TTMA Fibroid removal

[hawkward]

Last November, I had to have a pelvic ultrasound before IUD placement, and I had some small (pea sized) fibroids. The doctor was able to place the IUD and wanted follow-up monitoring every six months. Life got crazy and I never had my follow-up appointment.

In March, I had a very heavy period and the IUD fell out. We replaced it in early May. I just had another exceptionally heavy period, and this one fell out too. My doctor thinks the fibroids have grown, and it's put in a referral for a GYN and more ultrasounds. He expects the GYN to want to remove the fibroids. He wants this to happen so I can get another IUD because it's the only thing we've found that relieves PCOS symptoms. 

If you've had it done, what's the surgery like and what was your downtime? I want the crazy periods, etc., gone, but I'm really not looking forward to another surgery.

[oldbaylover1024]

I haven't had fibroids removed, but someone close to me has. She had horrific periods and it ended up she had a lot of large fibroids - I think they removed 5 that were ranging in size from golf balls to one the size of a baseball. They actually left one that was inside her uterus that wasn't a concern.

She was put under and the surgery was laparoscopic (through her belly button). They had to make a few small incisions - one on her side and another near her lady bits. I've had laparoscopic surgery (appendix) and had two small incisions, too, in the same places. She was down-and-out for about 3 weeks. When I had my laparoscopic surgery, I was out for about the same time.

Honestly, she said the recovery was tough. She had trouble sleeping flat and was on pain meds for about two weeks. But once a few weeks past she felt fine and her periods are much better now. And she's kind of a sissy when it comes to pain TBH LOL FWIW she had the surgery as part of she and her husband's TTC journey. She was cleared 3 months after the procedure to TTC.

I hope that helps.

[mattsgirl2004]

I had to have a fibroid removed back in September of 2011. My fibroid was quite large (the size of a football and weighed about 2.5lbs). It was located on the back and one side of my uterus and was pushing on my bowels. Because of the location and size of the fibroid, I had a myomectomy. I was cut from belly button to pelvic bone, as the doctor had to pull my uterus out to remove the fibroid from the back of thr uterus. My recovery was rough and lengthy, but the fibroid size, location, and incision size were all rare. Hopefully your experience will be a much better one.

Depending on the sizes and locations of the fibroids you have, will determine the type of surgery you have and how quickly you recover. Hopefully your surgery will be laproscopic as the recovery and healing time is generally much faster (although, still a bit painful). I hope your appointment with the GYN goes well and you get a good game plan in place!

[unringthebell]

Did they say how they'd do it?

I had a combo hysteroscopy/lap twice to remove a uterine septum. I'd think it's somewhat similar?

The first one was tough because the procedure was over 4 hours. My mom kept my son (about 2yo at the time) overnight one night. Before surgery I thought it was unnecessary, but I ended up being glad she did. They actually almost kept me overnight because of how long they were in there.
I felt much better the second day and was completely back to normal the 3rd day.

The second one was short and recovery was a breeze. I was tired the night of but felt fine the next day.

I don't remember having any heavy bleeding or anything.

[hawkward]

Thank you for your experiences! Hopefully I'll get in for an u/s next week so I can know more about size, etc., so we can figure out how they'll come out.

[muscari]

Jul 1, 2017 15:49:10 GMT -6 enchanted said:

Jul 1, 2017 15:48:40 GMT -6 enchanted said:

hawkward , I know @bootsorhearts had several removed at one time. I saw a picture.

Well damn! I thought she was here.

She is! She just snuck in an extra 1 :-) bootsorhearts1

[bootsorhearts1]

Thank you for the tag muscari! Yeah, the forum ate my first account.

I had a whole bunch of fibroids removed a few years ago (26 I think?). If you plan to TTC at some point in the future, ideally you want to find a surgeon who has a specialty in fibroid removal as it can be tricky business to do it and minimize the impact on your lining. They can do robotic (laparoscopic) or go in through your vag (forget what the technical term is) both are minimally invasive and you'll be up and running in a week or less. If they have to go in abdominally (and it all depends on how many you have and if they are in the inside of your ute or the outside or nestled in the lining, or whatnot) it's tougher. You'll end up with a c-section type scar and the recovery is more like 3+ weeks. But still survivable. Meds.

I didn't have heavy periods but I have heard that can be a side effect. I did have bleeding during sex and after the fibroids were gone that stopped (happy hubby).

The good news is they are pretty slow growing. I had mine pulled out in 2011 and as of Jan of this year there were no sign of any.

Hopefully you come up with a good plan and that it helps!

[hawkward]

Thank you for sharing!