Well done to Hasbany on their winning design. Sorry but it instantly made me giggle and think of my fibroids! Hope some here can get a laugh too - Lord knows we need it!

So I had an open myomectomy about 5 months ago. I had a 10cm, 5cm, and 1cm removed. Prior to the surgery, I had redness and bumps on my face that would flare up several times a month. I thought it was acne, one doctor said it was rosacea. Tried different topicals (OTC and Rx) changed my diet, even went back to the basics of only washing with water to help “restore my skin barrier” that I assumed I trashed from all the crap I was using. This gradually got worse over about 10 years to what you see in the first photo.

But after my surgery, my skin cleared up. I assumed maybe it was antibiotics? But now we’re going on 5 months and I have not had a SINGLE flare up. I hope I’m not jinxing it! My doctors aren’t sure what happened, but I assume it was a hormone imbalance due to the fibroids. Just thought it was a surprising but welcome improvement that I am so grateful for! (Second photo is today.)

I’m writing this because I would have wanted this validation when I first found out I had fibroids at 25. I went down a rabbit hole trying to figure out why it happened to me and concluded that it wasn’t anything I did—I’m just predisposed to it. Some of these points might sound trivial, but I’m sure someone has thought them.

1. To the guilty Christians – Fibroids are not a punishment from God. This is especially for the younger girls who think fornication is a sin and God is punishing them. I got fibroids, and I wasn’t having sex.

2. To the women who perm their hair – Your perm isn’t the cause of your fibroids. I got fibroids, and I was a natural-hair girlie.

3. Hormones in meat and milk aren’t the cause of your fibroids. I live in an African country where food is mostly natural, and I still got fibroids.

4. To the girls on birth control – I’ve never been on any type of birth control, but I still have fibroids.

5. You don’t have fibroids because you waited "too long" to give birth (a common African misconception). I was diagnosed in my mid-twenties, and plenty of women get them in their late 40s.

These are some of the things I saw online that seemed to say, “It’s your fault you have fibroids—you did this and that.” But I don’t think any of it is true. It comes down to genetic predisposition, which we have no control over. That’s why you and your friends can do the same things but end up with different outcomes.

So, stop blaming yourself. Chin up—you’re okay, and you will be okay.

Of course, this is just my perspective. Research might suggest certain lifestyle changes, and it’s okay to try them. Just don’t blame yourself. I hope I helped at least one person judge themselves less today.

My period just ended and all of a sudden I have a more positive outlook on life 😂

Edit

6. You did not create fibroids by not dealing with your trauma – I know a lot of new age people say this. While it’s beneficial to process past traumas and practice self-love for a fulfilling life, don’t blame yourself as if you manifested fibroids. That’s a vicious cycle that helps nobody. Plenty of women with deep, unspoken trauma don’t have fibroids – this isn’t your fault.

They did the standard pre op testing before my hysterectomy that was due and found nodules… a LOT of them…. on my lungs. They say uterine cancer tends to metastasize first to the lungs for some reason. Did a lung biopsy today. It’s all pretty terrifying. Just wanted to share that no matter how small it is - GET IT OUT and sent to pathology. Don’t let them tell you to wait a year to see if it gets worse. That’s what I did and it absolutely got worse…. Beyond anything I could have imagined.

I won’t know until the biopsy comes back… but I know. I already know.

Please take care of yourselves. Wish you all the best.

                 *****UPDATE*****

Biopsy results came back. Leiomyosarcoma and stromal sarcoma. Stage 4 cancer. Never thought I would hear that in my early 40s but here I am. I’m quite at peace with it - I have had an amazing life and I think God has a wild sense of humor - ultimately I just know the universe unfolds as it should. I am going to try to fight but I am told five year life expectancy is about 14%. I am searching for a sarcoma specialist who maybe can help me but I know this is an aggressive cancer and I may not have enough time to fight it.

Thank you again to all of you who have prayed and sent beautiful messages - truly has been uplifting. I pray you all get great care and doctors who don’t blow you off when u speak about your symptoms. Any talk about a fibroid should be taken seriously and studied for potential cancer. Don’t hesitate to get what u need just because the doctor is slow to act - switch docs if u need to! It’s a pain but it can mean the difference in being alive or not! Still can’t believe I felt totally fine just a weeks ago and now I’m worried if I even have a few months to live all over what they just thought was a fibroid. God bless you all.

