Women's Health Community

Judy, I just responded to you on the other board, but this is also what I am thinking about doing. I am going to watch to see if anyone has input.

Thank you

I have an appt with an interventional radiologist (kind of doc that does this) on Wed -- will let you know if I find out any interesting info. It seems like a conservative approach and I'm all for being conservative and not cutting out my body parts unless I absolutely have to. I figure maybe if I get this done it will tide me over until menopause, hopefully. More info soon. Judy

So, I met with the PA for the interventional radiologist (I.R.) today. Apparently the I.R. who would be performing the procedure is a famous guy who lectures all over the U.S. and in Europe on I.R. issues, including uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) so he generally doesn't meet with patients beforehand unless I would really want that. Personally it doesn't matter to me, so I probably won't.

After going through my symptoms and relevant health history, the PA went over how the UFE would work, necessary tests beforehand (MRI to see if I'm a good candidate), anesthesia (not general but deeper conscious sedation than when you have a colonoscopy -- they use propofol), how long it takes (1-2 hours), hospital stay (overnight, and someone would have to drive me home). They do use an anesthesiologist who would be made aware of my asthma (although I said it's very well controlled).

He also did mention that sometimes the ovarian arteries also need to be embolized, which would result in menopause. (I forgot to ask under what circumstances that would be necessary -- so I'll call him & ask.)

Also for pain relief they use a hypogastric nerve block to the uterus which the PA said lessens post-procedure pain quite a bit (from a 9 to a 3-4, he said). He said that I could resume normal activities between 3 days and a week afterwards. I would be sent home with pain meds and antibiotics. I questioned when I could start strenuous exercise since I have two longer bike events coming up in June (one 50 miles, one 42 miles), and the PA said probably within a week or two after the procedure.

I asked when I would experience symptom relief. The PA said that bleeding would reduce probably right away, and that the fibroids would shrink 50% within 3-6 months. He also said that he has not seen any fibroids that have been embolized recur.

I asked about the risk of the plastic pellets migrating to other areas of the body. The PA said that the I.R. threads the catheter down to the smallest artery to the fibroid, placing the pellets in the closest possible proximity, and if he can't get down that far he doesn't place the pellets. He said it doesn't really happen that they migrate.

Thus I'm proceeding with the MRI, which will take about a week to preauthorize with the health insurance company. Then after the I.R. reviews the MRI I'll be given the green light (or red light). And then I'll either schedule the UFE or figure out what else I want to do, if I'm not a good UFE candidate.

So there's the scoop. Let me know if there's anything that I didn't ask, since I have to go back to the PA anyway and follow up on that one question above. Judy

Judy, thank you for posting this! Sorry for the delay in responding, I was out of town. Do you know if 50% is the max that they are supposed to shrink? Because I don't know if that would be enough to correct my situation. Have you done your mri yet? If you could keep me posted as you go along, I would love to hear how everything goes each step of the way. Thanks again for all the info! I did not realize they would take so long to shrink. I thought that it would happen more quickly. Although considering how long I have had them, I guess that's not so bad.

No worries. I don't know whether they will shrink entirely away. . . maybe that radiology website I linked to would say. I'm guessing that with a perfect outcome they would shrink completely.

Tomorrow afternoon I go for both an MRI and a MRA (which looks at arteries) with contrast dye. A total of 2 1/4 hours in the tube!! I'm a little nervous about that. I think I'll be pretty bored. I hope they play good music inside the tube. Too bad I can't bring my iPod. And too bad I didn't request some Valium so I could at least take a nap to pass the time. Although maybe I have to hold my breath for some parts of the MRI. I don't know, I've never had an MRI.

I really hope this works. I now am having backaches every single day due to this, which sux, as well as considerable pain after bike riding, which really really sux, because I love biking. So I need to get this fixed soon.

Will post more probably over the weekend. Have a good holiday! Judy

Judy, best of luck with the mri. I hope it passes quickly for you. Let me know how it goes, I hope well & you can get this taken care of asap!

Update on the MRI:

It was only 90 minutes in the MRI tube rather than the 2 1/4 they had promised, so that was good.

Nothing I had read prepared me for how constantly LOUD an MRI is! They do give you foam earplugs, which dampens the noise somewhat. But the myriad clanks, whistles, bangs, buzzers, beeps, that went off regularly or suddenly just amazed me. The most annoying was the regular beep (like a truck backing up) than went on and on and on. . .

I could keep my clothes on but had to take off my bra because it's an underwire. Pants were unzipped and pulled down (I'm not sure why the zipper was ok to be in the tube and the underwire wasn't -- maybe it's brass and not magnetic?). A sheet was pulled over me.

I had to take off my watch and jewelry but accidentally I left a silver ring on my finger and nothing happened to it.

At several points I had to hold my breath, for about a minute (I counted).

No music in the tube; I was alone with my thoughts (and with the female voice telling me to hold my breath).

Holding my arms straight above my head (one had an IV in it for the dye) was tiring after the first hour, but luckily I could at least move my left arm towards my chest to relieve the muscle tension.

I kept my eyes closed, imagining that there was a huge space above me. In reality, the ceiling of the tube was about 6 inches from my face. I don't think they stuck me all the way in the tube, though. That helped.

The tube was well-ventilated, with cool air coming out of vents constantly. That also helped.

Afterwards I looked over the technicians' shoulders at the pictures, but of course they didn't mean anything to me. Kind of neat, though, to see pictures of one's insides.

So now I'm waiting for a call from the radiologist to tell me whether I can schedule the UFE or not. I imagine it will take him a couple of days. Things are ok for now so I'm not pushing it. Will update you after I hear back from him. Judy

Just heard back -- MRI was good, I'm a candidate, so now I just have to schedule it. Hoping I can have it done in 2-3 weeks. Judy

Judy, thanks for the great description. I had been told by several people how noisy it is, guess they weren't exaggerating, huh? I am glad to hear that you're a candidate (do you know what makes a good/bad candidate?) Let me know when you get it scheduled. I am really looking forward to hear about your progress.

Oh, and btw, about 2 weeks now on flovent and so far, so good. Keep your fingers crossed!

I don't exactly know what makes me a good candidate -- I didn't really ask. Guess I should have. I should hear from the nurse today or tomorrow to schedule it.

I'm going to shoot for June 13 if possible, otherwise June 20. My period this month has been much better than the ones in past couple of months, and I wonder if it's because I've really been trying to ramp up the exercise (e.g., I biked 32 miles on Monday). Or who knows. Still, I need to get this addressed.

That is great news about your success with Flovent -- how wonderful! I hope that you continue to do well on it. Judy

I'm scheduled for June 14. It will be an overnight stay in the hospital, on a pain pump, then home on June 15 with antibiotics and pain meds. Wish me luck! Judy

Wow, that is really soon!!! Judy I wish you the best of luck & can't wait to hear that you are feeling much better! I know that it's going to be worth it all.

Hi Judy, just wondering how everything went? I hope that you are back on your feet & will be biking soon! Hope all went well. Oh, and fyi, one month on Flovent & doing fine!

Hi Sue, I am just back to work today, 1 week after the surgery. I'll provide a full update soon after I get back up to speed at work. For now, the surgery went well, no real complications although I haven't gotten back to exercise since then. (I'm trying to take it easy because my normal MO is to overdo things.) I have a 42 mile ride scheduled for Sunday which I think I'll skip unless the doc says ok. (The IR doc was a bicyclist too -- I told him I wanted to get back on the bike soon.)

Good news on the Flovent. Hurray! Hope you continue to do well.

Judy