Yesterday, I talked about my conversation with the doctors at the teaching clinic about my not-so-mysterious-any-more growths. I’ve got two fibroids — one inside the uterus about the size of a mandarin orange and one in the uterine lining about the size of a football.
Between the two, I’ve been pretty uncomfortable over the last year or so. My periods are irregular, my cramps are incredibly painful, my bladder always feels full, I have constipation problems, and more — all thanks to the football and the orange. In the last six weeks or so, the pain has really become a problem. I’ve had cramp-like pain basically for a month straight. It’s interfering with my ability to work, my sleeping habits, and my appetite.
As I mentioned yesterday, the doctors gave me three options. Option number one is to do nothing. The growths won’t kill me, after all. Sure, I’m uncomfortable, but I’m not dying. They will both most likely continue to grow… and I’m not sure I want a basketball (or any other fruit) in there! So this is not a very attractive option.
Thanks to the location and size of the football, my other options are surgical. The doctors could try to remove just the growths, preserving future fertility. But there’s a good chance they’d have to take the whole uterus anyway (like if they couldn’t close the hole the fibroid leaves behind, or if they can’t stop the bleeding). So option number three is they go in intending to take the uterus (a hysterectomy).
I’ve chosen to go with the hysterectomy, and here’s why.
Preserving fertility isn’t an issue for me. I’ve never wanted to have children of my own. Don’t get me wrong — I like kids, and love my friends’ children. I’ve just never wanted the experience of being a mother myself. If I change my mind down the road? I can always adopt. There are plenty of children out there who need foster or permanent homes.
The other reason is surgical. There’s a very good chance that if I chose the myomectomy (removal of the growths), I would end up needing the hysterectomy anyway. The football-sized growth has stretched my uterus way out of proportion, and the doctors weren’t confident that they would be able to close the hole after removal. Combine that with the potential bleeding issue, and it makes the myomectomy sound like a much riskier procedure to me.
The advantage of the hysterectomy is that there is zero chance the growths could come back, or new ones would form. They can’t grow if there’s no place for them to grow!
I’ve talked with lots of people about my choice: the doctors, my mom, my aunt the nurse, friends who have children, friends who’ve had fibroid issues, friends who’ve had hysterectomies. It’s a big decision — a relatively serious surgery and an end to any possibility that I would give birth to children of my own. But it feels like the best decision for me.
So for right now, my decision is to go with the hysterectomy. My surgery is scheduled for April 7th, but I have the option of changing my mind at any time right up until they wheel me into the operating room.