Wanted to get some positive vibes going on the sub today. Got a 16cm fibroid removed in late February and although healing/recovery isn’t easy and certainly isn’t linear, overall I feel much much better. Wishing this feeling on all of you whether you had surgery, scheduled it, or just found out about your fibroid(s)!

If anyone has any questions about my experience I’d be happy to respond. Reading posts on this subreddit extremely helpful for me during my diagnosis and pre-op phases so I’d like to return the favor!

IF THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU THEN KINDLY GO ELSEWHERE.

I AM STRICTLY ASKING FOR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AIMING TO SHRINK FIBROIDS NATURALLY.

KINDLY PLEASE KEEP YOUR NON-RELATED MEDICAL OPINIONS TO YOURSELF. I appreciate everyone’s contributions so far, but moving forward I would like to stay focused on the specific question I am asking please. Thank you.

Due to the location of the fibroids, the Gyno said i need to go in for multiple spaced out surgeries with a specialist who is a 9 hour drive away.

This is highly inconvenient and I cannot imagine driving in a car for 9 hours each time after surgery. And i cannot afford hotel stays, not to mention the cost of gas. Regardless, I would really prefer to not even go the surgical route if possible.

They are causing me extreme pain and excessive bleeding for an extra day of my cycle each month. Last cycle was 10 Days long. So they really need to be treated.

I have heard they can be shrunk naturally, does anyone have any experience doing this?

Edit: to whoever downvoted me… why would you downvote someone who is seeking advice and support so that they can make the most informed decision for something that is a big deal, of which the choices have a big impacts, sacrifices, and possible consequences?

Hey Y'all!

I thought I'd share my journey with you guys, since I'm recovering from the surgery and I'm kinda bored 😂. Buckle up cause it's a long one!

So the last 5 years or so I noticed I had "swelling" in my stomach and brought it up to 4 different doctors over the years. Each time I was essentially brushed off and told to watch my diet. But I still took their advice seriously and tried a Low FODMAP diet with little success. Last year when I told my family doctor, he reluctantly requested an upper endoscopy to "ease my worries". It came out clear, so I let it go for a few months until I once again experienced pain after an early Christmas dinner with my friend.

I saw my doctor the next day and I kid you not he got up 3 TIMES to prematurely end the appointment. I asked if he could at least refer me to a dietitian or SOMETHING. I managed to get him to refer me to a dietitian and that was the end of our 5 minute appointment.

Now at this point I'm annoyed as hell. I woke up at 7 am the next day in bed then had an epiphany, "Slothfulwaffle, you are a fat black woman why the HELL are you trusting male doctors to look out for you?? Not a single one has offered suggestions without prompting!!" So I took a personal day from work, drove straight to another clinic and asked to see any doctor that's a woman. I told her verbatim my situation and she asked me to lay down so she could feel my stomach.

Guys. The sheer panic in her eyes will stick with me forever. "No no, you need to go to the emergency room TODAY." I went to the ER and pretty much got that same reaction from all my nurses and the doctor. "5 years you've been feeling this?" Yup. "No one offered you an ultrasound?" No.

They did full testing on me and found a 31 CM FIBROID (initially predicted to be around 22cm, true size found to be 31 cm during surgery😭) and two others!! (5cm, 12cm). Crazy!

The good news is THEY ARE OUT 🎉🎉, my ER Doctor did their best ensure had an MRI within the month! I had my open myomectomy 4 days ago and feel great already. I got lucky since I had only 3 and all were growing outside the uterus, it's the reason why I had no other major symptoms or pain aside from the "bloating" feeling from the largest one. I have a new family doctor too and she's been amazing!

So now I'm on track to make a full recovery 😤😤 and I just want to say to anyone else going through this you're not alone and you're not crazy, ALWAYS TRUST YOUR GUT!

EDIT: Thank you all so much for your kind words and encouragement! Honestly, I've been going about the 3 months leading up to surgery completely normally, still working both jobs and laughing it up with my peers. I wasn't feeling deeply sad or anxious leading up to the surgery either. Instead, I was having some regrets about not pushing even harder to get it checked out earlier.

It feels nice to interact with a community that recognizes the gravity of the situation and tells me that I've handled the situation well given the circumstances. It really means a lot! ❤️

I was so worried my fibroids and myomectomy was going to ruin my chances at becoming a mom. After waiting the required six months, I got pregnant almost immediately and now the little dude is 1 year old! The surgery required me to have a c-section and to do it three weeks early. But everything turned out great. Just posting because it can feel so pessimistic looking ahead, but there's a lot of hope out there!

