Hi friends and family! After careful consideration, and lots of discussion, my doctor, Ben, and I have come to the conclusion that we need to address my uterine fibroids. We have attempted other treatments, but we are now moving to surgical intervention.
On Friday, May 6th, I will be having an open, abdominal myomectomy. During this surgery, I will receive a C-section incision and have multiple, smaller incisions on the exterior of my uterus to remove my intra-mural (meaning in the muscle wall) uterine fibroids. I will be staying in the hospital for at least one night and (hopefully) will be going home to recover on Saturday. *Crosses Fingers*
What are uterine fibroids you ask? Good question... Not a lot of people know what they are. But 70-80% of women age 30-50 will develop them. While the actual cause is unknown, they grow due to the estrogen/progesterone hormones that fluctuate during the menstrual cycle. (Yes... the irony that a woman's very own menstrual cycle grows small growths in your uterus that can impact your menstrual cycle did not get past me.) One thing I want everyone to know is that they are not cancerous. The side effects of uterine fibroids are increased bleeding, cramping, general pressure in your lower abdomen... Things that can make life uncomfortable. You can read more about them online. (A good summation I found here:
https://www.healthline.com/health/uterine-fibroids .)
The recovery for this surgery is somewhere between a C-section and a hysterectomy. I will be home for 4-6 weeks. I will not be allowed to bend over or lift more than 5 pounds during that time. (Poor yoshi! He weighs 12 so he will have to sit and stare at me.)
My doctor let me know that I will feel pretty crummy for the first week and most likely just be moving from my bed to the bathroom and back. She said to plan on "upgrading" to moving to the couch and moving around the house during the second week. And then thereafter, we will discuss graduating me to walking around the block. While it is going to be a long recovery, my doctor said that everyone recovers at different speeds and to do what I feel I am up to doing.
While Ben and I do not need/request anything from any of you, we know that we are surrounded by friends and family who love and support us very much. Sometimes when you love someone, you just want to do something. So to try to help Ben navigate all of this, answer questions, and have information all in one place, I made this page.
I will also try to post updates on my recovery, but, being realistic, I have heard the brain fog is real... so I will do my best.
You are always welcome to text/reach out. Feel free to ask questions.
Ben is an amazing spouse and of course will be my main caregiver. He has said feel free to reach out to him as well.
