Pre-myomectomy picture

Hi folks,

It's taken me a lot of guts to post this picture, not because I think I look bad, but because I'm afraid of the opposite type of comments, the "Oh my God, this woman is faking it, her problem isn't that bad, look how tiny her midriff is!". Do not let the degree of swelling around my waistline deceive you folks, believe me when I tell you there is a doozy of a fibroid (soft ball to grapefruit sized) in there along with a collection of others, all of which I am having my OB/GYN evict on Friday. The largest fibroid is in the lining of my uterus on the left hand side and, as I have said before, is squishing my bladder and putting pressure on the lower part of my spine, causing pain right before my period. I also have abnormal swelling right before my period (the photo is me at my slimmest a few days after the end of my cycle, taken this evening and also after two months of intense core muscle strengthening in preparation for my surgery). I also have been suffering from gradually increasing menstrual flow for the past year, so really, it's time for these fibroids to go, especially if my Sweetheart and I want to be able to have babies any time in the near (within the next few years) future.

So there you have it, I've decided to share my story on here because really, there are so few ressources out there for women suffering from fibroids. I've looked and looked and aside from ge eric medical texts, I've found very few testimonies from women who have dealt with fibroids and had them removed, especially women my age in Canada who have gone through this recently. It think this is because A: not many women my age have fibroids that need to be removed B: it takes a lot of courage to talk about this type of problem because people often look at you with pity when you do and that feels crappy and C: it can be embarrassing. I realise that I am very fortunate to not be more visibly swollen than I am. God gave me a uterus that is tilted towards the back. If it was tilted forwards I would look like I was almost five months pregnant.

I sincerely hope that women who suffer from fibroids will find my fibroid posts (I will be posting at least one or two after my surgery) and that they will find them helpful and comforting. In the mean time, please send positive thoughts and prayers to my Sweetheart and for the road ahead and also healing thoughts and prayers for me.