PM me. This is what I do so I am happy to discuss.
Cheers,
HC

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Holden Cain, ObGyn..."People pulling people out of people"

I had the same surgery and I don't think a marathon in 10 weeks is doable. I was 6 weeks off work, doing a lot of walking, then some swimming and then riding and last to come back, running.

I did go to the Tour de France 4 months later and rode a lot of miles with no issues.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Thanks for the info clm.....that's what I was afraid of. I'm hoping they'll let me hold off until after the race!!

I have had all three done, but not at the same time, so I wasn't off work for more than a day or two for each. That being said, if I got them all done the same day I don't think a marathon would be doable. Even if you only missed a week or two of training, the jump in mileage when you started again would put you at risk for injuries. Good luck-it is worth it!

Done....looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Glad to hear this wokred for you!!! Thanks for your thoughts!!

sorry do not want to hijack but its on topic...what were your symptoms?
Ive been told last couple of years (ultrasound) I had large fibroid, I only felt during period for one or 2 days so did not want to do anything...now I feel it mid cycle, when i am lying down, and my whole stomach is bloated all the time now---could be from that?
when you say 'worth it" how did you feel after?
sitting down at desk I swear I can feel it right now!

For me, I have long (10-12 days) of heavy bleeding and large clots. Its also very painful (cramps) for about 4-5 days. My doc did 2 (different types) of ultrasounds and then an MRI. Surprisingly I am not anemic, but that is a risk.

I amnot bleeding that long but also clots and seem to cramp almost all month yikes
good luck to you
and thanks for info---I really should get this checked again

Mine were external, which I guess are the better kind to have. Couldn't have them removed because as the Ob/Gyn said they were like "two Mickey Mouse ears" and each was right near the entrance to my fallopian tubes. If I had them removed the scar tissue and endometriosis (lucky me again!) would likely make me infertile. I had surgery where they scraped out my uterus of a lot of gunk/endometriosis. Then put me into medical menopause to shrink the tumors (they grow on estrogen) so that after I would be able to get pregnant. My symptoms were very heavy clotty periods and cramps that I was told were like false labor (after having baby would have to agree) and would go Vaso-Vagal and pass out and my pelvic area always felt heavy-I don't know how else to describe it. After the pregnancy the tumors never grew back. Periods and cramps came back, got titanium screws put in fallopian tubes (like having your tubes tied), that helped for a short time and then problems came back. So I got ablated, where they put a scorching hot balloon in your uterus and burn your endometrial lining. Worked pretty much, still get cramps but they are nowhere near like before. And now two years later, ironically am in peri-menopause!

Actually, the 6 weeks off work was the third surgery and more involved (and permanently fixed the issue!) The first 2 were outpatient, but I still don't think you'd be able to race that close after.

Good luck!

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

I've been a watcher but never posted anything until today. I saw your post and have some important advice. Make sure your surgery is scheduled for the week after your regular period is suppose to start. My "monthly visitor" was about a 15 days long by this point and I was on the pill to attempt to help regulate it. I had my surgery 7 days after my pills said I was suppose to start. That was my last period, ever... Your uterine wall lining is at a minimal depth at this point. When they go in to scrap and burn, the less they need to do, the more effective the outcome.
You will be surprised, six months from now, how much better you feel!

I had a large fibroid and because I was done having munchkins, they took the whole uterus out.
No more periods!! I still have my ovaries so no weird hormonal things happening.
Took me about 2 weeks to feel normal and another 4 weeks before I could start doing the usually stuff again.

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*Anne*

Hi there - I don't post on her any more either, as my triathlon days came to an end a year and half ago after my "fibroid" surgery. I do not want to make anyone scared at all, because the chances are WAAAYYY against anything like this happening to you, but I feel the need to let women suffering from fibroids know my story real quick. I asked my surgeon specifically if he thought there was a chance I had leiomoysarcoma (the radiologist said she didn't like how my "fibroid" looked, due to its vascular nature - this after months of my gyno telling me my syptoms were "just hormones). Surgeon insisted I was just fine - just a fibroid. I had a myoectomy (which is removing the fibroid - leaving the uterus). This is absolultely, 100%, not advised for leiomyosarcoma - spews the little cancer buggers out into your system. Was diagnosed the next day with ULMS. Unfortunatley, went metastatic in January, and am now just counting my months, I'm afraid - maybe a couple years if I'm lucky.