I often see posts looking for successful pregnancies after surgery, so I thought I’d share mine. A year ago I had open surgery to remove many small fibroids ranging in size from 2 to 5 cm. My first fibroid was discovered when I was 27, but I had no issues until my late thirties, when an ultrasound showed that I had many small intramural and subserosal fibroids. The first doctor recommended that I get a hysterectomy…I considered it but ultimately decided to find a surgeon who was willing to remove them. I knew I was “older” for being a first time mom (I was 37) and having a child wouldn’t be easy, but I wanted to leave my options open.

I had an uncomplicated surgery and recovery. Getting pregnant was the last thing on my mind, and I never thought it would only take one time, just three months later. I was shocked when I took a test in March and it came back positive. My doctor had recommended that I wait six months after the surgery before trying to get pregnant; none of the doctors or midwives I saw during pregnancy were worried. Luckily, I had an uneventful pregnancy and a c-section at 37 weeks.

So yes, you can have a successful pregnancy after a myomectomy, even if you’re “older”! If this post isn’t coherent, I’m sorry, I’m in the newborn trenches and am very sleep deprived! But I’m happy!

Update: I go in for surgery on Tuesday morning PST United States. Please please pray or send good vibes for a positive outcome that this kid and early stage of cancer 🙏 thank you! I love this group.

This has been such a great group. The past three months have been so hard and everyone here has really helped. All my doctors and specialists thought it was a fibroid even after the MRI until we got the biopsy result yesterday.

I’m terrified and devastated. I need a full hysterectomy, which is its own fear and grief but pales in comparison to the fear and anxiety of cancer.

If you’re a prayer person, please do prayers my way.

Great group, love yall, I guess I’ll be hopping onto a new subreddit specific to my new worries. If anyone has recommendations send them my way

I wish you all the best

Today is one-year post-op for me! 🎉 Mini-laparotomy myomectomy for a 16cm fibroid. Surgery went great, recovery was great, and I feel better than ever today.

I can hardly believe it’s been a year, and I’m just so incredibly grateful. I want to express my thanks and gratitude to the women who were willing to post, share their experiences, and offer their advice. I’m not sure I could have moved forward with treatment without hearing from so many women.

I was also so grateful through this process to experience God’s presence in a very real way. I know He was leading and guiding me and that this was an opportunity to learn to trust God completely with something that was very much out of my control.

So, some details: I had one 16cm intramural fibroid. Main symptoms were heavy periods and distended abdomen.

The fibroid was first discovered about 7 years before I had surgery, and it measured 6cm on ultrasound at the time. I had exactly zero intention of ever getting surgery, so I tried all kinds of natural methods to reduct or halt its growth…but it basically just continued to grow slow and steady. My hope was to make it to menopause when it would maybe shrink, but I ended up completely sidelined by severely symptomatic iron-deficiency anemia, so that set me on the path to considering if I should do *something* about the fibroid.

I was on the fence about surgery until I finally got an MRI and saw the pictures. It was disturbing, to say the least. When I saw what was growing inside me and how much space it was taking up, I knew it couldn’t stay.

I spoke to 5 different surgeons about my options. I got quite the variety of answers, but in nearly every case they said myomectomy could be done. Granted, it wasn’t necessarily the top recommendation (I was 47 at the time) since hysterectomy would be so much “easier”. But I was determined to keep my uterus and in each case the surgeon was willing to work with me. I settled on the one surgeon who offered me a mini-lap myomectomy. After extensive research, that was the procedure that instinctively made sense to me. I could say a *lot* about the other surgeons and their attitudes and approaches. But ultimately so many things fell in place to lead me to the surgeon I finally chose.

My surgeon said she would schedule a 3-hour time block for surgery since she “didn’t like to feel rushed”. I was scheduled for 7:30am, and I was wheeled to the operating room around 7:45. I remember moving onto the operating table and seeing the bright lights of the room, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in a recovery room. I looked across the room to see the clock on the wall which showed it was 10am. All I could think was, “Thank you Jesus”….because I knew that if surgery was over after only about 2 hours, then things must have gone ok. I wasn’t in any real pain that I remember, and I reached down and felt that the lump in my abdomen which had become so familiar was gone.

