My Journey - Part 4

Once I recovered physically from the miscarriage (My Journey - Part III), I had to consider the next step. My two largest fibroids were now around ~6 & 7 cm big...and that was just an estimate. My OB/GYN at the time recommended I get them removed. However if she removed them, she would have to perform a full cut (similar to a C-Section) and that was not something I wanted since it would require a longer recovery time (~ 4-6 weeks). I looked into other options and was referred to Dr. Eisenberg by a friend who had undergone a robotic myomectomy. A robotic myomectomy is less invasive and has a shorter recovery time. At my first appointment, he evaluated the size and number of fibroids I had and he did not see any reason why he could not remove them robotically. I was SO relieved! I was a little apprehensive about the "robotic" part of the procedure - I mean machines are somewhat reliable and all, but how does a robot perform a surgery?! Turns out the doctor "remotely" controls the robot from the same room. The robot and it's tools are smaller than a doctor's hands and allow for more discrete cuts and movements - which is why it's less invasive. I learned that the doctors that perform robotic myomectomies take years of training in order to get certified and Dr. Eisenberg had already performed hundreds of them..so I felt I was in good hands.

I scheduled my myomectomy about four months after the miscarriage. I think I just needed to wait awhile to adjust to the idea of surgery. If you have never had an operation, the prospect of one can be very scary. Even though people have them everyday, I never thought at the age of 32 I would need one. But once I started to weigh the Pros and Cons, it seemed like the best move.

I knew that there could have been a correlation between the miscarriage and the fibroids. At the rate at which they had grown, I did not want to take a chance with them getting even bigger, with or without another pregnancy, potentially causing even more complications. Plus my doctor told me my uterus was already the size of a 13-14 week pregnancy :-o So the chances of a successful pregnancy would improve if I removed them, since they were distorting my uterine cavity.

Anyone performing a myomectomy will always say there is a very small chance that a full cut will have to be performed and/or that a hysterectomy will have to be done. Dr. Eisenberg assured me that had never happened to him, and the risk was very low in my case. Also, the thought of going under anesthesia was very nerve wrecking to me. However, when he told me it would only be a ~2 hour operation, that put me at ease.

The day of surgery, I checked in around 7:30am, and was scheduled to go in at 9am. I would say my biggest complaint that day was that it took 2 nurses, 1 anesthesiologist, and 6+ pricks to start an IV! I had many bruises to show for that! I remember the anesthesiologist telling me he was going to give me something to relax me... He asked me something about children.... and it was lights out. I woke up with a nurse giving me ice cubes and telling me I should continue to cough, with the pillow to my stomach, to get the incubation gunk out of my lungs. I was in quite a bit of discomfort but as soon as I received my Percocet dosage, I was good to go :-)

I spent most of that day dozing in and out of sleep and although the nurses seemed in a rush to get me home, I stayed one night which was needed in hindsight - the reclining bed made all the difference in the world. My core muscles were so sore from the gas they pumped into me, as well as from the cutting, that a simple laugh was excruciating. While my mom was there entertaining me I had to keep reminding her to not make me laugh!

To get my core activated again and to get rid of the gas pressure, the nurses made me get up and walk a lap or two every few hours. This helped tremendously with pain and flexibility and in the next few days I was able to get around very well.

I took 2.5 weeks off of work and didn't get back into the gym for another 2 weeks - at least not any strenuous classes or heavy lifting. But the doctor pretty much released me to do anything after 10 days.

At my follow-up visit Dr. Eisenberg told me he removed a total of 7 fibroids, even though we only knew about a total of 4. The two I mentioned above were the biggest and the remainder were pretty small.

Oh and the highlight of my follow up visit was.. I received my very own video copy of the surgery o_O