Hi, I have had very normal periods until September 2008. In my very early forties I was told I had 5 fibroids. I am writing this because the blood is bright red these days. These are outgrowth of the uterus in different areas. The periods are very heavy and sometimes very painful. I had never heard of fibroids and I am an avid reader so I am hoping this information helps someone. The typical recommendation is hysterectomy. I was considered old. I don't consider myself old at all and since I am very healthy except for this one month I researched other venues. I don't look it, I am very fit and eat very healthy so the fact that someone was eager to open me up and "practice" medicine light up a bulb in my brain. I needed to find out more info as this women GYN was trying to scare me with all the complications of having fibroids while I was still under the influence of pain killers from the day before. I schedule a D&C which is a cleaning of the uterus for the next few days. But the next day I found out a lot of info. So I called the office and cancelled everything. I wanted to be better informed before doing anything to this one only body of mine that could be irreversible. First there is something called Focused Ultrasound (FU). It is minimally invasive in you are back to work in 1-2 days. It shrinks the tumors with sound. It is use for prostate cancer. So i figured if testes are ok then the Uterus should be too. Another thing I was not told is that this is not an emergency surgery. The pain can be treated and diet can improve it. I also found several things one can take to reduce the size and maybe eliminate them. Like fibrovan and Fibrovera. There is also a site of a woman who cured them naturally. There is also UFE or embollization of the fibroids simply they cut the blood supply with pellets that are laparoscopically inserted. This is done by radiologists so most GYN do not tell you. The issue with this one is that it is a procedure where, statistically, results are not know. i.e. It looks very good but noone knows what happens to the pellets. It is minimally invasive but you are down 3-4 weeks. Hysterectomy you are down up to 6 months and it might leave you incontinent. Some GYN suggest being incontinent is better than having to go to the bathroom more often if one of the fibroids is pressing against your bladder. I rather control my urine that not. Of the 600K hysterectomies a year only 10% are needed (because of cancer or life threatening issues). That is only 60k are needed. Compare this number to the number of the diagnosed breast cancer 200K/yr and smoking related deaths is 400K/yr. If having breast cancer compels people to run for a cure what about hysterectomies. This is a tragedy, a living massacre that is making a lot of money for GYN. But women are starting to reclaim the importance of their body and going to other GYNs that support alternative methods. Compare this with enlargement of the prostate it happens to men over 50 mostly. That is older than early 40's. They have alternative methods for this illness. The doctors do not immediately recommend to them to take out the testes because they will not use them again since they are old. (This is what GYN tell women) Another argument GYN use is well if it presses against your bladder you might be better off taking the uterus out. Yet the same happens to men the enlarged prostate makes them go to the bathroom more often. It is rare to tell them well take the prostate out to cure this. There is a lack of care and compassion for women that is mindblowing. I hope the following information gives all the superwomen out there more choices and a better outlook for their future. (One thing I forgot, if the hysterectomy is radical (ovaries are taken out) then the sex drive disappears, one has to take hormones and these hormones cause breast cancer - what a way to become a patient for the rest of your life. btw I think radical is the uterus alone it is much bigger than the ovaries!) A Book - Healing Fibroids: A Doctor's Guide to A Natural Cure by Allan Warshowsky, MD and Elena Oumano, PhD Simon & Schuster, Inc. Rockefeller Center 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, New York 10020 USA Paperback, 2002, $14 US ($21.50 CAN) 281 pp. http://www.curefibroidsnaturally.com/ - Woman who cured them naturally - I am doing this one http://www.fibrovan.com/index.html - pills - I am doing this http://www.fibromedica.com/uterine-fibroids - pills http://focusus.net/ - FU http://www.uterine-fibroids.org/index.html - info http://www.nohysterectomy.com/index.php - alternative http://www.fibroidsecondopinion.com/index.htm - info http://www.myuterinefibroids.com/home.php - FU

Thanks everyone. Yes Eddie and Ivy travel with me...so the first night back for me Eddie was mad at me so even though I tried to play with them both a little Eddie acted if I didn't exsit!! He is soooo funny when he gets mad at you...you no longer exist!! Ivy she could care less if I am here or not! But they have been super about not trying to jump on my tummy or anything. Stacy

Thanks guys. The clinic opens at 7 and I was part of the line-up outside. They opened the doors early and we all took a number and registered. At 7 they started calling names and we got our blood drawn. I told the nurse that I asked my online friends last nite and they said that water makes it easier to draw the blood. She agreed that water is fine to drink. I was home at 7:25

I remember when Glenda bought the last pillow. I got one around the same time. Still happy with mine, but of course, I don't remember a name. All I do remember I got one that was marked for a side sleeper, since I do sleep about 95% of the time on my side. I fluff mine up every morning, several big hits from both sides, and several big hits on each end, all while the pillow is between my hands. Fluffing your pillow up in the morning when making your bed makes a big difference on how fluffy it stays in the long run. Moni