I'm seriously not trying to alarm people, as there's such a tiny, tiny chance that this happens to women (like 1000/year max apparently) and my symptoms were pretty horrible in retrospect. But I believe there are ways to detect this before a surgery. Turns out my radiologist had even advised in writing that cancer be ruled out in my case - I put my trust in the wrong guy -- so I guess I just want to make sure people know this is a possibility, and that hysterectomy is best option (though no guarantee) for long-term survival if there's cancer.

All that said, my recovery from myoectomy was about 8 weeks.

Best of luck - and take advantage of medical recovery to get some rest and do all those non-sports things we often don't otherwise do: reading, knitting (ok, i don't knit), chatting, sleeping - and an ill-advised pain pill with a glass of wine or two can feel pretty great (-;

Orbito--
Thank you so much for sharing your story. I had not heard of this as a possibility and I believe in being an informed patient. I truly appreciate the information, and no worries, you have not scared me, rather you have educated me.

I meet with my doc again tomorrow to discuss options, and I will certainly ask about the vascular nature of the growths. I have seen the report from the radiologist, and the submucosal fibroids were confirmed, but there was also mention of cysts had not been identififed in my prior studies. If you have any suggestions on how I can rule out leiomyosarcoma, I'll take them!!

If you don't mind sharing a little more, I'm curious about your "horrible" symptoms. Care to elaborate??

Thanks

Well let's scare away and skeeve out any man who might still be reading this thread, shall we...

I think it's pretty normal for fibroids to cause some bad cramping and a lot of bleeding - like a LOT more than normal. But I believe it will usually be related - at least roughly - to your period. Might get one a little off schedule, or last a lot longer, but still at least on some sort of schedule. Me - I'd get hit out of nowhere. sitting at work - one or two times out having a drink - feeling perfectly fine and healthy, then out of the blue, and over the course of about ten minutes, I would develop the worst cramps I could have imagined, followed by, well, ok, gross, some serious hemorrhaging. What I think was so unusual was the intensity of it, the ridiculous amount of bleeding, and the fact it would come out of the blue - not timed to any period or anything. By the time my surgery date rolled around, they woudn't do it because i was so anemic - had to have three units of bloood. Not a huge amount to get transfused - but really, one shouldn't need any, right?

not sure how helpful that is - and again, chances are so slim form women having LMS and not just routine old fibroids. But I have this feeling they don't catch this in as many women as they could or should. The listserv I'm on for LMS has lots of women with "oops" surgeries. That is, surgeries like mine where they did not know they had cancer until after. It's not unheard of, but again, chances of survival are just so much better if one gets a hystererectomy off the bat, rather than cutting up the tumor.

my psa for the day...

Orbito,
I just wanted to thank you for sharing what must be a very painful story, and also wish you the best as you battle this disease. It's hard to know what to say, given the advanced stage of your cancer, but I am so sorry that something like this had to happen to you. Other than that, words fail me.

I'm having a uterine artery embolization for a fibroid in about a month, although mine clearly isn't as large as the original poster's. I chose a doctor who is supposed to be one of the leaders in the country in this surgery, although it would be significantly easier for me to go with someone more local. Your situation made me glad I made the choice--both for the type of surgery and the doctor. This surgery won't solve anything in the very unlikely event that mine is an LMS vs. a fibroid, but at least it won't make anything worse and can serve as a diagnostic tool if the surgery doesn't achieve its goal.

Again, best wishes to you. Know that your input has at least informed the 500+ people who have looked at this thread that there are risks, however rare, that may not have been talked about.

Heidi

Sounds very very similar to me. My (third) surgeon is a gynological oncologist, so just taking out the fibroids is never an option with her. Luckily, no cancerous cells, but she said if you leave anything, then there is always a chance of cancer developing later. Glad to hear you are doing OK now.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

I too have been lurking but when I saw this thread I had to reply because in 3 weeks I'll be having a partial hysterectomy because of fibroids. I was also wondering how long recovery will take. I just did my first sprint this past Sept so I'm new to tri training. I wanted to start working on strenght training after the sprint but then I found out that I had 4-5 fibroids and the doctor didn't think it would be wise to just remove them. So the choices were a hormone shot that would simulate early menopause, abdominal myomectomy or parital hyst. I'm 41 so decided to go with the partial. Unfortunately though knowing that I probably won't be able to work out for a month had unmotivated me to working out before the surgery:( The cold weather doesn't help either. Oh well, I plan to get back to working with a coach once I can start working out again. Anyway I've heard at least 2 weeks before you can go back to a desk job and 4 weeks before lifting or exercise. I wanted to get my done as soon as my doctor could schedule me-I'm so done with heavy bleeding and clots, not to mention the drain of energy it takes on the body. I'm even on the pill to help control the bleeding but it had started not stopping it so I decided to go to the doctor to see what options I had. Well good luck with your situation, hope you can do the marathon:)

Lisa

Hi ladies---

Update: no marathon for me. After exploring all the options and multiple consultations, it is universally agreed that a partial hysterectomy is the best path for me (my ovaries will stay). Apparently all of the fibroids cannot be removed via myomectomy and because I still have several years until menopause, I would have to continually deal with this for the next 15+ years.

