Cindy of Chicago, Illinois
One morning about four years ago Cindy woke up with a dull ache in her lower back and abdomen. "I had a uncomfortable bloated feeling," recalls the 46 year old. "It stayed with me all day and everyday."
No stranger to back problems, this office manager for an outpatient physical therapy company suspected, however, that her back was not really causing the pain. Her intuition proved correct. In fact, two fibroids turned out to be the source of the discomfort. First discovered during an ultrasound for ovarian cysts, Cindy’s fibroids had gradually grown to the point that they were pressing on the back of her uterus. “I didn’t feel well and the pain was disrupting my life. I was always aware of it,” shares Cindy. “Around my period I would have to place a hot pack on my abdomen for pain relief.”
Her gynecologist recommended either a hysterectomy or drug therapy to shrink the fibroids, a course of action that could have thrown Cindy into temporary menopause at age 42. Neither option thrilled Cindy, who decided to look for alternative treatments. A friend’s husband, a physician, sent her an article about uterine fibroid embolization (UFE). After a few calls and much research on the Internet, Cindy learned that Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) was offering the procedure through its radiology department, and she promptly contacted Dr. Vogelzang.
She met with Dr. Vogelzang and the department’s patient care coordinator. They thoroughly explained the procedure to Cindy, who then weighed the pros and cons of UFE against her other options. Cindy came to the conclusion that UFE at Northwestern best met her needs.
“I had had surgery at NMH in the past. It’s a great hospital,” explains Cindy. “And I had looked at the number of UFE procedures Dr. Vogelzang had performed. I felt comfortable with him and confident that I would receive the best care at Northwestern.”
After one night’s stay in the hospital after her UFE procedure, Cindy recuperated at home for a week before returning to work. She experienced just a few days of pain as her fibroids began the shrinking process. “Right away, I felt better,” she says. “There was less pressure on my abdomen, and the ‘bulk’ feeling went away.” Although heavy bleeding caused by the fibroids had not bothered Cindy as much as the pain, she noticed a gradual decrease over time. One year after Cindy’s UFE procedure, an MRI scan showed that her fibroids had shrunk by 80 to 90 percent.
Pain-free since UFE, Cindy is glad she chose the procedure. She wholeheartedly recommends it to those who are faced with the possibility of having a hysterectomy to alleviate the problems caused by fibroids.
“I absolutely did not want to lose my uterus,” says Cindy. “UFE was the best option for me. I am doing great now.”