Meditatations

Most of the alternative medical practitioners have recommended meditation to me and it is refererenced in a lot of information about infertility as well as for fibroids. Here are some links to info that I've found along the way.

MEDITATION

Anji - highly praised relaxation CDs
http://www.anjionline.com/

Guided Imagery
http://www.guidedimageryinc.com/guided.html

What is Guided Imagery?
http://www.healthjourneys.com/what_is_guided_imagery.asp

Learning Meditation - Meditation Room
http://www.learningmeditation.com/room.htm

Cultivating Positive Emotions to Optimize Health and Well-Being
http://journals.apa.org/prevention/volume3/pre0030001a.html


SELF HYPNOSIS

Hypnosis Downloads
http://www.hypnosisdownloads.com/
Low cost MP3 files you can use to do self-hypnosis. My friend recommended this site to me.


LABRINTH - Walking Meditation
A labrinth is a type of maze that you walk for medidation. I found that if I walked and thought about a particular thing, like my fibroid or my miscarriage, my mind would show me truths and I could release fear and accept hope. Here are a couple of links to learn more about them:

The Labrinths of Grace Cathedral
http://www.gracecathedral.org/labyrinth/

Worldwide Labrinth Locator
http://wwll.veriditas.labyrinthsociety.org/



QI GONG - Chinese Meditation/Movement
Qi Gong (pronounced chee gong) was my real favorite while I was on my health spa retreat, the thing I did every day except for the one day where the instructor had off. It was amazing and helped me feel open, relaxed, stronger, and peaceful. I had never done it before but I could completely feel the energy flowing through my body on the first time. It also helps you to open up and use the whole of your lungs in a way like I've never felt before -- most of us do only shallow breathing normally. What was even cooler was that I found out that the sequence we were doing was developed by a buddhist pristess named Kwan Yin and that she is also a goddess of fertility in Buddhism. The thing that was most amazing about it was that while doing these slow flowing, graceful movements my body was telling me to keep doing them and it would help with my fibroid -- this was days before I heard about what Kwan Yin was.

The Mission of Qigong
http://www.shengzhen.org/the_mission_of_qigong.htm

Kwan Yin
http://www.crystalinks.com/kwanyin.html

About Kwan Yin and images of statues
http://www.siamese-dream.com/page/siam1/CTGY/Kuan-Yin-Statues

I didn't feel like I was praying to another religion, I felt like I was tapping into the energy of the universe. It was amazing. There is a book on the shenzhen.org site, also available through Amazon that has all of the movements and descriptions of what they are for.


Dr Northrup's site has a bunch of different audio/video materials for sale that might be of interest as well:
http://www.drnorthrup.com/health_store-cr-video.php

The HealingFromFibroidsNaturally Yahoo Group also has lots of information about alternative treatments for uterine fibroids, you might look there as well:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/HealingForFibroidsNaturally

Preparing for surgery with homeopathy/naturopathy

I was directed by my naturopath to take phosphorus c, a homeopathic remedy, prior to having the surgery to help my body with nausea from the anaesthesia.

Homeopathic arnica was advised to help deal with the swelling and bruising. I am supposed to start taking this several days beforehand and several friends swear by it.

She also recommended Rescue Remedy from Bach's Remedies, flower essences, to help deal with the stress prior to the surgery. And Gelsemium 30c, 2 pellets as needed for anticipatory anxiety.

These "meds" are at worst sugar pills and quackery, at best they work wonders. They should not interfere with the procedure or anaesthesia and if you believe they will work then placebo affect or not they will provide you with some relief. I think I'll give them a go since I've got nothing to lose.

I will also be taking Traumogen, a vitamin supplement that helps aid the body with nutrients that aid in healing tissue.

Here are some links about natural medicine and surgery to check out:

Homeopathy and Surgery
http://www.drfeder.com/general-health/healing-surgery.htm

Surgery Recovery Program
http://www.naturodoc.com/library/surgery/surg_recovery.htm

Laparoscopy - how to prepare for your surgery
http://www.endo-resolved.com/laparoscopy_advice.html

Is Arnica montana safe to take after plastic surgery?
http://www.eclecticphysician.com/archive.php?action=Nbr&Nbr=235

How I decided to have a myo

You know, having to go through the d&c to terminate my failed pregnancy helped me to get to this place mentally. The nurses and doctors wanted to help me and they didn't want me to have pain or discomfort. And then all the post myo success stories on the NUFF boards make me feel more confident as well.

Since I'm 34 and a good ways away from menopause I really should get this lump out of me now -- it isn't going to get any smaller on its own, though chinese medicine did seem to be working but not fast enough. My fibroid has been an angel of change for me so far, I had to reconsider a lot over the past two years from what I ate, to how I worked, to how much I excercised or visited with friends. I think I'm in a much better position health-wise now and hope to stave off any other diseases that might have met me along my previous life path. I'm an Cancer, I'm allowed to be sentimental :)

Thanks again and good luck to all my fellow myo compatriots in the next few weeks. I'm going to buy my purple (fuzzy) socks of courage this weekend and help get the house cleaned up and in order so I won't have to do much post surgery. My dog Lula and my cat Seymour are ready and waiting to keep me company during my recuperation.