As for the surgery itself, apparently I am an excellent candidate for the de Vinci robot surgery. I've been told that I'll be in the hospital at most for 1.5 days and my recovery should be quick because I am in "such good shape". My plan is to keep up the training and even complete a 12K two days before the procedure.

I can't say thank you enough to all who have contributed to this discussion!! I really appreciate your experiences and it helped me navigate this situation.

Cheers

Your words are so kind, Heidi, thank you! It' s amazing how far a few kind thoughts, even from some nice women on a message board, can go.

STFU (it's weird to type that and not have to erase before sending - like at work (-; ) - from what I've learned, robot is the way to go. It'll make recovery SO much better, and the scars should just be a couple of dots - nothing like the usual scar, which just screams "look at me, I had a hysterectomy." While I really didn't want a hysterecomy when I started down this road, I gotta say, I'd never even know I was missing that organ now (had it removed later after the initial myomectomy), aside from the whole cancer thing. And it really is great not to worry about your period any more.

Thanks for following up -and good wishes for a quick and comfortable recovery!

oh yeah, I went running today - it was brilliant! I'm slow now, and 15 lbs heavier than I used to be. But man it was cool to be out there again. I'll have to start treatments again soon - but decided I'm going to keep running (jogging?) as long as I can. and get back on my bike.

My wife went through this a couple years ago. She had 3 fibroids one of which was 11cm in diameter. She had talked to both her OB/GYN, the high risk doctor who delivered our first son, as well as our family doctor. All of them had differing opinions on what to do so finally I told her to find an expert regardless of location to talk to. We found a doctor in Omaha NE who specializes in fertility, co-authored a book on myomectomy, and is a faculty chair for the university of nebraska medical schools fertility dept.. She was excellent and a joy to work with.

The surgery turned out to be rather complicated and forced her to "get creative" with the procedures. The 11cm fibroid had grown completely through the back wall of her uterus and left a gaping hole after its removal. Knowing that we wanted to have more children she had to think long and hard on how to preserve her uterus. The solution she came up with was one that she was not aware of ever being done before. She did a muscle flap reconstruction of her uterus, essentially bisecting the uterine wall next to the hole, folding those flaps over and sewing them together.

14 months later we had our second son, the doctors who did the c-section commented that they could not even tell where she had had the surgery.

if you would like to get in touch with this doctor let me know, I highly reccomend her.

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http://www.ventuscustoms.com Custom Bicycle Painting.

All the best, to all of you.
I love the womans' forum- our hearts are in the right place, most of the time, beyond race splits & bench press!!

I faced my own battle last yr.
My 2 cents is only this: when it comes to the recovery- know your options. Ask all the right questions. ask a lot of questions.
I did, and my doc who was not a tri, not a mom, not a woman- had to also ask & research to find the best natural solutions for me.

I am now 110% a new person, a better & much healthier one, training hard & enjoying every day with my son.

PM me if anything.. thx

Okay - I am going to chime in. Where is this de Vinci at? We have had a TON of trouble with ours and there is a very high rate of going blades up mid procedure with the robots. The system is great when it works - and terrible when it does not. You need to think long and hard about if a lesser scar and or a supposed better outcome with a robot is a better option than the hands and skills of a talented surgeon. Another thing about de Vinci is that the doctors cant really "see" if there is a larger fish frying in the pan that they thought to begin with. I am not saying that you should not use the robots - just go into it knowing that the robots are not infallible.

I could easily really piss off my employers with this post as no one is bragging about the fact that any and all mechanical systems can fail. de Vinci can and has failed.


Best of luck to you and speedy recovery.

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

   
I had a Supracervical Laparoscopic Hysterectomy in January 2008. I was able to bike (on a trainer) within a few days and was jogging within two weeks (slow and on a treadmill wth the elevation jacked up). I was back at work about a week after surgery. My biggest issue was a migraine post surgery which I think was because of no caffeine. I ended up travelling from NH to MD to get the procedure done.

