8cm fibroid told to consider hysterectomy?

I am so very sorry for your loss, my heart goes out to you and your family. I am also sorry that you are in so much pain. Have you been offered Esmya to try to shrink the fibroids? I have done two cycles now of Esmya and it has given me a very welcomed break from the pain and bleeding. I have been lucky as only suffered mildly with side effects (although the two month break was a nightmare!) I did find that during the three months I was able to think straight and made the difficult decision to have a hysterectomy, I have a lovely daughter and am now ready to get these awful things out of me. It is a big decision and you will know if it is right for you, but worth trying to buy time to get your head clear.

All the very best to you,

Barb x

Dear Carebears2

so sorry for your loss I also lost a baby when I was 11 weeks and 5 days in 2009 due to fiboriods at the time nothing was done about them because I was 43 and had 3 children. Fast forward to today and now I have multiple uterine fibroids to many to count. I have recently started taking esmya tablets I'm now on my 4 week apart from the first 2 weeks of bleeding everything as settled down. I am hopeing the fiboriods shrink. I don't know if it may help if you start taking esmya it might help shrink them so you can have them removed without having to have an hysterectomy. I hope things work out for you best wishes

Donna

Hi.

My doctor was quick to suggest hysterectomy too. It turns out that the money they get for a hysterectomy is more than any other option.

I tried UFE (uterine embolization). You can see my post about it & how it is turning out.

Good luck.

So sorry for your loss, as the other ladies have said

I hope they can help your with the ongoing pain.

Mine are also degenerating the pain is ongoing, however I am having a hysterectomy in 5 weeks. I just don't know why there is not more support to help with fibroids as they ruin lives. I really hope things get better for you xx

I am so sorry for your loss at this incredibly sad and painful time. It is awful that doctors did not intervene over the last 6 years when things could have been a lot easier to treat and could have worked out differently for you and your family. You have every right to feel angry and let down.

Perhaps Esmya would help shrink the fibroids and possibly giving you alternate forms of treatment to consider in a few months time when you are feeling more able to make such a big decision.

I too have only been offered a full hysterectomy and I have now been on Esmya for 2 months hoping for the fibroids to shrink and am still trying to postpone my decision until I can come to terms with the very recent loss of my father.

There have been some adjustments to the hormones to deal with, but I can already see and feel that my stomach is shrinking and the constant feeling that I am going to 'pop' has also improved. I have 2 more weeks of tablets then 1 month until gynaecology appointment to discuss further courses of tablets (apparently you can have up to 4 cycles of 3 months on/2months off).

Best wishes to you

Julie

Hi Carebear2, I'm really sorry you had to go through all this and that you lost your babies, this must have been so painful for you! I also think you have every right to be angry, as other people have said, as you were never given a consistent care plan to treat your fibroids and prepare you for pregnancy. Such a shame!

Re. your current condition, you may want to tell your doctors that you want to preserve your fertility, so hysterectomy is not an option. Educate yourself on the other options available, the British Fibroid Trust is a good place to start. I was given three options when I saw the consultant, hysterectomy, which I declined, myomectomy or ufe. I appreciate that with the fibroids being soft and mushy it may be more difficult for the surgeon to remove the fibroid through myomectomy but difficult does not mean impossible. At some point I was given the option of Esmya to try and shrink the fibriids, and was told that they would soften the fibroids, however a competent surgeon should still be able to remove them. So a soft fibroid does not preclude myomectomy. Ufe carries the risk of embolic material reaching the ovaries and sending you into early menopause, but again that's a risk , not a certainty. If your doctors see you're knowledgeable about the various treatments available, perhaps they will be more forthcoming about offering them to you.

Good luck!

Annyway for you to do myomectomy? Don't knew where your fibroids are, that makes all the difference in the world. All gyns want to go for hysterectomy as it is much shorter. Shop around! Yes there are risks of bleeding with myomectomy but not always are hysterectomies needed. If inside, maybe hysteroscopic myomectomy or outside lap myomectomy (both minimally invasive). You have to find a confident gyn or urosurgeon. I am going to Dr. Xiaoming Guan. He's done over 400 and not much seems to phase him. Mine is pedunculated (outside) 9x6x6 and one inside 2x2x2. He's done over 400 cases. Brought robotics and mini single incision (through navel) to Houston and also in China. I will mine done by him in July and didn't phase him the least. Don't rule or going out of state if you have to if you want to preserve your uterus. He was very in tuned with our conversation. I did not feel rushed also! He's great! Good luck to you and I'm sorry for your hardships! It's awful. Hopefully there is some happiness that will follow!

Hi there, sorry to read this. I too have a large fibroid 13x15cm, I carried my son 1o years ago knowing I had a fibroid. Icannot remember the size but a lot smaller than it is now. I have had 4 x 3 month courses of Esmya for me no shrinkage but much needed relief from heavy periods, It also buys a bit of time for research. I then tried 6 months of Zoladex implants & that did not really do much to the size either which was dissapointing. As the same time I looked into UFE, was told arterties feeding fibroid were narrow & they'd have expected larger ones for such a big fibroid. Though it has had many years to grow. They said they'd give it a go. I researched more & visited an IR in London who has a lot of knowledge on the subject & practices both privately & on the nhs. He told me I'd be fine for UFE scheduled the procedure for Nov 16 without looking at my MRI (he said very rarely was their a problem after looking at an MRI - I thought the least he could have done before I'd travle an 800 mile round journey was look at the MRI!) Then the letter came saying it wasn't going ahead because he thought my fibroid was dead or dying itself. Subsequent local scans show an active blood supply so I was confused & after a couple of years of seeing a gynie they started to push me to do something. I decided UFE but I was unsure weither I wanted to put my self through th pain of UFE just to give it a go! As I really wanted to see some size reduction otherwise if no, then another route would be better for me. I'm currently looking into another procedure instead but won't know any more until June. If you would like to PM me after June 22nd - I can tell you my findings. If my new research doesnt work then I think for me it may have to be hysterectomy, as mine is in the lower posterior uterine wall & I belive mymomectomy is very difficult in that location & can lead to major blood loss which is why in my case I think if I do go under the knife it may result in an open hysterectomy. But alot depends on where the fibroids are & how big they are. x

Hi Carebear2,

I am 41 and had my fibroid discovered last year and it grew to 10 cm when I had my scan in March. I was offered esmya, but I refused to take hormones and then was advised to have hysterectomy. I was given time to think about as my next appointment is in June, so made my research, read a lot and wathed some youtube videos where American doctors remove large fibroids with myoctomye - only removing the myoma (fibroid), not the womb. I also read russian forums and girls there are sharing that when your womb is removed it is possible that your bones, skin and the overall hormonal balance will suffer and after a couple of years you will go to a menopause. I have 2 children in school and am done with increasing the family but I cant get rid like that of my uterus. I went private and the consultant I spoke with advised me that the uterus can be kept if your blood tests prove that your hormone levels are fine. I had this done and also another scan and now have a surgery scheduled for beginning of July. The doctor said I will have an open surgery (like Caeserian section) but they might have to remoev the womb if I start losing too much blood.

I think doctors, gynecologist, not your GP should have referred you and they should have taken your fibroids straight away with laparoscopic surgery, after you delivered your first baby.

I know this is not very calming, but this what happened to you is called negligence. 

Have a myoctomy now if possible so you can have more children, this is my friendly advice.