex was at times painful. My periods lasted 7 days and were not painful but debilitating in the sense that for the first three days I had to be near a bathroom every 50 minutes throughout the day and night.
I went through one box each of super plus, super, and regular size tampons as well as one big bag of regular pads that I had to wear with the tampon and one big bag of overnight pads which I had to wear three at night.
If I moved while I slept, I had to be prepared to jump up and run to the bathroom and change all three pads because they would be soaked before my feet hit the floor.
(It was pretty expensive every month. I would finish every box of tampons and all of the pads.)
I had to plan my vacations around my period.
I visited my gynecologist every six months to a year to monitor the growth of the fibroid and at a certain point it was suggested that I might be able to have the fibroid "filleted" off the top of my uterus, but to determine that, I would have to have a dye test and sonogram done. It was also suggested at that time, which was two years into the growth of the fibroid, that I might have fertility problems.
It was a lot of information to take in and I was only 35.
My mother was in the hospital suffering from ovarian cancer and died the next day.
I put the issue of my fibroid out of my head until one year later.
At that time the fibroid had gotten so large that it pushed my stomach out and was too large to operate on without having a hysterectomy done. At age 36 and not having children yet, I just didn't like that option, it was terrifying.
My gynecologist of 13 years plus, who I trust implicitly, informed me of one more option called uterine fibroid embolization.
He explained a simple process of simply blocking the blood flow to the fibroid, therefore allowing it to shrink away and all I would have to do to see if I was a candidate was have a simple MRI.
My gynecologist recommended wonderful, Dr. J.T.
I had my MRI, a consult with Dr. J.T. and two weeks later the uterine fibroid embolization procedure.
I entered the hospital on a Wednesday morning and was discharged the following afternoon.
I had some pain and discomfort for a short time, but nothing that typical prescribed painkillers wouldn't relieve.
I took the full ten day recovery time that was suggested and returned to work without any problem at all. I was an orthodontic assistant working in a high volume office and was up and down and running around all day.
Within three weeks I was sleeping on my stomach for the first time in three years, my restless leg syndrome was completely gone, I could sleep through the night without having to urinate, and my periods shortened to 3-5 days. I use regular to super tampons only when I feel like it and thin pads the rest of the time. I can sleep through the night with a regular pad.
The best part of all is that I am much healthier. The fibroid had taken up so much of my blood that I became severely anemic. My hemoglobin was at 4. My gums had turned white, my lips were pale and I couldn't walk across the floor without my heart beating out of my chest and feeling faint. I was the walking dead. I was always a very athletic person.
Now I am a normal body weight for my six foot frame, everyone has noticed my coloring has come back, I can jog, play golf, swim, and dance all night if I want without being winded.
The uterine fibroid embolization process that Dr. J.T. preformed on me has changed my life in so many positive ways and I still have the possibility of having children in the future.
At six months after the procedure, I write this message feeling healthy, positive and hopeful that many other women out there will have the same opportunity that I did.
I owe it all to my gynecologist for being knowledgeable of the most current options regarding uterine fibroids and Dr. John Thomas for skillfully performing the successful embolization.
Lori L Hartman