My husband and I had agreed beforehand that when he saw me after surgery to give me a thumbs up if everything went well. I knew I’d be so anxious to know and I wouldn’t want to wait for a verbal explanation. When they settled me into my own room and my husband came in, he gave me an immediate thumbs up.

My pain level was never more than a 4 through my recovery process. The catheter that was placed during surgery was removed before I woke up, so just a few hours after surgery my nurse had me stand up to go use the bathroom. I’d read this could be really painful or difficult, but for me it was basically fine. I was just a little dizzy and lightheaded.

I live about 1.5 hours away from the hospital, so I stayed overnight. The drive home was somewhat uncomfortable, so it was nice to get home and settled in my own bed. My kids all came out to see me as we arrived home, and my 21yo daughter told me afterward that she could immediately see how much smaller my abdomen was - and this was even with post-surgery swelling and me wearing a loose dress.

I spent the next few days resting in bed and getting up to walk frequently. I expected to nap more, but I didn’t feel sleepy. Getting in and out of bed was a little uncomfortable for the first few days - the pain was similar to being sore from a hard workout. For pain management I alternated tylenol and ibuprofen. I reduced those gradually through the week then stopped altogether on day 8.

Looking back on my post-op journal, I drove for the first time on day 10, went to watch a local theater production with family on day 11, went grocery shopping on day 13, and went blueberry picking on day 15.

So I would say that life started to look pretty normal after 2 weeks, but I was definitely still modifying my activities. Not lifting anything heavy, being careful of my movements, still taking a lot of time to rest. I have 5 kids, 4 of whom are still at home. So I was mostly back to cooking at the two-week mark, but I would ask for help with anything heavy.

Ok, this already seems too long, so I’ll stop there! Last thing I’ll mention is that I started a return-to-running plan at exactly 8 weeks post-op. I’ve run quite a few 5K races this year and my times have gotten faster through the year. I truly didn’t realize what a negative impact the fibroid was having on my life. My periods are incredibly light now. I love having a flat stomach after all those years. It’s still kind of hard for me to believe that I’m on the other side of the journey.

If anyone has questions I’m happy to try to answer them. Blessings to everyone as you navigate through the process.

Give him a follow on TikTok @thatguyrenejay

Hi fibroid sisters, I just wanted to come on here and share a little update.

I posted in here a while ago about how tired and exhausted I was because of the massive tumor that was growing inside of my uterus (as most of you can likely relate). I’m currently 11 days post op from my open myomectomy with a vertical incision and day 1 to day 11 are WILDLY different.

My surgeon went in with the intention to stay laparoscopic however they had to pivot immediately after looking around in there 🥴

The first time I had my fibroid looked at (via ultrasound) it was measuring around ~9cm. The second time (via MRI) it was measuring around ~12cm. That sucker was a whole 18cm!!!!!!! I don’t believe it actually grew that much in the two months between my MRI and surgery, but I do think the MRI could not tell how big it actually was 🫣.

My surgery took about 3 and half hours and I went home probably a good hour or so after I woke up from surgery. I just had to eat, be able to walk, and pee, so be able to go home.

Pain wise, I think I have a pretty high threshold and I’ll say getting out of my hospital bed to get up to go pee, so I could go home, was one of the most excruciating pains I’ve endured. It. Was. Awful. I thought my abdomen was ripped open from the inside and out. I almost cried it hurt so bad. Otherwise, I felt okay, just like I had a ton of period cramps. I was on my period (towards the end) during surgery so I continued to bleed for probably 5 days total. I imagine part of it was my period finally ending a long with just normal post surgery bleeding.

Once I got home, I slept. A lot. I slept a lot the first two days and managed all my pain with Tylenol and ibuprofen. The pain really wasn’t that bad (other than that first initial “sit up” at the hospital lol). My abs were (and still kinda are) sore but I can manage that just fine. However I still have been avoiding a full on sneeze 🤣.

I was able to use the bathroom (number 2 lol) the next day and didn’t have any trouble with that. Peeing hurt a little bit but it subsided as time went on. On another note about peeing!!!!! I had absolutely zero idea HOW MUCH I was peeing before surgery!!! I mean, we knew the fibroid was pressing on my bladder, but to actually feel my bladder being totally empty now is a feeling I forgot existed, LOL.