I started to have heavy bleeding and clotting for about 9 months. I had gone to my ob/gyn in NH and told her my symptons after about 6 months. She told me that I had 3 large fibroids, 2 the size of a grapefruit and one the size of an orange. The only options she gave me were an open abdomen hysterectomy or cutting the blood flow to the tumors and letting them die(ewww). Neither of those options were appealing.

After 3 more months, I was getting more bloated, more back pain and very heavy flow. Also, if I had a workout on the first day or two, it was awful. It was like doing a workout after donating a pint of blood. I was fortunate that my adventure race team mate was also a doctor. He sent my ultrasounds along to a surgeon specializing in woman's oncology. He took one look and said that those should really come out sooner rather than later.

Within a week I was scheduled and had the procedure done as an outpatient. Oh, I was 45 and was done having kids. No periods are nice and after 2 years, still no noticable signs of menopause.

It definitely showed me that all doctors are not created equally. My NH ob/gyn looked at me like I had two heads when I asked if it could be done laparoscopically.

Tamela

This is my specialty, and I do LSH (Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy) several times each week and was one of the first in my area to do these cases.

The robot adds NOTHING to this procedure. Actually, it increases the operating time significantly...I can do this in 45 mins w/o the robot---the robot adds another hr or TWO. The robot requires additional port sites in your abdomen....usually requires 5 holes versus the 3 we normally use ..and now we are doing SSS (single site surgery) where I can do it all through ONE hole...wow!. And don't even mention the additional expense w/ the robot.

I would question your surgeon about why he/she wants to use the DaVinci Robot. The answer will have NOTHING to do with it being a BETTER procedure. Your doc is doing it b/c it is COOL for them to do it...and the hospital gets paid more. We docs get paid the same...and actually LESS for these time consuming cases.

HC

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Holden Cain, ObGyn..."People pulling people out of people"

My surgeon didn't use a robot, just normal surgery! I had 3 little bandaids on my abdomen when he was done. I was very happy with the outcome and my quick recovery.
Tamela

Hey Tamela, good to see/read you again... your symptoms sound a lot like mine. The bloating is also a PITA. Hoping to get it checked shortly. Glad to hear you had a good outcome to this...

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

I'm always lurking. :-) I have been focused on adventure racing and was bummed I didn't make it to AZ this spring! I know I was very fortunate that I had access to the surgeon that performed my surgery. Ironic that my female ob/gyn totally blew me off and dismissed my symptoms. She actually made me feel like I was being whiny, and I am NOT whiny. :-)
Tamela

Um, yer the furthest person from whiny I can think of ;-)

Yeah hoping to get to AmZof in '11, but have to see how much IMNZ in March sucks out of me first...

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

To clarify, my surgeon said that I was a candidate for the robot, and we discussed all options. My surgery was scheduled for Dec and we decided to choose the appropriate procedure at my pre-op appt before the surgery.
Rewind to a few days ago….me feeling lightheaded and passing out. I had been bleeding pretty profusely for a couple of days (which was normal for me), but the dizziness was new. I went in for an exam and since I had seen her last, one of my fibroids had prolapsed and I was severely anemic. Hello blood transfusion and “emergency” surgery!!!
Had a vaginal hyst, with cervix and uterus both removed---no incisions, no robot!!! Procedure was “textbook” (her words). I was home less than 24 hours after the surgery and feel great. A little soreness, but otherwise doing really well!! Have been advised to do no vigorous activity for at least 4 weeks, maybe six. I think I will take advantage of the opportunity to just give myself some downtime, then hit it hard at the turn of the new year!!!
Again, my thanks for the info y’all have provided!!! It certainly made this process easier!!

Holy crap, glad to hear you made it through and are home now.

Get better! Enjoy your 4 weeks rest ;-)

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

Tamela, I live in MD and my OBGYN has discussed the partial hyst/fibroid removal with me, and like many of the others have said, told me I'd probably be out of work 6 weeks, and even longer to resume working out, so I've been planning on postponing as long as possible. Your post makes me wonder if there are alternatives for me, though - do you mind telling me who you used for your surgery?

thanks,
NIK

NIK,
Dr. Albert Steren performed my surgery. I know he has several offices, but I had mine done at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Springs. Good luck!
Tamela

One option to look into is a vaginal myomectomy. It relieves symptoms of cramping and heavy bleeding by removing the fibroids that protrude into the uterus. I learned about this procedure by going to a medical school library and reading the literature. My GYN was recommending surgery through the abdominal wall (with the possibility of a hysterectomy if it didn't go well), which I reluctant to do. I showed her the article. She did an imaging procedure putting saline in the uterus to visualize the fibroids, and thought I might be a good candidate based on the research literature.

