WOMEN PROBLEMS -Ladies only please!!

[sweetpoison]

I know this is off topic and they may move me, but, what the heck, I have to ask someone.
I have been having pain in my lower right side (what I thought was the ovary) radiating through to my back (usually with my period or when I ovulate) so the doctor had an unltra sound dones (internal also- what a thrill). Anyway the results show that the ovaries look fine and I have a very small fibroid. Her concern is that my unteris is larger than is normal and the walls are alot thicker than normal so she is going to take a piece from the inside and check for cancer or pre-cancer cells...... I am 50 and have had no real signs of menapause yet. Has anyone here had this problem???? Is this a sign of cancer??? If it is not cancer, then she says she will do one of 3 things, put me on birth controll pills, do the ballon thing to burn the inside of the uterus (I would have to have my tubes done at the same time to prevent any accidental preg.) or just remove the uterus. The above seems necessary due to heavy bleeding for parts of my period. I am now anemic!!! I have had no children and dont want any at this point in life, so , what would be the best solution???? I really dont want the pill. any insight from those who have been there, please!!! If she removes the Uterus, do you miss it????? So please, has anyone been here/done that?

Vicki

I was also wondering, if this were cancer and they remove my uterus, do they always give you chemo/radiation????? Needless to say, all of this scares me like crazy and I really dont have to many people to talk with. No family left. Cant help it, but diet is really the last thing on my mind right now.

[JuliaL]

Vicki: I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your questions, but wanted to send you a big ((((((HUG))))))) Hang in there and try not to panic. It sounds like there could be many things going on here, and you just have to try not to get too excited until you have your tests done. Can you call your doctor's office and talk to a nurse or something.

Hope all goes well.

Julia

[warmsummerbreeze]

{{{{{Vicki}}}}}

I wish I knew more about such things too....to help you out.

The most important thing is you have seen your doctor and there is a plan. So the hardest step has been taken.

I have begged my doctor for years to remove my uterus. I'd love to never worry about TOM again!!!

Our prayers are with you and you know we are here to help you through it all.

Please keep us posted and let us know how well your doing...because I do know you will do well!

[scigirl3]

I'm not sure how helpful any of this will be. Mom my had uterine cancer when she was 32 {now 60}, had a complete hysterectomy and no chemo or anything else. Who knows how much times have changed in the last almost 30 years. She has been on replacement hormones every since which can be a bear sometimes.

My sister had her hysterectomy at 32 also, about 3 years ago. She has polycystic ovaries, fibroids, endometreosis. So a lot of problems there. She tried to have the 'laser hysterectomy' done a few years before that but she was still having bleeding 20 days a month after. So she chose to just have the uterus removed, keep the ovaries and cervix. She made that choice after a lot of reserach and figured it was her best bet to keep normal hormone levels and libido. Unfortunately, 3 years later, she still has lots or irregularities and bleeding [don't ask me how].

Just make sure that you get as much information as you can before you decide to have any surgery. I do know that they can remove the uterus through the bellybutton laposcopy [sp] and that is what my sister had done. Less invasive then a lot of surgeries.

Keep us updated on how you are doing

hugs
kelly

Just wanted to let you know I am thinking of you today!! Wish I could help!!

((((((Vicki))))))))

I know this is going to be a tough and scary time for you. But try and relax. I always tell myself when i have something going on that i have to wait for an answer on, its gonna be one way or another and at this moment i cant change it.

I can deal with it when i know for sure. I know this is a very hard thing to do but it get's me through. I'm strange though.

There's always different options...more often then not. In my opinion i'd say i'd have it removed. But that's my opinion. Especially if its not cancer and it's going to give you problems down the road you might as well not have the hassle. You may end up going right into menapause so that is something you need to consider. No matter what you do i wish you the best and hope all goes the way you want it to hun.

Will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

[doowa]

I had my uterus and one ovary removed six months ago after years of painful periods and months of sharp pain on my right side. I tried birth control pills and other hormones, but they did not help. First I had an ultrasound. The ultra sound did not show anything, so I had laproscopic exploratory surgery, where they found endometriosis and they burned it. After a few months the pain returned, so that's when I decided to have a hysterectomy. I have 2 children and my DH had a vasectomy years ago.

I love not having TOM!!! I do not regret it at all, and if there is a chance that there is cancer, I wouldn't hesitate to have it done!

Hugs to you!

