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Acknowledgement: "Mike and I want to thank the following Australian women and Doctors for their Uterine Fibroids comments." - Mike and Hope Waltman October 7, 2007 Question: I am in my 40's. I was diagnosed with a fibroid measuring 9 cm x 8 cm. My Ob/Gyn is pushing me for a hysterectomy and never discussed other options. I went for a second opinion and the new Ob/Gyn did another ultrasound. This ultrasound shows the fibroid at 15 cm x 12 cm. He said that there is no way the fibroid could have grown that fast and that the original ultrasound must have been read wrong. I am concerned it is cancerous. Could a non-cancerous fibroid grow that quickly? The new Dr is talking to me about a myomectomy which sounds like a better option. I understand that the UAE may not be best for a fibroid that large as it would not totally go away. Is that true? I am very confused and extremely concerned so any answers that can be provided would be helpful. Answer: Normally in this
situation we would get you in to our clinic and look at all the facts and
give you the information you need. The first thing I would like to
know is what problems your fibroid is causing for you? Fibroids are often not as accurately measured with ultrasound, and you can have big discrepancies in scans performed in a short time interval. Some of us circumvent this problem by doing an MRI. This gives us very accurate imaging, as well allowing some prediction on how the fibroid will respond to embolization and if it is a sarcoma (but nothing is 100%). After this I would say it is very likely you could have a treatment that will preserve your uterus. Leaving fibroid embolization or myomectomy. The difficulty with myomectomy is that your fibroid sounds big. Which would mean you have a fair chance of significant bleeding during the surgery and possible conversion to hysterectomy on the table. Your chance of better result and less complications would be in favour of fibroid embolization not surgery. There would be some scar tissue left in the uterus where the fibroid had been, however, you would not have symptoms or problems from this. However, I would need to know your symptoms and I would do an MRI uterus to make this as accurate as possible. - Dr Stuart M Lyon, Head of Interventional Radiology, Department of Radiology, The Alfred
June 27, 2007 Dear Hope, In May 2007 I had a Uterine Fibroid Embolization
procedure in
Perth, Western Australia. While researching, I noticed that your UFE services info for Perth is no longer quite correct. Dr. Nadkarni is still doing UFEs, but now has his own clinic / website and is now consulting at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (Perth). I have had interviews myself with Dr. Nadkarni and Dr. Marshall (who did my procedure). I haven't spoken to Dr. McAuliffe and Dr. Kumar personally, but SKG Radiology and SCGH confirmed on the phone / via e-mail that the interventional radiologists listed (frequently) perform UFE procedures for their patients. Referral requirements vary - enquire by Phone / Fax / e-mail. I hope this information will be helpful. With very best regards. ******* February 3, 2006 “Thank you for presenting such an informative website that answered all my questions and gave me the confidence to go ahead and have a UAE procedure two weeks ago. So far so good. I am so disappointed with the gynecological profession. I live in Sydney, Australia and the gynecologist that I saw told me that UAEs are dangerous (he said that the pellets could migrate) and that hysterectomy was the only cure! I am telling all my friends about the UAE and that their gynecologist is not to be trusted. I had to go online to find a qualified IR in this area. He's done more procedures than anyone in Sydney and that's only 50 over 5 years! It seems to me that Gynecologists are more interested in their bank accounts than they are in truly helping women. Thanks again. Yours is the best website for this problem. Keep up the good work informing women! February 4, 2006: The doctor's charges were only around AU$1550 of which I expect to be fully reimbursed. The hospitilization was fully covered by my private insurer. My doctor's name is Dr. Gregg Briggs. He practices at Royal North Shore Hospital in St. Leonards, a Sydney suburb. He was most helpful and willing to talk with me on the phone several times prior to the procedure. I am American and would have been willing to have it done in the US on my next trip but luckily found Dr. Briggs. You are amazing to help women all over the world. I would like to find a way to inform women here that there are alternatives to hysterectomy. Even though I am 54 I found the prospect of hysterectomy to be awful as I know so many women who have long-term complications including incontinence and bowel problems. February 5, 2006: Actually, it appears I was wrong about the funding. Dr. Briggs said, “There is no rebate for the procedure, which is why it is some what limited in Australia.” However I sent in my receipts to medicare and my private insurance and I'm pretty sure they will be covered. Initially I took my doctor's invoice to the medicare office and they asked me to mail it in because the refund amount was too much to give me the cash over the counter. Anyway, I'll keep you posted as to how I fare with my reimbursements. I really don't care as long as these fibroids are shrinking! February 9, 2006: I just received word from medicare that they have reimbursed me $1015.30 out of $1540.15 for my UAE procedure. I'm sure this means that my private health fund will reimburse me for the remainder. Good old Australia. They really are very good about their national health plan. I will let you know when my private health plan reimburses me.
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