Watch a myomectomy surgery or UFE procedure online

You know you are obsessed with learning about all the procedures when you watch videos of medical procedures for their entirety. I liked these webcast and if any of you are interested in seeing what happens during a myomectomy or UFE and you can deal with watching surgery, I encourage you to check it out.

Replay of: Abdominal Myomectomy-
A Treatment for the Removal of Fibroids
http://www.or-live.com/lich/1190/

Dr West's site has some video clips of myo surgery as well (there is
a link in the blue box to see images and clips)
http://www.manhattanfibroidassociates.com/

Here's the link to the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital doing an
embolization producedure (UAE/UFE)
http://www.or-live.com/jeffersonhospital/1140/

What should I do?

So I still have retained POC (products of conception) from my miscarriage in July. It is likely that my fibroid has contributed to this situation by not allowing my uterus to contract as well as it might (8x10cm intramural fibroid, uterus wrapped around fibroid). My RE wants to go in with a hysteroscope to aid in the removal of the 2x3cm piece of tissue in my endometrium -- the fibroid doesn't allow for a very clear image of what is there.

She mentioned that while I'm under she could remove my fibroid as well. It isn't the largest fibroid that she's operated on, but it isn't small either. She thinks that if I have the surgery done now I should be all right to travel to Ecuador for Christmas -- about 6 weeks post-op -- to go on a birding tour.

My fibroid hasn't shrunk at all since August, though it is smaller than the largest measurement right before my d&c of 9x11x11cm or so. On the day I got my BFP it measured 6.5x7 -- so it is now twice as large and I'm feeling it everyday.

Tthis RE does surgery twice a week only and I like her, she's been practicing since 1983 and does on average one myo a month -- but she's regularly doing reproductive surgeries. I'm feeling pretty good about her and she said that she would consider my desire for a vaginal birth as she did the surgery.

If you were going to be put under right now for another procedure would you opt to have your large fibroid removed as well?

Contribute $ to fibroid research/ what do we need studied?

So what if you want to help give money to support firbroid research? Here are some ideas based on my research.

Brigham and Women's Hospital Fibroid Research Center is a possibility, they are doing the sister study and many others -- exciting stuff. I gave money last year to a specific researcher at the University of Toronto, Galene Pron, Ph.D., who is studying fibroid embolization and fertility.

I did a search on Yahoo of the words "fibroid research" and got some interesting results as well. You also can search through the PubMed site or anywhere online and see what research has been done and contact the researchers directly if they provide email addresses.

Also the March of Dimes is doing a push again premature delivery of infants but they aren't talking about fibroids. We might be able to help drive the point home by sending comments and cash at them.

Oh, by the way, this reminds me that I was in touch with the Women's Clinical Research Center here in Seattle and suggested some study ideas to them. They evidently are only doing pharmaceutical industry funded studies which irked me. Here is a list of the things I sent to them:

What happens to fibroids after menopause? Anecdotally they are supposed to shrink but there is no research evidence to refer to.

I would love to see a study that would help get women in for a routine ultrasound at age 25 and then 30-32 to help catch fibroids early since pelvic exams are often useless.

How about diet/dietary changes and how that affects growth? I think that stress and restrictive eating contributed to my fibroid growth.

What hormonal profiles and body types are linked with fibroid growth.

What about pain from fibroids – I have it but it isn't my fibroid that is hurting me, it is adjacent. I'd love to see imaging that would demonstrate what exactly is hurting. Lots of doctors dismiss this type of pain.

What about a comparison of waiting until menopause for symptoms to recede versus having a hysterectomy on quality of life.

In reading this study report, Myomectomy: a retrospective study to examine reproductive performance before and after surgery (http://humrep.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/full/14/7/1735),
I noted the following mentions of incomplete research
on the topic:

"Many reports have considered intramural fibroids and subserosal fibroids as a single group, and little attempt has been made to analyse the two groups separately. However, it is possible that the impact of intramural fibroids on reproductive outcome is quite different to that of subserosal fibroids."

"few studies have considered the reproductive performance prior to myomectomy, including the presence of infertility and miscarriage, and hence have not examined how myomectomy alters the reproductive performance."

"there are no prospective data to suggest whether or not intramural or subserosal fibroids increase the rate of pregnancy loss, and to what extent they are the cause of recurrent miscarriage"

"The value of myomectomy for subserosal fibroid is a particularly controversial issue. Our series included 10 cases whose outcome appeared encouraging (conception rate, 80%). However, its effect upon the rate of pregnancy loss requires a much larger observational or randomized control study."

"In our study the reproductive outcomes before and after myomectomy were compared and the subjects did not undergo myomectomy as part of a prospective randomized controlled trial. So far, no such trial has examined reproductive outcome following myomectomy. Until a multicentre study has been carried out, the only available, retrospective, data suggest that myomectomy may improve reproductive outcome."


As a patient I have been told, though I have been unable to find research that backs up these assertions, that:

* c-section will be required post myomectomy

* doctor would be unwilling to work with me as a fertility patient unless I have a myomectomy