[snowrose]

((hugs))

Vicki, it sounds like you might have hyperplasia - a thickening of the uterine lining. Some versions of hyperplasia are pre-cancerous (don't get too scared, less than a 1 in 100 chance of it going to cancer over 10 years time, if left untreated).

If you do have hyperplasia and your doctor wants to do a hysterectomy - get another doctor!!! Hysterectomy is NOT the first treatment for hyperplasia!!! First treatment is by giving the patient progesterone - either as an injection or in a progesterone impregnated IUD.

I had atypical hyperplasia (the pre-cancerous kind). I found a good doctor here that treated me with progesterone injections. (One shot each month for 3 months.) At the end of the treatment the pre-cancerous cells were gone and I was back to normal! (Now, if you want to be scared - I was first sent to an oncologist who wanted to either do a hysterectomy or slice out parts of my uterus!! And now I'm just fine without any of that being done!! Makes you mad that they treat a woman's body so cavalierly, just taking things out because they've been trained to take things out!! )

[stews]

your symptoms do NOT neccesarily mean cancer. I had an enlarged uterus, thickened walls. terrible periods. ovaries looked fine , had fibroids (sound familiar?) did the biopsy to test my uterus. came to the conclusion I probably had adenomyosis. it is very common in women. it is an internal form of endometriosis. instead of growing outside the uterous wall, you get fissures inside the wall. I had a total hysterectomy and it was the best thing I could have ever done. also, even though the ultrasound didn't show anything wrong with my ovaries, when he got in there he found them covered with little cysts. said I had polysistic ovarian syndrome. didn't know I had that till after the hysterectomy. lol I was a mess inside. but taking everything out I am all better and do NOT miss my Uterus.

[sweetpoison]

Thanks so much for all the info. Waiting is the worst. She has scheduled my test for July 31 - depending on my TOM. But, thinking about it, I am 50 and want no children at this age and really dont want anymore problems with this, so PREYING that there is no cancer, I am still considering removal of just the uterus. By keeping my ovaries that will keep me from entering menapause to quick. Everything is just up in the air right now. Yes, I am scared - although I keep telling myself if it is cancer, we can take care of it. I had a D&C about 8 years ago and there was no cancer at that time (that they found anyways),so if it is there, its not like its been there for 20 years or something. But it is good to hear that there are other possibilities here.

Thanks to all
Vicki

[igaligal7]

I am sorry to hear about your problem. I am 40 years old and was diagnosed as being anemic in May due to prolonged (14 days) and heavy periods. I had an endometrial ablation done on 6/18 to help alleviate this problem. I also subscribe to ezboard.com and this board has an endometrial ablation discussion forum for women with this problem. You may want to take a look to see if this information helps.

http://home.att.net/~endometrial_ablation/index.html

[MerryJ]

About 4 years prior to that I had laproscopy to remove fibroids. about 2 years after that I ended up in the emergency room with intense pain - the fibroids were back (in the muscle wall of the uterus) along with cysts on my ovaries. Also had very eratic, heavy periods for years.
After discussing various options with my doc - decided on a total hysterectomy. Best thing I ever did! He said that the ablation (burning the uterine lining) and the procedure to shrink the fibroids by cutting off the blood supply were ok - but not a sure fix and since my kept coming back and causing such problems it was better to remove them.
I only take a small amount of estogen replacement so am not at risk like those who take both estrogen and prostegeron.
My libido was not diminished at all - if anything, once I recovered fully from the surgery - things got better. You never really realize how bad you have been feeling until you actually feel good again.

Do some research on the web about your condition - webmd is a great place to start. The more informed you are and feel the better equiped you will be to make a decision that is right for you.

[CaroleKI61]

Honey, don't be afraid. Doctors have to tell you all the possabilities. Three years ago I had most of your symptoms and I was scared stiff, I got all my things in order and as much as said goodbye to my family and friends. Thank God when surgery day came and they went snooping around inside they ended up doing a D&C and I was home the next day. There wasn't any sign of cancer and I'm okay now. Don't borrow trouble by thinking about all the what ifs. Take care love Carole

[woodswoman]

First, try not to worry! It won't change anything and just upsets you and makes the whole business scarier. Doctors routinely check for cancer in a case like this and it's usually not. They really should check on the sly though, because they're always scaring the crap out of their patients by announcing it!

An aquaintance of ours had a growth the size of a grapefruit on her ovary last year and when they went to remove it, they took her uterus out too. I don't know exactly why - whether there was cancerous cells or not, but I saw her 3 weeks after and she said she felt great. She just had a patch she had to wear over her ovary area, no chemo or anything.

