Navigating the Maze: My Personal Battle with Uterine Fibroids Part 2 of 4

What if you were faced with two life-altering options for treating your fibroids - a uterine ablation or a robotic hysterectomy? As your host, I take you through my personal journey of grappling with this decision and share how my prior health history dictated my ultimate choice. In this transparent narrative, I unearth my fears, anxieties, and coping strategies while also shedding light on a potentially personal risk factor linked to the development of uterine fibroids - hair relaxers. Learn about the dangerous chemicals lurking in hair relaxers and their possible link to fibroids, a topic that often goes undiscussed.

The run-up to the actual surgery was a roller coaster ride, juggling pre-op tasks and grappling with the looming procedure. As I share the intimate details of this trying phase, learn how my faith became my anchor. Get an insider's perspective on the strategies I used to navigate the pre-op process and the initial weeks of recovery. Join me again next week to hear more about my pre-op experience and the early days of recovery. This is a tale of strength, resilience, and faith, designed to enlighten, educate, and inspire.

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Chapters

• 0:09 Fibroid Treatment and Hair Relaxer Risks
• 12:30 Countdown to Preparing for Surgery

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

Welcome to season two of the Infusion podcast. My name is Teresa and I am your host. I'm excited to be back for another season. The goal of this podcast is to help women and young girls fill up their cups. Oftentimes, we are so focused on helping and supporting others that we forget to take care of ourselves too. My mission is to spread love and joy through movement, education and motivation. Happy Sunday. Today I will continue sharing my uterine fibroid journey. This is part two of a four-part series, so if you haven't listened to part one, please listen to part one before you play the rest of this episode.

Speaker 1: 0:45

So last week I shared some facts about uterine fibroids and the first three months of my six-month journey to treatment. So at this point, my specialists had returned from vacation and I was so anxious to see her so that I could find out how we would be moving forward with my treatment. She had reviewed my second ultrasound and confirmed what her nurse practitioner had already informed me on my previous visit, and that was that I had five fibroids instead of three. At this point, they were no more than three centimeters large, so she was confident that a robotic hysterectomy would be the best course of treatment. This procedure was minimally invasive and recovery time was only four weeks. However, I had shared with her at a previous appointment about my special needs doctor and wanted options that were available that would have me down for the least amount of time, so she also gave me the option of a uterine ablation.

Speaker 1: 1:38

Now, john Hopkins Medicine defines an ablation as a procedure to remove a thin layer of tissue, which is the endometrium, that lines the uterus. It is done to stop or reduce heavy menstrual bleeding, but it is only done on women who do not plan to have children in the future. So since I already had my tubes tied, I was a great candidate for this procedure. The procedure time would roughly take 30 minutes and I would be back to my normal self within 24 to 48 hours. This option sounded very appealing, as it would significantly shrink my fibroids. However, my doctor did explain that for women with prior medical history, an ablation has not always worked and the women eventually had to have surgery. So, due to my three prior C-sections, the ablation treatment may not have been as successful for me as it had been for other women. So now I had to make a decision on what was best for me.

Speaker 1: 2:37

As soon as I learned about my fibroids. I took to Google and started reading up on treatment options, what worked best for other women, things I could do on my own to help the fibroids not get larger. I also reached out to family member and friends that I knew had similar problems in the past to get their personal insight. Taking these conversations and the doctor's information into consideration, I made the decision for myself to proceed with the robotic hysterectomy. Although the ablation sounded great because of the minimal downtime, I had to do what was best for my body, based on my medical history.

Speaker 1: 3:12

By this time I had already dropped my weekly fitness classes that I was teaching so that I could be prepared to be out of commission. Because of my multiple C-sections, my doctor explained to me that there could be unforeseen complications like buildup, scar tissue and possible bladder detachment. My doctor is an obstetrics and gynecology physician who specialize in hormone and fibroid treatment, but if there were any urological complications with my bladder, she's not trained to handle them on her own. So at this point she said she was going to loop in her urology partner so that he could be on board and in the operating room to assist her if needed. So here we are yet another roadblock that we had to get past Very frustrating, but I try to remain cool, calm and patient.

Speaker 1: 4:04

So, as I was waiting to hear back from my doctor's office for the possible surgery dates, I continued my research and discovered that there was yet another risk factor that could be personally linked to me developing uterine fibroids. Now I'm sure you may have seen this information on social media or TV commercials, just like I had previously, but I never paid any attention to it because at the time, I hadn't been diagnosed with fibroids. So a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that hair relaxers increased the risk of uterine fibroids. But while this study was published in 2012, the link between relaxers and fibroids hasn't received much attention until recently. This is even true, even though fibroids can present significant health risks. They are among the leading causes of hysterectomies and they can cause uterine bleeding and other complications as well. So you wonder how do hair relaxers cause fibroids and why the hell are they still selling this product?

