robin, I just got to this thread and I wanted to tell you that I know absolutely NOTHING about this stuff but you're in my thoughts and I hope everything works out. I know it will. You're so awesome and we all love you so much -- we're here for you! :hug:

Thank you all for your well informed and considerate responses.

Mel, my Dr. said I would need an abdominal hysterectomy becasue of the large size of the fibroid. You bring up a good point about the hormone test. Perimenapause would certainly be a good thing for me at this point. I will defiitely speak to her about that. My periods have only been so bad the past 2 years or so, which prompted me to go to my doctor in the first place about 21 months ago and that's when we originally found the fibroid. I have seen no improvement with the 88 lb. loss. Fibroids are known to cause heavy, heavy bleeding and heavy cramping. I'm not sure if even continued weightloss alone will help. I really can live with the pain if I'm close to menapause. OMG, I'm actually looking forward to menapause, huh? When I gather up more info my first question will be to her is there any harm in leaving the fibroid alone. I think her biggest fear is that it will get larger. The truth of the matter is if I get much smaller, and yeah that's the plan, that sucker will really be pertruding, just how much remains to be seen. At this point, I am in no rush to go through surgery and remove my uterus, unless of couse it is in my medical best interest. Again, I can deal with a little discomfort, I had been for over 2 years now. What prompted me to go again to the Dr. was the fact that now for the first time I am actually feeling the fibroid. A little bonus from my weightloss. Oh well.

Cheryl, I am not anemic at this point. Thankfully.

BeachPatrol, I'm glad you finally found some relief. Perhaps I will consider the pill, though the Dr. said she is not sure if it will bring me any relief. It's something that I am really not focusing on right now. Maybe in the future.

Swimgirl, my Dr. says shrinking is not a permanent solution, since fibroids tend to grow back. Her approach certainly IS permanent, that's for sure.

Maria, that sounds like an awful lot of magnesium.

Mrs. Quadcrew, I'm glad your daughter found some much needed relief. She was a lot younger then me with menapause no where in sight for her, it really sounds like she had no other option. What a difficult decision that must have been for her. I can't even imagine. :hug:

LisaMarie, thank you so much for your kind words and good wishes. I love you all too. :hug:

I'll keep you all posted. Thanks again. All your comments have been so, so helpful to me.

G'luck, being a guy I don't know much about women's health - but I agree about making sure to do your research carefully (there is just as much misinformation as there is information out there on the Web) and to get a second or maybe third opinion (esp. if insurance covers it.)

Just echoing the good wishes, nothing really to add. And congrats on the weight loss - it always seems to be such a trade.

Wow! What a lot of different opinions! I've had 10 kids and heaving bleeding for 10yr (age 43 to 53) while in menopause but it went away. I felt that a lot of us didn't know what normal was because all of our moms had had hysterectomies. I never had cramps after my first baby so for that I was very thankful!

robin - what about shrinking it as a temporary fix until you hit menopause when fibroids seems to shrink on their own? A hysterectomy just seems SO harsh!

-Aimee

I tend to view this a little differently. I was having severe bleeding- 24/7 periods and very heavy - 2 pads/hr. I just wouldn't stop! He put me on the pill to stop the bleeding ASAP as I was very anemic. I started a new pack every 3 weeks so I wouldn't start again. He also did a D &C - that help for ..let's see...almost 24 hours!!!! I was through having kids and decided to have the hysterectomy several months later when my kids would be on vacation with their dad. He gave me the choice regarding my ovaries - I said take them!!! The way I see it - less chance for ovarian cancer. That one scares me- no real good test for it! There is a lot of cancer in my family. So - I had a full hysterectomy and my bladder tied (that last pregnancy was a doozy!). I started taking the replacment hormones for about 1 year. Then I started to wean myself off of them to see if my body would adjust. I have not taken any in months. I have hot flashes from time to time but that is all I notice. I am 43 years old. However, I do wonder if changes in my body after my hysterectomy increased how easily I gain weight. I was never ths heavy before, however my kids are also now older and I do a lot or running here and there, so probably more fast food. It is a tough decision. Is there any possible way to do the surgery vaginally? Is the fibroid too big? I was only off work for 3 weeks with mine because he did everything vaginally. Good luck with our decision. Don't make the decision though based on your desire to lose weight. Make the choice for the right reason!

