Nearly 6 months post UFE mild cramping

Hi,

So I just had the results of my MRI 6 months post embolization. My fibroids have reduced by half the largest was 13.5 cm prior to the procedure.

The blood supply to the fibroids was cut off completely by the procedure therfore there is no chance of these growing again. However there is always the chance of new ones growing while you still have a period.

I have no pressure symptoms but still have prolonged periods with the first 2 days reasonably heavy.

I've been advised that this should settle down over the next 6 months and will have a further follow up then.

Good luck.

Great to hear that it has been so successful for you. My fibroid is around 13 x13 & they said I was at the outer limit for embolisation. Did they say that to you? Were yours in your uterous or in the wall? Do they block the blood supply to the uterous aswell? How does it not die too? How painful was it for you after the procedure? Were you private or NHS? Had you tried the drug route before deciding on embolisation? What made you decide on embolisation? Thanks again for our response.

Nothing was ever been mentioned to me about a size limit. I'm not aware of that.

My fibroids are in the uterus. Only the direct blood supply to the fibroid is blocked. The radiologist has visability of your uterus during the procedure on a large screen so they know exactly which veins are being blocked.

Before the start of the procedure I was given a dose of morphine and I felt nothing until a few mins before the end of the procedure when I had severe cramping. I advised the radiologist of this and was given more morphine. I then wasn't allowed to move for 6 hrs after the procedure which seems like a long time but I was a out of it and was so sleepy due to the morphine it seemed to pass quickly.

Unfortunately the morphine did make me very sick when I did finally sit up but that passed by about 20hrs after the procedure. Just to be clear I was only sick when I sat up, I slept fine that night. Your given plenty of pain relief away home with you from the NHS I stupidly didn't take the full amount when I got home so I was up during the night with period pain like cramps and I need to sit on the toilet.

So my procedure was done through the NHS.

I wasn't offered drugs as an alternative possibly because I had severe anemia a few months before the procedure and the size of my fibroids I'm really not sure. But 6 months down the road & not having pressure symptoms and having an improvement with my period and the hope this should improve further I'm really happy I had this done.

Surgery wasn't an option for me because I have a history of blood clots and the recovery time is so much longer particularly as they wouldn't be able to remove them keyhole due to the size.

I hope this is of some help?

Hi Samantha,It's more help than you know. Thank you very much. I feel quite alone as I don't know anyone who has had embolisation.So yours weren't in the uterous wall they wein the cavity? I think that makes a difference. Morphine made my Mum really sick when she had a hip replacement. she unfortunately go a dvt which PE & it was qite critical. This makes me very worried about clots & I have now just found out that my redblood cells are "sticky" making me more prone to clots. So having open surgery worries me. I am at the outer limit for keyhole surgery but would have to have a hysterectomy if it was keyhole. Removing the fibroid only would have to be done by open. Therefore ater having 2 lots of 6 months worth of drugs to reduce the size of it for them not to work I am seriously considering embolisation. I thought that if maybe embolisation would shrink it enough I could maybe then be assured keyhole. Whereas now they'd try a keyhole hysterectomy but due to size may end up as open. Will you consider keyhole once they've shrunk further? Or would you still be concerned re clots?

Hi Heather,

Because the hospital is aware of my history (I also had a PE and clott in the leg) that was their primary concern.

Before the procedure I was given a daltaparin injection (blood thinner) and was prescribed a month of dalteparin injections which I gave myself daily when I got home.

So no I'm not concerned about getting clots during or post procedures due to these precautionary measures.

Definitely mention your concerns to the hospital/ your doctor . Hopefully they would pick this up anyway but at least it would put your mind at rest regarding clots.

I wouldn't consider surgery unless more fibroids grew and the hospital thought that was the best option. Even if I had no more improvement from what i have now its so much better than pre procedure that I'm happy with the results and wouldn't consider further treatment to remove them.

Take care.

You re really brave to have done it, after having the PE well done you. Takes courage. My Mum had the injections after hip surgery but got a PE anyway, it scares you when its so close to home. I like the sound of emolisation better. My son is only 8, so a quicker recovery time is better. I read a few different threads on here on the topic whenI joined 2days ago & was a bit concerned when one lady said her dr was encouraging surgery because of risk of turning cancerous. I thought fibroids were benign tumours & cancer risk was low. So pleased for you its been a success. Thank you for sharing with me.

Your too kind, I really had no choice it was that or they would continue to grow and cause more pressure and flooding.

If you do opt to have the procedure I hope you have someone to help you.

I was off work for 2 weeks as advised by the pre op nurse.

Your advised to take it easy, I wasn't allowed to even hoover for a couple of weeks.

The first few days I was home I slept most of the time. I'm not sure if this was a direct result of the procedure or the pain killers or both. I think for me the painkillers which I stopped taking after a few days. The supply I had was probably for a couple of weeks but I found I could cope with the cramping I had which wasn't as bad or prolonged as I thought it would be.

I mostly found I had slight cramping at night about 3 months post procedure but very slight. I was worried that might mean the fibroids weren't breaking down but they were which was a relief. I suspected they had as my stomach had reduced quite a bit.

I hope that whatever you decide works for you. All the best and let me know how you get on.

Hi Heather, Your uterus has multiple sources of blood supply, but there is a main artery which the IR (Interventional Radiologist) will go after. Your overies, which are connected to your uterus, also have a secondary blood supply. At least this is how it was explained to me when I asked the same question about my uterus or overaries dying.  And possibly the procedure is performed differently in the US than the UK. 

Pain is a relative thing.  I have a high tolerance, but for the first 24-48 it was like suck-in-your-breath-cramping.  But it would pass.  I had morphine in the hospital and Norco at home, which I only took for a couple days.  A heating pad and Ibuprofrin was enough after that.  Don't let the pain scare you away. 

Good luck to you.

Thank you Deanna