Can my fibroids be causing this pain???

Hi Karmaway - good to know I am not alone. A walk does help - but I do have to take pain killers first as it kinda cripples me a bit. It's like toothache in my side! I have to go to docs tomorrow anyway - have no idea when my op will be and I am running out of all my meds eeeK!!!!

Ahhh right ok! I get bad pain occasionally sounds like there's stuff getting squashed up? Maybe they can do a scan? Are you on the waiting list for your op? It's awful isn't it I've had constipation for years now! X

Hi Karmaway, I have had an MRI. Long story short - I thought I had broken my tail bone - pain there was awful - came back as bones fine - massive fibroids! I have seen gynae - I am on waiting list - but will not get date until pre - op assessment - which I am waiting for! I am told I will need a full hysterectomy and it will be a abdominal incision as the fibroids and uterus are very large. Are you waiting too? Think we have a very similar type of fibroid!

Oh wow bigguns! I was going to have my op last year but my thyroid was still too high! I have hyperthyroidism! I had the pre op them when they found this I was taken off! I am back on it as urgent and have to take esmya for 12 weeks! Ugh! I am having laparoscopic I think and leaving ovaries and cervix (my choice). I have one 10 cx bugger and lots of others, squashing my bladder and bowel ugh! Yeah think we have similar problems! Hope you're not waiting too long Glennie!

Gosh! with your thyroid issues and fibroid issues you must feel like your never out of the doctors! I was quite surprised I was not offered anything to shrink my fibroids - but I guess with having the MRI they have an idea what they are dealing with. I'm not sure if my cervix is going or not - but I think it will be - was told total - and advised to have my remaining ovary removed too. It hasn't worked since I was 29 - and consultant said there's a chance it may get cysts on it if left. Knowing my past luck - I am happy for it to go! Let me know when you know you are going in. Laparoscopic ops leave much less scars - I know I had a fundoplication done 2 years ago - I can only see 3 of the 5 incision scars now. I think I am going to end up looking like a contour map of europe after this !!!

Wow you've got a surgeon that will do laproscopic on a 10cm fibroid, he must be very experienced.

I know leaving ovaries is a good thing, I think one of mine will go as I have a dermoid cyst on one, but regarding cervix, my gnie said only a really good surgeon can completely remove it. I asked him why keep why remove? He said eliminates another area that can get cancer when they are in their already but some ladies want to keep re orgasm. I'm not sure re any other reasons for & against.

Bless you Glennie, if I have to have surgery, it'll have to be open, vertical incision due the the massive size of the fibroid as I was told that usally 8cm to 10cm is absoulte maximum they do by keyhole. I know open has more complications. But there are up sides to open too, they get a better chance of getting it all out & they can hopefully take the fibroids out as a whole rather than have to cut into them. One thing that really put me off the keyhole anyway was how they have to cut/mine them up to get them out & if that could lead to missed particles that may spread. Then I seem more of a worrier, I like your breezy attitude good on you, I think sometimes the more you know the harder it gets!

She's doing it via morcelation? Yes I'd quite like to keep my orgasms haha 😝

Yep, that's the only way via keyhole if its sizable, but if she's experienced & she's had good past results thats fine. The only thing I'd ask her is what is the reoccurance rate of new fibroids after morcellation. (Has she had any experience once they a broken down by a morcellator that they spread to other organs (kidneys, bowel, bladder - if pieces are cut & left) How does she make sure this doesn't happen? I'd just ask her that if you have a chance as that was one of my concerns when a surgeon told me that could happen. (seemingly down to experience & technical ability of surgeon) Then I worry too much. I was trying Zoladex & Esmya to try to get mine small enough for keyhole & its got way bigger! Just check her stats if you haven't already, then my dr says that some people have good stats because the avoid complicated cases & some people have not as good stats but are amazing as they tackle anything! Its a bloody minefield! Good luck with it let me know how you get on. xx

Yeah removing the uterus and using a special bag! I don't like to think too much about the butcher type details 👀 Haha xx

Interesting conversation! I often wonder what they do with our off cuts? Doesn't bear thinking about! If it's really unusual will they keep our bits in a jar for students to look at? And if I am totally honest about this operation - I am proper swan - swimming smoothly on the surface and peddling like hell underneath! 

Weirdly I'm gonna ask for pics from inside before removal to show just exactly what trouble these buggers were causing !! Yeah definitely! I did ask about the bits and they are taken to a lab to check for abnormalities etc! Oh god I'm exactly the same but we'll be fine!! We'll look back and think yayyy x

I have googled the images of a fibroid filled uterus - hence my fibroids are now called 'the aliens'. It would be quite interesting to see what is removed - I imagine mine will look something like a squid! You have to laugh sonetimes :-D

You really do Glennie 😂??

