I had an endometrial ablation performed in February 2000 for excessive menstrual bleeding. Here is my story:

My problems began in the early Spring of 1998. Menstruation, as I knew it, had changed for the worst. I was having cramps...and I experienced no menstrual cramps since I was 12 years old! I thought that was odd, and I took some Tylenol® and it did manage the pain well. That period was heavy with clotting and it lasted for two weeks. I knew that was an abnormal period and I made an appointment with my ob/gyn.

My next period was the first of the heavy floods. It lasted long and it was painful for the first few days, but again, a few Tylenol® took the pain away. The pain had never been anything I could not bear thank God, the bleeding was the problem.

I saw my ob/gyn, she said maybe I had a bit of a hormonal imbalance, and she told me to wait it out a few more cycles. I did. It stayed the same. I went back to see her and she offered me the pill. I always had problems with BCP's but I was going to consider it. I asked her to do further testing and she said it wasn't necessary.
Enter Doc #2:

He told me he would have me get an abdominal and a transvaginal ultrasound. I did it. It came back with a suspicious mass that was seen in the lower segment of my uterus, or in my cervix. It was only seen in some of the images. He said he thought I had a fibroid and he wanted to do an endometrial biopsy, a laparoscopy, a myomectomy and an endometrial ablation! I told him I was going to go to my family doctor for a second opinion. This doctor had no compassion and I did not feel he knew what he was talking about. He got aggravated by any questions and he seemed way too 'surgery happy'. I didn't walk out of there, I ran!
Enter Doc #3:

This is my family doctor and he has been my doctor since I was 11 years old but he is not an ob/gyn specialist but he does some GYN work. He said, "The suspicious mass that was seen on some of the images of the abdominal ultrasound is 'probably just a shadow', but it might be a polyp so let's do a D&C and if it is a polyp we can just 'scrape it away'." He looked over the ultrasound himself as he said the doctor that read the ultrasound tended to 'overread'. He did not feel this was a fibroid.

I had him do the D&C. My periods got much worse after the D&C. I was not having periods anymore, I was hemorrhaging. I could not go to sleep for two nights straight because I had to be awake as that was the only way I could keep up with the blood loss. He recommended I see yet another ob/gyn as this problem was beyond the scope of his expertise. He is a dear, kind man and he is still my family doctor.
Enter Doc #4:

She said let's just try the pill and against my better judgment I took it for five months. My periods became so light, however, the pill caused me to have unbearable side effects so I had to stop taking it. My periods came back as bad as ever when I stopped taking the pill. This doctor did a saline infused sonogram and a hysteroscopy and she found no abnormalities on the uterine lining like polyps or fibroids. She wanted me to get an MRI to see if I had adenomyosis and if it was confirmed that I did she would do a hysterectomy. If it was not confirmed she would do an endometrial ablation and if it failed, she would know the MRI missed the adenomyosis and she would do a hysterectomy.

I didn't want to have an MRI as at that point as I was 'tested out'. I had been through enough tests and I just wanted an end to this already! So, she said, "Okay, no MRI, let's do an endometrial ablation." I wasn't too sure about that approach. I truly wanted a guaranteed cure I would never bleed again and I knew the endometrial ablation could not make this guarantee. I did a lot of research on endometrial ablations and I talked with a few women that had one performed. I also did hysterectomy research and I talked with women that elected to go that route. I thought about it and I made a decision and I asked her for a hysterectomy. She said, "No way, not without a failed endometrial ablation!" I certainly did not want to go through a surgery only for it to fail and then have to have a hysterectomy anyway! I did not appreciate the fact that she did not allow me to make this choice for my health. It was my body and I certainly would never go into major surgery lightly! I tried alternatives and I was not living a good quality of life. I just could not live with the bleeding and the flooding and the clots anymore and be homebound every month for several days and lose two nights of sleep and have two week long periods! I had to plan my life around my period. No woman should have to live that way!
Enter Doc #5:

He said, "Yes I will do a TVH (Total Vaginal Hysterectomy) on you, but I recommend the endometrial ablation." I said, "Nope, let's do a hysterectomy, I want my life back!" We set the surgery up, I went through pre-op, I got ready and I went in for it, but at the last second at the hospital I could not do it despite my fight for it. I sat up and said to my doctor, "Let's try that endometrial ablation." I felt so ashamed and embarrassed that I backed out of the hysterectomy, especially because I insisted on it. I believe now that the reason I did back out of the hysterectomy was because I did have one alternative left ~ the endometrial ablation ~ and it is always smart to try all of your alternative treatment options before undergoing something as major as a hysterectomy. I never wanted the endometrial ablation, but it sure looked good to me as I was being wheeled down to the OR, hence my reason for canceling my hysterectomy that day!

