Women need not undergo hysterectomy. Operation your doctor may not know

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
10/2/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Painful condition can be done surgically without endangering woman's reproductive organs

Fibroids are a painful condition that many women face during their child-bearing years. They make the patient uncomfortable and create heavy periods. For those women who suffer chronic pain from fibroids, hysterectomy is often the only option offered by doctors. Now - a new procedure can remove the fibroids while leaving the reproductive organs intact. The issue: Many doctors are still unaware of the operation.

Fibroids are distinguished by heavy or painful periods, abdominal pain as well as discomfort in the lower back and legs, frequent urination and constipation, caused by fibroids pressing on internal organs and pain or discomfort while making love.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The process is called, myomectomy. The procedure is still a major operation, but many women are able to keep their womb afterwards. Myomectomy is not a new procedure. Doctors say that many women with large or multiple fibroids are not being considered for it and, as a result, are being denied the chance of motherhood.

Around 40 percent of women develop fibroids, most often between the ages of 30 and 50. The cause is unknown, but they are linked to the female hormones estrogen and progesterone, which are at their highest levels during a woman's reproductive years. It must be noted that after the menopause, fibroids often shrink and symptoms either ease or disappear.

In 50 percent of women who have them, fibroids do not cause symptoms. They may shrink and disappear without treatment. The other 50 percent however experience pelvic pain from the pressure caused by the fibroids and heavy and/or extended periods.

The stomach may look distended or bloated. While medication can treat symptoms such as heavy periods, it tends to be less effective with larger fibroids. Uterine artery remobilization blocks the blood supply to fibroids, making them shrink.

There is little known about its effect on fertility, so caution is advised in women who want children.

Myomectomy involves cutting the fibroids out of the womb wall.

Mayonda says that when younger women are told by their doctors that their only option is a hysterectomy and that it deters them from having any treatment.

"They stay clear of the healthcare profession and return only when they are no longer able to cope with their symptoms because the fibroids have grown even bigger or multiplied, making treatment more complex and challenging.

"Most fibroids, even large, multiple ones, can be treated by myomectomy."

Fibroids are distinguished by heavy or painful periods, abdominal pain as well as discomfort in the lower back and legs, frequent urination and constipation, caused by fibroids pressing on internal organs and pain or discomfort while making love.

� 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Fibroids, hystectomy, myomectomy, child bearing, women's health

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1 - 4 of 4 Comments

Deacon Keith Fournier
7 months ago
To Tara Brelinsky: You are absolutely correct. That quote from that Doctor was not picked up in this straight news story in the diting process. I appreciate your vigilance and it has been edited. Catholic Online is 100% committed to the truth about Life in every aspect. IVF is immoral for several reasons, one of which is often not even known by many. It results in the taking of the innocent human lives of so called "spare embryos" in the process.
Deacon Keith Fournier
7 months ago
To Tara: You are absolutely correct. Sometimes, stories such as this use quotes which can be misconstrued. Catholic Online is a news site. This one slipped by my watchful eye. Thank you for your vigilance in calling to to my attention. It has been changed. We are 100% pro-Life and fully faithful to the teaching of the Church as you know. Please feel free to consider writing an article on the truh about IVF. I have written many. It is critical that people learn about the many "spare" embryonic persons killed in the process in addition to the other morally objectionable aspects
Nora
7 months ago
Myomectomy, a constructive surgery to remove fibroids and leave the uterus intact, has been performed for over a century. It is important that the surgeon be skilled at performing myomectomy and that s/he has consistently good outcomes.

You can contact HERS at jkabak@hersfoundation.org and request to have Myomectomy Questions and Answers emailed to you. It gives you the questions to ask a doctor to determine their skill at performing myomectomies, and it gives you the answers that you will need to know to evaluate your doctors responses to your questions.
Tara Brelinsky
7 months ago
What a disappointing article on a Catholic site. The quotes at the end of the article mislead Catholics into thinking the contraceptive mentality is acceptable ("If a woman is 45, has finished her family or doesn't want children, a hysterectomy may be appropriate, if she wishes,") and that IVF is an option. If such articles are going to be published, they at least need to be edited to reflect Truth or risk leading a reader into serious sin.

Very disappointed.

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