About a month ago I found a rather large lump above my belly button. I went to my regular Dr. (that's when I had the cholesterol test some of you might remember). She was unsure of what it was and then I asked could it possibly be a fibroid, since I was diagnosed with them about 20 months prior. She said yes, I made an appointment with my gynecologist, she examined me and said "Yes, it's definitely a fibroid". And my first thought was "I wonder how much that sucker weighs." She said it is not necessarily all that much larger, but with will all of my weightloss it is now starting to bother me. She sent me for a pelvic sonogram and I just got the results. She wants to remove my uterus. Hmmm. She says the fibroid is about the size of an orange. And my uterus is enlarged to the size of a cantalope. At this point I'm dying to ask how much the fibroid AND the uterus weighs. Somehow I restrained myself.
She says I'm 43, I no longer need my uterus. Fibroids grow back, removing just the fibroid could cause major blood loss and it's not worth the risk. She'd be leaving my ovaries. I'd no longer have my period, which is absolutely horrendous beyond belief due to the fibroid. She says leaving the ovaries will provide me with my needed hormones. So how does that effect menapause? I would go into menapause eventually and not know it because I would no longer being having periods. I was just wondering if any of you here are familiar with this or have had similiar situations? If it's not too personal, that is. Any of you know the recovery period and when I could resume exercise again? Just how bad a surgery is it?
I also asked her how soon does it have to come out. Could I possibly wait til I'm through losing all my weight, say up to a year. First she said yes, then she said maybe 3 - 6 months. She says if there are any changes with discomfort or my period I should call her immediately. I won't have all my weight off in 3 - 6 months. I'm just not sure if I should wait till it's all off, or get it over with and do it in maybe 3.
Anyway I'm really not too pleased. The thought of surgery is really scary to me. I've had surgery only once, my oldest daughter was delivered by C-section. It was not pleasant. The thought of me putting my weightloss on hold is horrendous to me at this point. I've built myself up to a nice fitness leveland I am TERRIFIED of losing that. Any input you wise ladies could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.