I had a hysterectomy in December because of fibroids, which had enlarged my uterus so much that it had totally collapsed my bladder (!!!) (clearly I too do not believe in TMI, cannot imagine how many people read your Substack, hello especially to all my Riverhead friends). I feel one million times better now. Thinking of you!!
Wow I feel like I’m reading my own story… twice! I wound up having myomectomies before my hysterectomy. When a doctor finally suggested it I cried in relief that I was finally being taking seriously. The pain, the literal hemorrhaging every month. My god. My life is infinitely better after having the hysterectomy… I just regret not doing it sooner and advocating for more help.
Thinking of you, Emma, and sending good vibes for Monday. I hate that the crying with gratitude reaction when a doctor actually listens to you is so relatable. I'm gearing up for yet another round of "what could it be this time?" appointments, and I was feeling down about it, but your post reminded me that I'm not alone. So many of us endure this shit. Solidarity to all. Rest up next week!
I actually googled, "can you bleed out a fibroid" from the toilet two days ago as I dropped a murder scene at the ripe old age of 54. Turns out, according to the interwebs, you can. My stomach was visibly flatter when I stood up. My mother also carried a team of grapefruit-sized players in her perimenopausal uterus. I wish you all the best with the reclamation of your uterus!
I’m 44 and after almost 30 years of this I finally went to the doctors a couple of months ago after a weekend where I vomited repeatedly from the pain - I’ve got three fibroids and I can’t believe I just decided this monthly torment was ok for so long!
Good luck to you, Emma!! Medicine & Women is a total choose your own adventure tale. Although who would choose to be ignored and gaslighted for a lifetime? It’s actually a make your own adventure tale…. Hope the surgery goes well!
Hope all goes well. I have always been a heavy bleeder as well. I seem to have given the gift to my daughter. 51 and still bleeding. Yay! All that and my daughter asked me why at my advanced age am I still bleeding. It’s a bloody mess.
Thank you for sharing so generously! Never TMI. I have to have a similar kind of surgery in the next few years and stories like this are so incredibly helpful. Hoping for the smoothest recovery 🫂💕🫂
Two friends of mine had hysterectomies in their early 40s because of how unmanageable the fibroids had become. I’m still furious that one of them got denied it a decade again and had to suffer because her doctors didn’t believe she didn’t want kids. They’re both thriving now!
Bless you, Emma, with your wonderful sense of humor and injustice, writing your real life. I am 87 years old and crumpled with pain and bleeding through all of my periods. The only relief I finally got was when one Doctor suggested that birth control pills might help. No exams. No MRIs. No CT scans. Just a possibility that a pill might help. It did, a little, but no white pants for this lady. I thought I was on a blessed cloud when the periods finally stopped (after three babies.) Then, menopause started. Oh geez, horror story!!
At least we are talking about the M word more often now. Let’s put the P word out there too!
40 year old with heavy heavy periods and just found out I had uterine polyps I needed to remove and now am reading to figure out the next course of action. My obgyn wants me on birth control to prevent the growth and said it’s basically assumed everyone goes on hrt but it’s all so new to me!
I had a hysterectomy in December because of fibroids, which had enlarged my uterus so much that it had totally collapsed my bladder (!!!) (clearly I too do not believe in TMI, cannot imagine how many people read your Substack, hello especially to all my Riverhead friends). I feel one million times better now. Thinking of you!!
yes my uterus is 6x the size it should be and my bladder is a sad deflated balloon. cheers to you, Emilie, thanks for sharing <3 xoxoxoxoxoxo
Wow I feel like I’m reading my own story… twice! I wound up having myomectomies before my hysterectomy. When a doctor finally suggested it I cried in relief that I was finally being taking seriously. The pain, the literal hemorrhaging every month. My god. My life is infinitely better after having the hysterectomy… I just regret not doing it sooner and advocating for more help.
Thinking of you, Emma, and sending good vibes for Monday. I hate that the crying with gratitude reaction when a doctor actually listens to you is so relatable. I'm gearing up for yet another round of "what could it be this time?" appointments, and I was feeling down about it, but your post reminded me that I'm not alone. So many of us endure this shit. Solidarity to all. Rest up next week!
xoxoxoxoxo
truly, "bad but fine" captures so much about the clusterfuck of women's health! hope all is well on Monday!
Good luck! I had a finally had a fibroid embolization a year and a half ago and it was a game changer.
love it! zap that sucker!
Similar story (re doctors and long term pain) but with endometriosis. I got a hysterectomy and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. Good luck!
fabulous! and thank you. xoxoxo
I think you wrote this one for me! Of course you didn’t, but I feel seen in my own epic struggle with fibroids. Wishing you luck through your surgery.
I did, just for you! <3
I actually googled, "can you bleed out a fibroid" from the toilet two days ago as I dropped a murder scene at the ripe old age of 54. Turns out, according to the interwebs, you can. My stomach was visibly flatter when I stood up. My mother also carried a team of grapefruit-sized players in her perimenopausal uterus. I wish you all the best with the reclamation of your uterus!
I’m 44 and after almost 30 years of this I finally went to the doctors a couple of months ago after a weekend where I vomited repeatedly from the pain - I’ve got three fibroids and I can’t believe I just decided this monthly torment was ok for so long!
Good luck to you, Emma!! Medicine & Women is a total choose your own adventure tale. Although who would choose to be ignored and gaslighted for a lifetime? It’s actually a make your own adventure tale…. Hope the surgery goes well!
I had a similar situation though not as big as yours. They vanished when menopause arrived!
Hope all goes well. I have always been a heavy bleeder as well. I seem to have given the gift to my daughter. 51 and still bleeding. Yay! All that and my daughter asked me why at my advanced age am I still bleeding. It’s a bloody mess.
Thank you for sharing so generously! Never TMI. I have to have a similar kind of surgery in the next few years and stories like this are so incredibly helpful. Hoping for the smoothest recovery 🫂💕🫂
Two friends of mine had hysterectomies in their early 40s because of how unmanageable the fibroids had become. I’m still furious that one of them got denied it a decade again and had to suffer because her doctors didn’t believe she didn’t want kids. They’re both thriving now!
Bless you, Emma, with your wonderful sense of humor and injustice, writing your real life. I am 87 years old and crumpled with pain and bleeding through all of my periods. The only relief I finally got was when one Doctor suggested that birth control pills might help. No exams. No MRIs. No CT scans. Just a possibility that a pill might help. It did, a little, but no white pants for this lady. I thought I was on a blessed cloud when the periods finally stopped (after three babies.) Then, menopause started. Oh geez, horror story!!
At least we are talking about the M word more often now. Let’s put the P word out there too!
40 year old with heavy heavy periods and just found out I had uterine polyps I needed to remove and now am reading to figure out the next course of action. My obgyn wants me on birth control to prevent the growth and said it’s basically assumed everyone goes on hrt but it’s all so new to me!
Best of luck for a
quick recovery from your surgery. I had my goblin-packed uterus removed at 42 (ovaries stayed, no early menopause, yay) and it was life-changing.