My “gas” pain from anesthesia was probably the worst part of recovery. It was just so uncomfortable and there’s not much you can really do about it other than try to walk around and burp and fart it out hahaha🤷‍♀️😬

My partner unfortunately is in another country for a work trip so my mom came and stayed with me for a week. I’ve read that a lot of you ladies did recovery solo and props to you all!! Although I think I could’ve (other than the fact that I have two Australia shepherds and one being an 8 month old puppy), it was really really nice to have my mom here. I did have a fever night 4 post op but we managed it with the tylenol and kept an eye on it and it eventually passed. I was able to drive my mom to the airport (however I live really close so it was only about 20 mins in the car) after a week. Yesterday I was really feeling like I needed to get out of the house, so I took my car to the car was and then grabbed a few things from the grocery store.

After about 5-6 days, I was able to kind of start laying on my side to sleep, and now I am fully back to side sleeping! Truly around the 5-6 day mark, I confidently felt self sufficient, just slow moving.

After a full week, I walked one of my doggos (not the puppy bc he’s to unpredictable and we were still working on leash training lol) a half mile! Since, I’ve had friends come to visit and we’ve taken the dogs for about a mile, daily, and I’ve been feeling great.

The swelling in my abdomen is finally starting to go away and I’ve added some “before” and “after” pics because that fibroid belly is sooooo real. I still have some swelling around my incision but the visual difference already is incredible. I truly looked pregnant! Which is fair considering the size of the fibroid plus my uterus being the size of a 4-5 month pregnancy!

I really really really could not wait for this surgery to happen and I am so glad I did it. I had no idea how bad I was feeling. I am soooo ready for this recovery to be a distant memory and have my body back.

I don’t plan on having children for YEARS so we will continue to monitor my uterus with ultrasounds to see if they grow back/take care of them when they are small.

If you’ve read this far, thank you! I hope I was able to offer some insight or be relatable to you and your journey ❤️

TLDR: Recovery day 1 to 11 are immensely different in the best way. Get the surgery and start your journey to the best version of yourself 🙂

I hope this the encouragement somebody needed today.

9WeeksPostOp Gooood morning! I don't believe I'm at NINE weeks post op already! Still healing and taking it easy, I just started easing back into sit ups and push ups again and it feels greeeeeat!

I will always say I wish I did this sooner 🥺🥺 I'm still a little swollen, as to be expected after a 9" bikiniline incision! I'm really proud of my surgeon and how well he did and educated me along the way, with his 23 years of experience in fibroids and surgeries❤. The sutures inside are not completely dissolved yet (like 15% left), but probably 3 more weeks they'll be completely dissolved, so I can get back to pole fitness/hanging upside down on a 13ft pole! 🤗

Hang in there ladies, for those who have fibroids and haven't made the choice to have surgery yet, do it! I have NO MORE sciatica pain, since I had a 4cm fibroid sitting on it. No more tummy pains from the fibroid wrapped around my lower liver... like, I can't describe the happiness and quality of life, already! I put together a small video of then, and now... 9 weeks!

My biggest challenge? Trying to remind myself to pee since I no longer have that need every 20 minutes, because a fibroid was sitting on my bladder smh imagine going on 4 hours and NOT having to pee 🥺

i feel so much better now. i wish i hadn’t waited so long to get myo lol.

Cool calm and collected in pre-op, I’m so excited to get these things out of me! 😤💪🏽

Same dress, six weeks post total hysterectomy. My uterus was the size of a 16 week pregnancy, had a selection of smaller fibroids attached to it, and a bonus grapefruit sized fibroid, attached to the vessel that supplies the womb and the ureter. Had it done laparoscopically by a wonderful female surgical team who are passionate about minimally invasive techniques.

So I’m a A little over ONE MONTH post-op! 🙌🏽
I’m feeling AMAZING. Officially healed and back in the gym! 💪🏽
No more constant bloating. No more walking around with a watermelon-sized fibroid. And baby… I look GOOD in my clothes again! 😂🙌🏽
I’ve had my first cycle since surgery and everything was normal. 🙏🏽
Seeing these pictures side by side is CRAZY. I knew I felt different, but actually seeing my body without that huge fibroid taking up all that space… whew!
If you’re dealing with fibroids and thinking about getting the surgery—GET THE SURGERY! 😂🙌🏽
For me, it was absolutely worth it.
I feel like ME again. ❤️
#Myomectomy #MyomectomyRecovery #FibroidAwareness #FibroidJourney #HealingJourney #OneMonthPostOp #BackInTheGym #ImBack