Fibroid from hell and hip pain, ob/gyn = WARNING LONG! (Read 1169 times)

For the past couple of years I have been getting pelvic sonar?echo is what they call it here in Japan, done to monitor my submucoscal fibroid. I am 45 years old living in Japan for 27 years with no children, happily married, runner, triathlete and my left hip and knee has been bothering me for a few years now. Lately my hip is really hurting me even though I have drastically cut down my training. My period has always been horrible, but over the past few months it has turned into a nightmare from hell. I never want to be a girl again! I have been complaining about this to my ob/gyn for a year now, but bc is not an option in Japan, stupid country! I go through a whole box of super tampons on my worst day and my period is lasting up to 10 days with spotting after my period is finished. I am the tampax tampon queen, no doubt! I frequently get spotting especially during swim or run speed training. I also feel the need to pee all the time. I am absolutely certain that the fibroid is causing my left hip and knee pain, also need to pee frequently. It's wierd that my none of doctors picked up on the cause of this hip pain. Thank goodness, I got severe anemia this past January and the ob/gyn finally put me iron supplements and ordered a MRI so that they can send me to another hospital for surgery. My fibroid has grown from 3cm to 5cm over the past 6 months. So much for that watchful waiting, I can't wait anymore! The problem here in Japan is that no one is having kids, so there are few ob/gyn able to perform surgery. The Japanese government wants more women to have children, but this is a ridiculous policy if there is a shortage of doctors! At the hospital yesterday, I waited for 4 hours just to get examined, then the ob/gyn said that his surgery schedule is so booked that the earliest he could perform surgery is January 13th, 2008. This surgeon is very well known and I immediately felt that I could trust him completely. He has been the first ob/gyn that says the facts and really listened to me tell him about my situation. He even spoke to me in English!! Today is June 3rd!, that means a 7 month wait for surgery!!! He suggested putting me on GnRH, hormones,to help shrink the fibroid and to stop my period for 6 months prior to surgery. This hormone stops estrogen and initiates a menopause state. GnRH can only be taken for up to 6 months because it will cause osteoperosis if taken longer. Right now, this seems like the way to go, but I would like to have surgery sooner if possible, esp. by August this year. Here in Japan birth control is not available except for special circumstances. I am practically bleeding to death, shouldn't that make an exception!!! Right now, I am checking with another hospital to get a second opinion and find out if 6 months waiting time for surgery is the typical situation. I haven't been feeling very well for the past several days, after I got a biopsy again on Monday. Following that my pelvic area became sore and later I got an excruciating pain radiating down my left hip down to the back of my knee lasting for several days now. It feels like i bruised my rearend or have someone sticking a needle in it. It hurts if i sit for a long period of time, ride my roadbike for a long time, also if i run. The pain got really bad during that run I had to quit at 20k on May 18th. My husband noticed immediately that my balance on my left side was strange and said that maybe I should quit. So I quit at 20k, my first DNF, but that was a smart decision. I just realized that probably the fibroid is mingled up with the nerves in my hip. Ifound out about the fibroid in dec 2005. I started getting pain in my hip starting in 2006. She agreed that i am probably right about it. My bonesetter also said that my left hip joint is super hard. when i stretch my left hip is tight. It makes such perfect sense! The pain is the worst today so i called my regular ob/gyn thinking that he was there on Wednesday, but found out he will be at the hospital only on 1st and 3rd sats of every month. anyway, Igot an appt for this sat. I need to tell him about my visit to the other dr. that he recommended. Also to ask him about GnRH hormones and if there is any other dr. who does laparoscopic myomectomy surgery. Is the standard wait 6 months for laparascopic surgery? The other question i have is will the fibroid do more nerve damage the longer it is there? Now that i have been thinking more. I think i should start taking the gnRh right away. Go back to the states and get surgery asap. Tell everyone here that i will be back at work from Sept. The longer i wait the worse it's going to get. I am having my sister find out how far ahead do i need to make an appt for an operation? How much does it cost without health insurance? Here in Japan with insurance the cost is about 2,000 USD. How long of a stay do i need from the date of operation till the final check up? If i can be in and out of the states by mid july. Time to get the ball rolling now, not later. I can't wait, i've got so many plans for races and other exciting adventures. I have to enjoy life now not later!!! Sorry about all the typos etc. But I am in a pretty emotional state right now. I have a big frustration living in Japan as a foreigner when it comes to health care even though I can speak and read the language. I should have had the damn thing removed earlier, but everyone told me just to monitor it which I did.

Damn, girl! I totally feel bad for bitching about my "tired and sore" body for the last two days, gearing up for my cycle. I have no advice to give except to get that freakin thing out AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. i can believe you've been living like that for all that time already!!