A friend of mine just had her uterus removed last week. They did it vaginally and she was home the next day and feeling fine. I went to see her a few days later and she didn't have any pain or anything. I don't know what her routine will be as far as hormones, etc.

It could be nothing. We'll be praying that it is.

[fatbottomgirl]

I had a hysterectomy 2 years ago at age 26, after 3 kids, knowing I didn't want anymore. I had adenomyosis(SP?) and a prolapsed uterus. My ovaries looked o.k., so he left those to keep my hormones the same, and it was the best decision of my life. NO MORE PAIN, LONG PERIODS, IRREGULAR BLEEDING, DID I MENTION NO MORE PAIN? Hysterectomy is this thing that makes people really scared, but a year after I had mine, my mom had to have one, and she finally knew the joy of all the above! She wishes she had it done sooner. If you don't need it(uterus)...you won't even miss it! Try to keep your ovaries if it does come to this. No matter what, don't worry before you have to!

[sweetpoison]

Thanks again ladies for all the info. I am feeling alittle better today about this whole thing. I am thinking alittle clearer. You know what has come to my mind She said that the uterus was "larger than normal", well, for some time now I have had a pressure (it seems) to pee. Not pain, not nothing that really concerned me, I just seemed to have to pee so much more than some folks, no problem holding it, just the sensation, I always thought I just was overweight with a touchy bladder, but MAYBE the uterus is larger and pushing on it (kinda like the pregnacy effect). I will have to ask the doctor about this.

Anyway, thanks again, and for those who have had the uterus removed (just in case - want to cover all basis) could you tell me how long before you could return to work (or your normal daily routine). My work is VERY seditary. Mostly computer since I do payroll and purchasing, so there is no heavy anything here (except maybe my butt ). No one here has a notion of how to do the payroll on the computer (I have been telling them someone should learn - a semi might get me at anytime or I might hit the lotto, anyway I would be gone , but they just laugh).

Thank again
Vicki

[252dlp]

Another one with uterus removed. I had a hysterectomy 2 years ago for many large fibroids. My surgery was abdominal, and my hospital stay was 4 days. I stayed with my mom for 3 weeks because my doctor wouldn't allow me to use the stairs in my own place and there was no way to avoid them. I was not cleared to go back to work for 8 weeks, but believe me, I enjoyed having that time to recoup. I healed fast and was able to walk (and was cleared by the doctor) almost from the beginning, but I would not have wanted to sit at a desk all day (which is what my job is). It was nice to be able to lay down whenever I needed to and sitting up puts pressure on that area. At 8 weeks I was cleared for work and exercise. I had suffered for years with painful periods, but as the fibroids got larger and more plentiful (turns out I had more than 20 fibroids), the pressure on my other internal organs was very uncomfortable. Having that hysterectomy was a great thing for me.

[doowa]

I went back to a very active job after 6 weeks. However, I had my hysterectomy vaginally.

[stews]

I went back after six weeks. I would not have been able to sit all day. even getting on the computer for a few minutes each day wasy hard. i did have abdominal.

[sweetpoison]

Thanks again so much for all the insight. I guess I am just so afraid of the "dependency part" of this surgery. I am the type that rarely asks for help, well, there is no family left and I have just a couple of close friends (who have jobs and families of their own). I have my significant other and he seems to be a good man, but in the face of adversity - well I wonder!!!While you are not totally helpless after this type of surgery, you are still somewhat dependent for a couple of weeks. I have read some really bad accounts since searching the internet. I sure hope "if" we do this it is vaginaly. What I dont need is a cut in this stomach muscle I have never had children, so that might be a problem.

Thanks again
Vicki

[252dlp]

Well, it is true you will be somewhat dependent. You would not be allowed to lift things or drive, things like that. But overall, I didn't need a lot of "care". I was able to shower by myself, dress myself, etc. I did a lot of preparation before I had the surgery so that I had lots of light meal type things to just pop in the microwave, etc. My biggest hurdle were the stairs in my condo, my kitchen is downstairs but my only bathroom is upstairs, my doctor would not allow that, so that's why I had to stay with my mother. I have never had children either.

I want to revive this topic a little. I have a question. I had a hysterectomy a year ago with one ovary left behind. Is it likely that I can get some symptoms of TOM, even quite mildly. I can't say that I've noticed much but with measuring weekly for CLA challenge I find my bust size and abdomen varying and the scales moving ever so slightly upwards, maybe it's a touch of bloating. Any advice from those in the know would be greatly appreciated.