Robin, I had an abdominal hysterectomy 6 yrs. ago due to a totally prolapsed uterus. I was having severe bleeding and cramping and was in horrible pain. For me, the hysterectomy was the only reasonable solution. Within a week of surgery,,I felt better than I'd felt in yrs. I was 40 yrs. old at the time. I had them leave my ovaries. As for not being able to tell if you are in menopause, it wasn't hard for me to figure it out. The night sweats hit me like a ton of bricks. Definitely seek a second opinion. Do some soul searching, is the uterus worth keeping if the pain and bleeding are that horrendous? I'm sure you'll be able to make the decision that is right for you.

I will mention that since my OB/GYN Dr. worked at the same facility that I worked at, he let it be known that it was unsafe for me to even attempt to be working with a prolapsed uterus. I pretty much was put on mandatory leave of absence from day 1 and had to wait 3 weeks for the surgery to be scheduled and then the 6 weeks for recovery. Was off work total of 9 weeks.

As far as putting wt. loss on hold, even with surgery you might could still lose weight even in your recovery period. I did. I had a two hernias repaired with lysis of abdominal adhesions (in 10 different places ) done on May 13. Was so afraid that it would stop my wt. loss or cause me to gain in the recovery time. I actually lost 8 lbs. in the 6 week recovery period and was able to meet my goal. Sure, I wasn't able to exercise much for the first few weeks. Started slowly walking 1/2 mile a day at 3 weeks and gradually increased it as tolerated. With the reduced exercise during the recovery period , I was very strict on my eating plan and it all worked out great.

So , if you and your Dr. decide that surgery is best. Don't feel that you can't still meet your goal. Hugs.

BTW, I worked as RN for over 20 yrs. and never in my life have heard of a woman not being able to have an orgasm after a hysterectomy. That's not to say that somewhere out there , there might be one, but I sure never heard of it. I sure don't remember that being on the surgical permit as a risk factor on the one I signed. Or on any permit that I ever had a woman sign for their hysterectomy. (of course I might be wrong, it certainly wouldn't be the first time).

Please keep in mind that I'm not advocating surgery, I'm just trying to relieve your worries of surgery stopping wt. loss (or orgasms for that matter).

Hmm. More stuff to ponder. Real glad to hear that sexual function will not suffer, or at least a REAL good chance of it. Lily my Dr. said she would be leaving my ovaries in. And that this would NOT send me into early menapause. Am I reading it right here that it did indeed send you into immediate menapause? Like I said before I can live with the pain and heavy bleeding. I will be calling my Dr. this week and asking her first and foremost is there any HARM whatsoever of leaving the fibroid/uterus inside. If she says that it is harmful I will of course ask her why. If there is any chance of me being in danger, it's coming out. My weightloss will do what my weightloss will do. As always my health is a priority. I think she's going to tell me the only harm is if it gets much larger and that we will need to monitor it. We shall see. Fatbegone, she said a vaginal hysterectomy is out of the question because of the size. :(

Thank you both for sharing your very personal stories. It has been very helpful to me. I appreciate it. :hug:

Hi Lillybelle!

Glad to hear that problems with sexual function aren't common with a hysterectomy! I watched a program on Oprah years ago when Christina Ferierre visited. I was in tears as she described her anguish of being unable to have an orgasm following HER hysterectomy. It really got to me and made me EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS of any more surgery-especially a hysterectomy! She said that a number of nerves were cut which caused a numbness in the whole area. :(

Cheryl

Oh Cheryl thank you so very much for sharing that. No, I'm just kidding, I need to hear the good along with the oh so very bad. :(

Ask about Mirena - it's an IUD that contains hormones....dunno if it would help but I love mine! No periods for me. :D

Sending you a :hug: - hope it all comes out ok.

You don't go into menopause with a partial hysterectomy which is removing the uterus only. Menopause is caused by the removal or cessation of ovarian function. If Robin still has her ovaries, she'll go through menopause naturally and will not need to immediately go on HRT.

If your friend has testosterone, something else is going on. Menopause do NOT lead to an increase in testosterone, just a decrease in the female hormones.

Mel