Fibroids

Hi, so I had my lap & dye and hysteroscopy & d&c yesterday. They rang me last Friday 2nd to ask to swap my date from the 13th to the Tuesday 6th, a week earlier. Meant missing my work do I'd paid for but apparently another lady had to swap for some reason so I thought I'd be nice. Less time for worrying too I guess, though I didn't sleep the night before and got rather irritable with my hubby, oops!

The op itself went fine, anaesthetic was ok and I appreciated the 'gin and tonic' pre-med before being knocked out! Post anaesthesia there were no problems either. The op took about an hour and I was in the recovery room for about an hour also. I have internal stitches in my navel and glue in my belly button. I'm in quite a bit of pain from the gas and in my abdomen from the lap, but was prescribed dihydrocodiene which helps a lot.

After I was back on the ward, our consultant came round. I had a list of questions to ask which I wrote down in case I wasn't with it (I wasn't!). I managed to ask a few but I'm not really satisfied with the answer as he didn't explain the whys, just a 'because I said so' approach. He said he found 3 pea sized fibroids inside my womb, at least one of which is distorting the lining slightly. Another is near my cervix. There was another outside the womb. I'm not sure whether they are submucosal or intramural or exact locations or measurements. He didn't remove them and said they aren't the cause of our fertility issues but didn't say why they aren't. My tubes are clear and he found both my ovaries! We asked him when we could start trying again and he said 'we'll wait until you get home'. He told me that I'd need to get pregnant soon because the fibroids will grow! Like right, we'll just do that then!

Because he didn't have time to chat for long and explain, I'm worried the fibroids might cause issues if by some miracle we do get pregnant, or be the actual reason we're not pregnant because apparently they can cause implantation issues. I rang the fertility clinic who were unable to give me any proper answers as they didn't have my info and said not to worry about dating a pregnancy and not to waste time. My hubby says to just take it at face value, trust the consultant and stop worrying.

I feel like we're back at square one, that I've had an op for no reason and we've wasted months of trying in case I had polyps which could cause mc, and I couldn't be pregnant for this op, but then had to wait for ages for the op date! So frustrated and can't just get on with it because I'm one of those people that likes to understand the why's and wherefores. Follow up appointment isnt until 13th Feb. And I definitely don't feel like having sex right now!!

[winniep]

Hi Becky31, glad your op went well. Please take time to heal properly. I also had 2 fibroids removed on the 9th of Nov and was told by my surgeon that I am not allowed to get pregnant for the next 6 months as this can leave to mc if the womb is stretched and not allowed to heal properly. Please get a second opinion before you go ahead. Good luck.

[Hidden in reply to winniep]

Hi winniep, gosh 6 months sounds a long time, hope it goes by quickly for you. They didn't take my fibroids out, they just left them there. Not sure if that is a factor in it or not. Confusing!

[winniep in reply to Hidden]

Oh, sorry I get you now. Yes, that's a big factor. I had that done last year too but had them removed this year. I'm hoping to start looking at options in Feb so I'm ready for when I am free to start trying. Hope it happens quickly for you.

[discobec]

I had a 12cm and a 6cm fibroid removed via myomectomy last month. I've been told to give it 12 weeks before trying to conceive again.

I'm also on the waiting list for IVF and was told that they won't start any treatment until I'm 6 months post op.

Best wishes to you. X

[Hidden in reply to discobec]

Best of luck to you, good name btw! My fibroids are pea sized so they left them there. Think I wish they'd taken them out but no info given. Good you're on the waiting list, we will hopefully find out in Feb if ivf is the plan. I'm worried they'll just send us away as they said the fibroids aren't the cause of our fertility issues!

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi Becky31. I was pleased to read that you are recovering well after your recent laparoscopy. It’s always a nightmare when you don’t seem to get answers to all your questions. Hopefully, you will receive a letter outlining the findings during your op. Unfortunately, it does seem as if you are going to have to wait until your follow up appointment to get things clarified further. However, should you go through IVF, because of these small fibroids, you would most probably go through the long protocol, where they will down regulate you, which should encourage your fibroids to shrink a little before stimulation. Maybe he/she may offer you some treatment prior to IVF, either with drugs or surgery, I don’t know. I do have a list of questions I could send you if you want. You could look through before your consultation to see if there are a couple you hadn’t thought of asking. I can send you them in confidence, if you email me at [e-mail] Hope you’re soon fully recovered. Diane

[Tiffs]

Hi ladies I had a fibroid removed yesterday and was told we could start trying again after I had been through at least one cycle! Nothing about 6 months.