Speaker 1: 5:11

Well, as noted in the American Journal of Epidemiology study, hair relaxers can cause exposure to various chemicals through your scalp lesion and burns. So when you put that perm on, if you are an indigenous woman like myself. You know you've put your perm on and sometimes it burns because you know we were told when it's burning it's working, it's getting your hair as straight as it can be, but as it's burning it's creating lesions into your scalp and burns into your scalp and those lesions and burns are where the chemicals insert. So while the chemicals in the hair relaxers are very effective for straightening your hair by breaking down the sulfide bonds found in cortex layers of hair and reforming them while hair is being held in a straight pattern, they can be dangerous. They can be dangerous if they penetrate the skin. So in those lesions the chemicals are penetrating the skin. Some of the chemicals most commonly found in hair relaxers are ammonium theoglycolate I can't even say these words some of them sodium hydroxide and sodium theoglycolate. Dr and Gamble acknowledges that the chemicals in hair relaxers can be dangerous. They also note that these three chemicals listed above are notorious for skin irritant and can cause chemical burns with symptoms including skin redness and irritation, temporary skin whiteness, stinging and discomfort. Those of you that are listening that have used these products you know we've experienced the skin redness, irritation, discomfort, but we still kept on using the product because it worked, while these symptoms of chemical burns will typically go away with proper treatment.

Speaker 1: 6:59

The consequences of uterine fibroids caused by hair relaxers can be far more severe. Research conducted by the study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology concluded that the use of hair relaxers may increase users risk for uterine myomata I'm trying to learn how to say that word, which is basically a big term for fibroids. While others researchers note that fibroids are commonly and usually benign, which means they're non-cancerous. Researchers also made a note that they can have a significant impact on the everyday physical and mental well-being of women with this condition. Yes, I am one of those women with the condition of uterine fibroids who experience some crazy ass nerve-wracking symptoms.

Speaker 1: 7:49

Have you ever thought about starting your own podcast? Do you like to talk to people? Do you have something to share with the world? Well, if that is, you just like I was. I was so confused, didn't know where to start, what tools to use, what tools I needed, but I'm so excited to be partnering with Buzz Sprouts. They helped me kickstart my podcast. They have all of the resources that you need, both in written form and also YouTube tutorials, and if you sign up for their paid plan, you will receive a $20 credit if you use the link in my profile bio and you will also be helping to support the Infusion podcast.

Speaker 1: 8:23

This information that I discovered was mind-blowing. As I said, I've seen the commercials on TV. I've seen them on social media. File a claim if you think you've been affected by hair relaxers. But again, when I was watching those commercials didn't bother me because at that time I had already went natural, I didn't have uterine fibroids, so never paying attention to it. But again, this information is very mind-blowing because I started getting a hair relaxer in my hair when I was around 10 or 11 years old.

Speaker 1: 8:54

I grew up with very coarse, thick, semi-curly hair and it was just too much for my mother to manage with her then medical conditions. So I wanted to help out and start doing my own hair, but I too struggled. So it wasn't just my mom, I just had too much freaking hair. With the relaxer, my thick hair was thinned, straight and easy to manage. Back then the kitty perm applications were being used. But as I transitioned to adulthood I started using the regular relaxers. I tried many different bands but for the past 10 years prior to me going back to my natural hair state, I was using the Olive Oil brand.

Speaker 1: 9:31

Two years ago, I decided to go natural and reduce the use of chemicals in my hair, not because I was afraid of getting fibroids, but because I knew that chemicals damage your hair. Do I have proof that the hair relaxers are exactly what caused my fibroids? No, I don't, because I'm not an expert. However, there is proof that hair relaxers are linked to uterine fibroids and by me using the products, I was at greater risk for getting fibroids. It sucks that there are so many products in the world that are approved for sale to the public even though the ingredients in them have harmful side effects. I share this information not to say that I am not too accountable for the products I choose to use, but so that other women are aware and they take precaution.

Speaker 1: 10:18

So now back to my doctor. I'm still waiting to get a call back. Never got a call back, so I called and left a message, eager to learn when my surgery was going to be scheduled. So I found out, got a call back, that she was out sick and that the surgery schedule was working on my case and would get back to me as soon as possible. So two days later, my face lit up with excitement, as if I had won the lottery when my caller ID said blessings, obgyn.

Speaker 1: 10:47

But the excitement didn't last for long. Unfortunately, the surgery scheduler wasn't having luck pairing up my doctor's schedule with the urologist's schedule, so she was referring me to yet another specialist who was a gynecologic oncologist, and he had the advanced training and fibroid removal with them, without cancer and for patients like myself with prior female related medical surgeries so he would be able to address any unforeseen complications that could possibly arise during my surgery. I was so bummed. I really, really love my specialist. She was great, her team was awesome, she was very informative, she was thorough and her genuine concern was felt at every appointment. However, I honestly appreciated her for letting me know that she was not the right fit for my case, so off to another specialist I went. The new specialist had great reviews and the staff was very welcoming.

Speaker 1: 11:50

The new specialist wasted no time during my visit. He had worked with my previous specialist on several cases and she had referred several cases to him, so he got right to the point. He had already reviewed my medical records that her office sent over. She explained to me how the surgery would take place and even went so far as to draw me a diagram of where my incisions would be, and was ready and available to do my surgery the next week. However, I was already booked to present a Gaines-Fit Las Vegas retreat, which was that following week. He also had some vacation coming up, so the soonest date that would be available would be October 4th, and just like that I finally had a date to look forward to some relief.

Speaker 1: 12:30

The countdown to prepare at home and work was on. There was so much to do in three and a half weeks, so now the anxiety started to creep in even more and I had to keep telling myself this is what you've prayed for and God has answered that prayer. He has brought you this far and he will see you through to the other side. I was so excited, I was so stoked, but yet anxious about how I was going to prepare and get everything ready to go in three and a half weeks. On next week's episode, I will share my pre-op experience and the first two and a half weeks of my recovery. You have been listening to the Infusion podcast. I hope that something said today will help you along your life journey. Until next time, continue to do you, be you, infuse you and be blessed.