Pat of Glen Ellyn, Illinois
A menstrual cycle for Pat used to mean a long week of extreme fatigue, heavy bleeding, and dull constant pain running down her thighs. The 43-year-old claims supervisor for a third-party administrator often would "hurry home from work to sleep" the days before and after her menstrual bleeding.
Describing herself as an “open sieve,” Pat constantly worried about staining and always traveled with a supply of heavy-duty sanitary napkins. “I had to be very conscious of what I was wearing during my period,” she explains. “I also couldn’t get a good sound sleep for fear of soiling my mattress and sheets. I would wear shorts and then place a towel on the bed.”
Diagnosed with fibroids in her mid-30s, Pat underwent a myomectomy to remove the fibroids. “I was great for two years and then they grew back and I started having the same classic symptoms.” She then tried a second surgical procedure that removed the fibroids vaginally. Pat enjoyed another two good years before the fibroids, again, reappeared. “I was told to think about having a hysterectomy but that was not going to be an option for me,” she says. “I felt I was too young.”
Watching the local news one evening, Pat discovered a new, innovative procedure – uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) – being offered at Northwestern Radiology. “I didn’t know a thing about UFE until I turned on the television that night,” recalls Pat. “The news story featured the whole process with Dr. Vogelzang. I quickly jotted down his name, looked him up on the Internet, and made an appointment.”
Reading literature about the treatment, Pat decided that the UFE approach to shrinking the fibroids made sense. In addition, the fact that the procedure used FDA-approved polyvinyl particles comforted her. “I was confident that the procedure was perfectly safe.”
Pat spent two nights in the hospital after undergoing UFE and then went back to work two weeks later. Feeling little pain, she experienced virtually no scarring from the insertion of the catheter in her hip area. Exclaims Pat, “I can’t even find the incision.”
An MRI scan a year later revealed that Pat’s fibroids had shrunk, reducing her bleeding, pain, and frequent urination. Two years later, Pat is grateful that she found UFE and advises women considering the procedure to not hesitate.
“Don’t be afraid, just do it,” says Pat. “You will regain the quality of life and energy you missed. I used to feel like I was trapped by the potential of countless embarrassing situations. UFE has given me back my confidence and youthfulness.”