RE-POST: Sunday, September 2nd 2007

Hello All!

After I wrote the last email, I was able to get an appointment with the specialist the very next week. Amazing what they can do when you are persistent! However, once I was there I have to admit I felt like I was back in anatomy class and had never learned a darn thing!  Dr. Barnett, the specialist, was extremely thorough and gave every possibility and option there was to have. It was quite overwhelming and emotional as well. I came home and thought about everything the doctor had said. Every option, every possibility and realized that in the end there would still never be a guarantee for me.

The next week, I went back to my OBGYN and had a very long discussion about what the specialist said and what I was feeling. Although this may be difficult for some of you to understand, I have decided to go through with the hysterectomy. It became more about my health and what is best for me. What good could I possibly be to a child, if I put myself at risk? The good news is that I will still have my own eggs; they will only be taking my uterus. So, technically, having children is still an option I would just need to use someone else’s oven.  Plus, adoption is a wonderful option and there are many children out there who need good homes.

So now it was time to discuss the procedure. Of course there is abdominal, which most women have experienced. However, my doctor has just begun to practice a procedure that is done laparoscopically. She went down to assist with a doctor in Houston who is quite well versed in the procedure. The only reason my surgery is not sooner is because this same doctor from Houston is scheduled to be here October 1st to assist my OBGYN in doing the same procedure on one of her patients…which would be ME! I will not know until the day of the surgery as to which procedure will be done. But, hoping for the laparoscopic as it means I will only be down for about a week. She is fairly confident that they will be able to do the laparoscopic procedure. Her only concern is the size of my uterus. Apparently it is the size of a 4 month old fetus? In addition, my largest fibroid is about the size of a grapefruit. With at least five of those suckers, I am ready for them to be gone! As stated previously, my big day will be October 1st. Not necessarily a day I would have chosen, for those of you that remember, but didn’t want to put off any longer either. So, would appreciate your thoughts and prayers on that day.

Love to all and to being a lighter and happier woman soon!
Andrea Nicole (Nikki)