1986 my mother was diagnosed w/fibroid tumors, (outside the uterus) are they cancerous/life threatening now?
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Answers:
I'd bet that your mother's fibroids are inside the uterus, not outside. Yes, sometimes they do grow outside, but those do not cause heavy bleeding.
Fibroids are almost always benign--but they are a nuisance. Basically, they are growths within the muscle of the uterine wall, and/or under the lining. They cause heavy periods, a protruding abdomen (looks like pregnancy), and backaches, among other symptoms. But the real problem is if your mom's periods are so heavy that she's always anemic...out of breath, cold, and lightheaded.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that many women over 40 have fibroids, although most don't cause any problems.
Your mom could do nothing now and wait until menopause, when the reduction in hormones causes the tumors to shrink--but the inconvenience and worry that her current symptoms are causing should be reason enough to see the doctor just for a basic exam and a blood test to measure her iron levels.
If the fibroids need to come out, then there are many surgical choices she can make, depending on how big her fibroids are. A skilled surgeon with experience can often remove only the tumors, leaving her uterus intact. If the tumors are large, your mother could have a simple hysterectomy and leave her ovaries intact. It's important that she find an OB-GYN surgeon with a track record of preserving organs as much as possible.
There are also some newer methods that involve blocking the blood vessels that feed the fibroids so that they die off in time, but this is usually for women with only a few fibroids. And if heavy bleeding is the worst symptom, your mother might be a candidate for the procedure where a heated balloon-like device cauterizes the uterine lining to stop the bleeding without invasive surgery. This doesn't make the fibroids stop growing, but it does treat the anemia.
Tell your mother not to worry, and have a check up to see what's going on. Remember--she is in control of any decision, and a second opinion is always a good idea.
And do read up on the subject. There are many resources online. This condition is way more common than you think. And again--it is almost NEVER cancer.
There is NO POSSIBLE WAY that anyone on Yahoo! can answer this question without seeing your mother and I hope nobody tries. If they do, I certainly hope that you do not listen to them.
It's been TWENTY YEARS since your mother had fibroid tumors. Her current problem is just as likely to have nothing to do with that as it is to be a sequela of that.
I would advise you to tell your mother that ignoring the problem will delay any possible solution-and it might delay it until it is too late. In this case, her fear could end up killing her.
Offer to go to the doctor with her and be there for support.
I am a nurse, I understand that you and your mother are probably scared about this, but she really should see a doctor, this is the only want to know for sure. But for the record, fibroids rarely lead to cancer. Look at this website. http://www.ehealthmd.com/library/fibroids/FBR_cancer.html
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