Ah good, heard about that special bag. Thats a good idea. Stops the spread of anything. Also ask re those sheets, after they've stitched you they put one in to try to prevent adhension. Some say they are not "proven to be effective" but a good number use them or will if you ask. At the end of the day when you are going through this type of surgery you want to be well at the end not more complications, with adhensions. So in my book anything that could help us is worth trying after all it can't harm & could help so worth using. Same for you Glennie ask re bag & adhension barriers. I seen my gynie yesterday as I have been  passing clots in wee. So checking re size, impingement etc. He's a nice guy & I have been to see him a few times, when I asked him if I was his wife what would he do, he laughed & said divorce me 2 years ago! Which was when I first seen him & we considered embolisation but tried the drugs routes first. Which took 3 months, 1 month & a cycle break, another 3 months & a 1 month & cycle break on the Esmya, then started on the Zoladex implants for 6 months (which did have worse side effects) one of the 6 infected which was fun! (I knew the dr that put it in hadn't wiped my stomach or used gloves!) Anyway stopped Zoladex March 16, MRI no decrease infact small increase, back on Esmya May for another 3 months, awaiting embolisation, (referred out of area due to work to a Fibroid specialist) he made appointment did pre op scheduled me for embolisaion Nov 21st then decided my fibroid was dead or dying. (Probably because success rate of embolisation will be limited due to thinner arteries feeding it - so not a great stats result!) My own gynie yesterday said what have you got to loose doing embolisation, downs 1% sepsis complication results in hysterectomy, or small percentage chance of embolisation of healthy ovaries. Positives are should stop it growing, should reduce it, even if marginally may be enough to get keyhole surgery if still required at a later date. I asked all the hysterectomy questions we'd asked. He pushes the boundarys for keyhole & sometimes even tries to get larger ones out without morcellation, maybe with a slightly larger cut. He said, for hysterectomy he takes womb, cervix & tubes, any cysts on ovaries if small enough (my dermoid cyst is 3cm) but would leave ovaries in ladies under menopause age. I asked about the keeping cervix questions he said, the to prevent proplapse & better sex are proven now to be incorrect. That a womb is only required for children & many who dont have cervix out come back to have it out at a later date. (My local surgeon who referred me - said cervix is one of the hardest bits to take out especially by keyhole) He said wherever possible he'd try with bikini line incision (even for a 15x15 one like mine) & that any surgeon would love the patient for allowing a vertical incision as its far easier, but he prefers the neatness of bikin where ever possible. Of course sometimes its not possible. He had a lady who had such a big fibroid it was up to her lungs, that had to be vertical & open but the size was giagantic, she'd had no symptoms at all for years! Sorry to be graphic but he showed me a photo of one he'd done not so long ago (its not as if we cant see on google anyway) but it was 8cm, (looked liked a stomach, but photo had been taken as soon as removed followed by a family of what I could only describe as decreasing in size little meatballs, like Mamma duck & babies! He said the lady wished she'd just done it earlier & made a fab recovery & wished she'd done it earlier & not been so scared. Let me know how you both get on ladies I wish you all the best, with open & keyhole. He said get as fit as possible before hand, eat plenty of fresh fruit & veg, keep drinking lots of water. Do core strength exercises. I of course am still worried about the embolisation but am hopeful it may mean I can have keyhole with a quicker recovery, as I think it's enevitable I'll need surgery.

Hi Heather,

Thanks for all the info. The gynae I saw - I'm not even sure it will be he who does my operation - so I don't really have much clue if they will use a bag or not. I have already got a vertical scar (like a backward J) from my ovary/ appendix removal years ago - along with mini marks from a fundoplication operation I had done just 2 years ago. I'm not so bothered about scars now - I have a fair few! I guess my frustration is waiting yet again. Going back 2 years - from being told I was having an operation to actually getting in was about 12 weeks - but that was classed as 'minor' and was meant to be day surgery - I had 1 night in hospital. This one is major and needs a stay of 2-3 days at least - so God knows how long I will be waiting. I have cancelled my summer holiday and put my life on hold. I really hope I will get away sometime this year - I love travelling :-(

There's hope! I have a pre-op date in 4 weeks - so hopefully done within 12 weeks - I think the tests they do are only good for a maximun of 8 weeks. I know at my local hospital bloods are done on the day of operation - it's just the MRSA swabs as well as medical history and height/ weight/ blood pressure that are done then - so YAY!!!!