As with any specialized surgical procedure, the experience of the surgeon makes a difference in terms of outcomes. I insisted on referral to a fertility specialist, even though no kids were in my future, because these docs have the most experience in minimizing scar tissue from surgery.

Although I still have fibroids located outside the uterus, I've been remarkably pain free for nearly ten years now. And the recovery from surgery was almost nothing.

So the bottom line is that not all fibroids are the same. Understanding where they are located (in the uterine wall, outside the uterus, etc.) helps to understand the treatment options. Research this yourself, because your treating practitioner, no matter how well intentioned, may have a set way of solving problems that may or may not be best for you.

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No coasting in running and no crying in baseball

Thanks very much!

Hey Tri'dItLikeIt,
How are you feeling since your surgery. I just had a hystie because of fibriod Dec 7th. Doc thought there were 4-5 but she counted 7 once the utereus was out and one was the size of a baseball. Still hurts to laugh, sneeze or cough but getting better everyday.

Anyway hope you are doing well.

Lisa

Hi Lisa--
I'm doing really well, thank you for asking. I was back at the doc this week (4 weeks post-op) and she said everything was healing really well (due in part to the good shape I was in before the surgery). She gave me clearance for activity, but only every other day and at low intensity. So far this week I have run a total of 12 miles (3 runs) about 1min3sec slower than normal pace, and it felt good (slow, but good).

I wish you a speedy recovery and feel free to PM me if you have any questions I can answer for you!!

:)

Update (yes resurrecting this thread): had the camera up the chute today (jeebus that sucked) but it confirmed that I had two decent sized fibroids, one of which was in the wall (half in half out). Will get biopsy results in a few days. Tentatively booked for removal in 6 weeks. Yuckity yuck yuck. But it confirms the suspicions.

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

You use the most interesting verbs, LOL.

Good luck with the surgery. Keep us updated.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Believe me, you will feel much better when they are out!

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Can't wait. Tired of the excessive bleeding and massive cramping.

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

Isn't getting old so much fucking fun???

I was severely anemic most of July and August due to non-stop menopausal bleeding. Struggled my way through IMC (I fainted 3 days before the race while riding Mclean Creek on my bike, it was that bad). Had ultrasound (fibroids!) and an endometrial biopsy as we were planning an ablation. No go on that after fibroid discovery and very small uterus size due to never having kids.

Anyhow, 2 days after IMAZ I get to have my uterus yanked out my vajayjay! Whoohoo. Looking forward to being cramp and anemia free like by Thanksgiving.

No shit eh? Yeah I've NEVER had low iron levels until this year. And doing not one but TWO IMs on Day 1 was enough (IMC 09, started on the bike; IMNZ 11, started the morning of, before the swim). Hoping and suspecting the biopsy will be negative. Looking forward to some normalcy again.

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

You will wonder why you ever waited so long. Believe me, your life will change for the better!

Kick ass in AZ.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Okay, the bitch is OUT. Tuesday at noon!

Surgery was a snap. Surgeon was in and out through the vajayjay in 45 minutes. No incisions. Some complications with post op pain meds, despite me tellling them I was a lightweight and have a low resting pulse. Apparently I was mumbling about some pain in the recovery bay, and the nurse hit me with 10mg morphine and my pulse dropped into the 20-30's and they were freaking. 3 hours later, they take me up to my room. Where they hit me with something called tramadol, which stops my kidneys from working properly, so no pee is coming out the catheter. Wait, catheter? Yeah, the doc forgot to tell me about that part. WTF. so they have to wait for this tramadol shit to clear my system and the pee to start flowing. definitely some pain here while waiting, all they could give me was motrin. By midnight I am crying in pain. the catheter would not drain properly and they finally gave me some percocet around 1. i spent the whole night buzzing the nurse to come jiggle the cath because I bladder was filling up like a watermelon. shitshow.

anyhow, once the cath was out i needed no pain meds. seriously just a few motrin since Wed afternoon.

however, the doc didn't tell me about the gas. oh holy mother of fuck, the gas. i have been farting since Wed am, but nothing, and I mean NOTHING moved until today. (that's 5 full crapless days people, despite the colace, laxatives, rotorooter, Gasx, walking, water, etc). I spent the past few days unable to eat, doubled over, in abject suffering. i almost had an aneursym pushing for the smallest puff of air. by far and away the worst part.