I had a balloon ablation performed {Thermachoice Uterine Balloon Therapy} in February 2000 and now I am in the 'wait and see' process to see if it was successful. The procedure was outpatient and I was completely recovered in about three days. The ablation literature I had said to expect mild to moderate cramping afterwards, but, for me, it was pretty severe cramping. I don't want to scare anyone, but if someone were to have told me that severe pain was to be expected, I believe I could have prepared myself for that. I got really scared thinking that something must be wrong or I wouldn't feel as bad as I did. I was told, after the fact, that some women do experience the pain level that I was at and that it would pass within twelve hours, and it did. Twelve hours of on and off again severe cramping to get rid of hemorrhage type bleeding was well worth it for me! The medication that worked the best for me at relieving those cramps was Motrin®. I was told by my doctor that Motrin® has something in it that counteracts the uterine contractions, and he was right. As soon as I took a Motrin® and it kicked in, 85% of the pain was relieved, and within twelve hours, it was completely gone.

No cause was ever found on me for all that bleeding - no polyps, no fibroids...I don't know why I went from normal, light periods for years to excessive bleeding. It truly baffles me!

So, that is my story. It is long, but I didn't want to leave anything out. I wanted to present the "whole picture" in my battle with this in hopes that this will help women that are going through the same thing to know that they are not alone in this. Most people do not understand this, unless they lived it. I can relate well as I lived it and it is not easy to go through as it is frightening, draining, and it takes away the quality of our lives! Our situations will not be exactly the same, but the bottom line is, this is truly a debilitating problem to live!

Thanks for reading my story! This Site is all about women helping women support, and I hope you will find that here, as well as the information you are seeking and the feeling of being understood by women that relate to these issues.

Update ~ December 2001

I am now almost two years post endometrial ablation. The endometrial ablation did work, however, I do have some odd cycles in that I bleed too many days per month, I get clotting some cycles, and some of my periods are heavier. My PMS has changed ever since I had the endometrial ablation performed - it is severe each month now. There is no medical proof that the endometrial ablation caused the severe PMS, so please don’t let that scare you. Despite these little bumps I have had along the way - I have NO regrets as the endometrial ablation did lighten my bleeding A LOT!

I did attempt another hysterectomy in April 2001 and AGAIN I just could not do it! {How embarrassed was I?} I did try, and I think the reason I could not do it again was because "I" was the one electing it again, verses THE DOCTOR recommending it to me...that is hard to have on one's shoulders, at least for me it was. My doctor was a doll and kudos to him for being so sweet about everything!

The ultrasounds I had in 1999, the abdominal U/S showed a mass that was chalked up to a shadow, well, that ‘shadow’ was NOT merely a shadow after all! I just this month had the abdominal and the transvaginal ultrasounds repeated and I found out I have intramural fibroids!

Update ~ August 2004

All is going very well. My periods are ultra-light now - even lighter then they ever were! I don't understand it, but I am certainly NOT complaining! *smiles*

I have several fibroids. I get an ultrasound each year to keep an eye on them. The fibroids are not suspected to be the cause of my pre-ablation bleeding.

Update ~ August 2006

It has been so long since I last updated my progress with my endometrial ablation! All is still going very well, yay! It will be SEVEN years in February 2007 since I had my endometrial ablation performed. I am so happy and so grateful that it is still working so well for me!

I still have several fibroids. I get one ultrasound per year to keep an eye on them.

I highly recommend this procedure to any woman who is a good candidate for it and whose doctor recommended it to her. =)

Update ~ September 2011

Here is my 11 Year Post-EA Update