I’ve been covering quite a bit about fibroids in my recent posts, but today I wanted to share my own fibroid story (the transcript is below in case you would like to read it).
In case you missed any of my fibroid posts:
Exploring the Spectrum of Fibroid Treatment Options: From Watchful Waiting to Hysterectomy
Nurturing Your Uterine Health: A Holistic Approach for Melanated Women
Beyond Pain: Unveiling the Physical, Emotional, and Financial Impact of Fibroids
Unraveling the Mystery of Fibroids
Reclaiming Your Health: Understanding and Managing Fibroids Naturally
Unlock Natural Relief: 10 Dietary Changes for Managing Fibroids
My Fibroid Story Video Transcript:
Hey, I’m Rosa Crumpton. I’m a Registered Nurse and I just want to tell a little bit about my fibroid story back in 2013. I had been anemic. I was having a little bit of health issues but nothing that really sent me to the doctor per se. Then one day I started having terrible horrible cramping right around my belly button. started having nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. It got pretty bad. I did not want to go to a hospital because like most nurses we’re terrible patients.
And so my husband kept saying I need to go to the hospital or at least urgent care. And I was like, I’m just gonna like try to rest and sleep it off. About nine o’clock that night. I was feeling horrible, but that time I was starting to get like dizzy and it was probably a bit dehydrated. And I finally said please take me to the hospital. So we go to the emergency room because urgent care was closed at that time and we get all checked in.
They do my lab work and they come back and they say, hey, you have pancreatitis and I was like, what the heck, like, I really don’t have any risk factors. I was a little younger than I am now and they couldn’t figure it out. I rarely drink. I wasn’t taking any medications, really; didn’t have any risk factors for pancreatitis. But my labs were clearly saying that’s what I had. So they decided to give me a CT of my abdomen, to check out and see what was going on.
So the results come back and I’m still in the emergency room, you know, like the little curtains and they start telling me, oh my God, you have fibroids like they’re, they’re huge. Like did you know you had fibroid just like rapid fire and mind you, I’m on like a morphine drip because that’s how bad my pain was by that time getting some fluid. So I’m a little out of it, and I’m like, what does this in my mind? I’m like, what does this have to do, with pancreatitis, the pancreas, and the uterus? They’re, they’re not even that close, you know.
But I was also on pain medicine. So it was just kind of like, ok, but just rapid-fire questions asking me if I wanted to have kids that I have kids. I better hurry up and have kids because these fibroids were terrible. And those of you in the medical field or who have been around the block in hospitals, especially, in the emergency room. You know, they’re trying to find what the problem is, the solution, and get you to the next destination.
And that’s just the manner of health care, but it was just such a bizarre experience because I knew that my uterus had nothing to do with my pancreas. So long story short, I ended up being overnight in the hospital. , My lab value started getting better and the pancreatitis will be a story for another day. I followed up with my regular doctor and we’re trying to figure out the pancreatitis. But I also got the like diagnosis of fibroids sent to a specialist, OBGYN.
That first appointment was, it was horrific as soon as me and my husband walked in, there was like babies crying, it was hectic, checking in and it was just really unsettling. You know, I had done a bunch of research before this appointment because if you know me, I am a researcher that is that was my career before I became a nurse and that’s just part of who I am. I try to figure things out the how and why.
That’s how my brain works. So I had armed myself with knowledge. I was not a registered nurse at the time, I was an LPN but you know, had a health care and research background. So I had done some pretty extensive research, found the different treatment options that were available at that time. And so I was ready to have a discussion, find out specifically how big these fibroids were, where they were located, and, what the possible treatments were. So that is not how the appointment went. The doctor did an exam, came back in the room, did not ask me, did I have kids? Which I did not have at the time. I didn’t have any biological children at the time. Did I want kids? Like, what were my plans? Nothing. This man literally read from a pamphlet. I kid you not, “ a hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus through an incision.”
And started telling me about how they could do it laparoscopic and I’d be like in and out. Now, mind you, I had never presented to my doctor’s office to the emergency room or anything like that with fibroid symptoms. I found out happenstance that I had fibroids when I had a pancreatitis attack. So it was very bizarre. that this gentleman, this physician I had been referred to was telling me about a hysterectomy because that was never my chief complaint when I went to, the doctor and none of the typical fibroid symptoms.
But looking back, I had classic textbook symptoms. I had become anemic over a period, you know, shorter, period of time. I’m pretty good about getting, physicals and things like that. My periods had become longer, more irregular. I was starting to have clots and feel very tired, around, my menstrual cycle. So, I did have some textbook symptoms but, I never really put those together. And as many of, you know, , when you go to the doctor even regularly, they just ask you when your last menstrual period was, they don’t really ask you too many symptoms or anything like that.
And I also knew or I had been told that, you know if you gain weight that sometimes that can make your periods heavy, heavier and things like that. So anyway, that appointment was horrible. I almost left in tears and I am not somebody who likes to cry, especially not in a public setting. We barely got out of the appointment and my husband said you need to get a second opinion. You need to find… he had a whole laundry list.
You need to find a, you know, a Black female, young doctor to get a second opinion. And I was like, babe, like we, we, we live in Washington State. Where are we gonna find this magical mythical OBGYN? But he spoke into existence and I actually found one who was an awesome, awesome doctor. So I went and saw her a few weeks later, and the appointment was night and day.
She, the office was calm, there were pregnant, folks there and, and babies, but the office itself was calm and the check-in procedures and then, you know, meeting that doctor, she was very welcoming to me and my husband and she went through every single option from doing nothing all the way to a hysterectomy. And she told me if there is any inkling, any tiny little shred that you may want a child in the future, like hysterectomy is off the table.
And so, I really liked her approach. She told us, you know, where the fibroids were, she, had a [uterus] model and was showing me exactly where my fibroids were, how big they were, what the different treatment options were. And so it took going to that second physician, and that’s who ended up doing my myomectomy. I had an open myomectomy in 2013 so that I could preserve my fertility because, based on where my fibroids were and the conversation with that second OBGYN, we felt that was the best option to preserve the muscle integrity of my uterus if I were to get pregnant later on in the future.
So, yeah, that’s just a little bit of my fibroid journey. And, you know, as I’ve started to share my story I’ve heard from so many other folks with uteruses that have had fibroids, very similar stories where they were not really having the best experience. So I’ll just say to wrap this up. So that’s just a little bit about my fibroid story. If you wanna hear more about the myomectomy, or why I chose that or anything else, leave me a comment or a question and I will answer that for you.
Thank you.
If you need a comprehensive & holistic view of fibroids and all your treatment options click here to learn more about the Fibroid Freedom Workshop