Otherwise, I feel great. Doc said I could hit the pool and trainer starting Wed, but honestly, I feel so good, I'd hit it today if I could.

Great to hear it's done and that you're doing so well... but you'll pardon me if I don't follow your bubbles in the pool... :-)

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

Yeah, they don't really play up the gas thing very much- and now you know why. I just went through a laproscopy to remove an ovary and ditto to your rant about the gas. It's horrible- you can't stand up straight, lying down hurts, you can't get it out for a few days so you feel like that girl from the Willy Wonka movie that turns into the blueberry and gets rolled away. That was definitely the worst part. Glad you made it through and you're feeling great.

Kelly

Hey Ladies!

I'm going under the knife for removal of a 12cm (!!!) dermoid cyst (google at your own risk) next Wednesday, hopefully laparoscopically. Basically the cyst is endangering the blood flow to my left ovary, and I can't continue to train at a high volume w/o risk of an emergency surgery and loss of an ovary.

What was the recovery like for those that had laparoscopic surgery? How long before you were cleared to swim/bike/run? Did you make any modifications to your usual workouts initially? How did you keep from going stir-crazy?

Things that don't suck: I get a week to convalesce in the Dominican Republic and should lose ~2lbs!

Cheers,

PinkFox

I had two ovarian cysts removed (along with both ovaries) about 8 weeks ago but had an open incision. There was concern of a possibility of ovarian cancer so the surgeon didn't want to take any chances of removing the cyst laproscopically. Also one cyst was very large (20 cm!) so too large to do it without the incision. Obviously with the large incision the recovery was longer but I am back doing everything I was before, just a little slower and my energy gets zapped quicker. For laproscopic surgery I think you will be back much quicker, I wasn't cleared to do any exercising except walking for 6 weeks. That was the hardest part as I was getting really tired of walking and chomping at the bit to get back on the bike. From others I have known who have had laproscopic surgery the hardest part was the gas pains afterwards. I had some of that but not nearly as bad. Walking helps a lot. And the best feeling in the world is waking up in the recovery room and the doctor telling you that you do not have ovarian cancer. Good luck with your surgery, remember to take it easy and follow the doctors orders!

Update: had the two fibroids removed yesterday via hysteroscopy. Gas & bloating up the ying yang (I look like I'm 6-7mo pregnant!), but not that much bleeding. Hurts to sneeze, but really happy it's over. Doc said I could try an easy run 2-3 days after the bleeding cut out completely, of with the caveat to stop if any pain or return of bleeding.

Funny thing, the day before my procedure, I got a letter in the mail with a ribbon: apparently I placed 3rd in my AG in the BC (provincial) 1/2 marathon champs race I did on the 12th. When I got home post-procedure, seeing that stupid ribbon got me a little choked up, knowing it would be a bit of a slog to get back to that time... but if nothing else, it provides some motivation!!! I spent last night trolling the local running calendar ;-)

Looking forward to camp in April!

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

Hi,

I would like to know the name of the doctor that performed your wife's surgery. Thank you, this information would be a big help to me.

Thanks again!

Her name is Victoria Macklin in Omaha http://www.heartlandfertility.com/ is her office.

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http://www.ventuscustoms.com Custom Bicycle Painting.

HeidiC,
I was wondering if you could tell me what doctor you are going to who is the leading specialist in Firbroid embolizations? Thank you
Elena

Hello HC, I am new to this forum, have a fibroid the size of a grapefruit, am being advised to have embolization procedure done. Looking for advice! I worry about the loss of blood supply yo my uterus, other complications? Is there a higher risk of endometrial cancer afterwards, or just because of them? Anything you know, any websites you can recommend, anything at all is much appreciated
Elena

Bruce McLucas in Los Angeles. He's a little bit Hollywood, but a good doctor. Information here.

I'm kicking this thread back into play because now it's my turn. My 5 cm golfball-sized fibroid bleeds a little and cramps a little every week. Now that I'm into my 60th year, child bearing is a non-starter, but my entry to IM St George next May concerns me somewhat as yet another "Life Happens" interference to my training.

Does anybody have updates as to what worked for them? As of now, I can bear the discomfort, especially since hearing about others with much bigger growths. The good news is that my ultrasound did not find any cancer, so there's that...

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DFL > DNF > DNS

What does your surgeon say? If they just take it out via scope pretty soon, then next May shouldn't be an issue.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com