i advocated for myself and saved an organ in the process.

more specifically, my uterus!

I am a huge proponent of advocating for yourself in every aspect of life — health, work, relationships, friendships, etc. I find myself advocating for myself more and more in the healthcare industry because doctors and nurses are overworked, things are overlooked, and sometimes concerns are brushed under the rug. You know your body and self best so don’t settle for anything less. I have never regretted advocating for myself nor speaking up or questioning things my doctors have told me.

I’m a squeaky wheel, and even though I’m a people-pleaser, I tend to not care who I may “annoy” in the process of getting what I deserve. Of course, I have boundaries. I’m not going to call the doctor’s office three times a day, but I will follow up once or twice a week if I don’t hear back.

I have always had irregular periods. I went on hormonal birth control pills at age 16 and continued them through my early 20’s. I stopped taking them in my early 30’s and then got back on them in my mid-30’s. While I was on them in my mid-30’s, there were several periods that were extremely painful and heavy. Like, I had never experienced anything quite like that before so I knew something was up. I went to my OB/GYN and she did an ultrasound and discovered I had a couple fibroids that likely contributed to the heavy and painful periods.

I underwent surgery to get the fibroids removed, with the warning that they could grow back, but removing them could give me immediate relief. At the same time, I explored getting an IUD inserted while I was under. I heard the pain of getting an IUD inserted while awake was extreme, so I figured…why not kill two birds with one stone while I’m in surgery?

The fibroid surgery went well. My OB/GYN had shaved off as much as she could, as some were in between the muscular walls and you can’t get to them, and successfully inserted my IUD.

For about a year and a half, everything was great. My periods were regular and very light because of the IUD. During the year and half, I had moved and changed OB/GYN practices because I felt my original OB/GYN had religious views that could affect my quality of care so I changed to another practice closer to my new home.

At about the two year mark, I started having really heavy and painful periods again. I also started to get my period every two weeks. Honestly, my quality of life went down substantially because I felt I couldn’t leave my house because my period was so unpredictable.

I talked to my new OB/GYN about this and told her about my fibroid history and was wondering if maybe they grew back. We did an ultrasound and did see a couple fibroids, but they weren’t in a position where they would affect my periods. Like, they were kind of out of the way and not within the uterine walls. She also said she didn’t think it was the IUD because the IUD was placed correctly and the one I had lasts at least 7 years.

She discussed a couple options with me, one of which was doing the surgery again or taking this fibroid medicine, but you can only take it for a max of 2 years or something. I wasn’t thrilled with any of the options, honestly.

I think I went to my doctor like every two months because the periods were just so abnormally heavy and I’d bleed through a super tampon within an hour. Again, which was very odd because I had an IUD. Nevertheless, my OB/GYN suggested that I should get a hysterectomy. She said since I wasn’t planning on having children, the hysterectomy would solve my issues. While true because I wouldn’t have a period anymore, I thought that seemed rather drastic and like maybe should be the last step after trying other things first? But hey - she’s the professional.

Also, I thought I should mention that there were various moments in our interactions at various appointments that gave me pause. There were things she had missed in conversations that I questioned. At one point, she responded with, ‘oh yeah! Duh, I completely didn’t make that connection.’ I also had this niggling feeling that a hysterectomy wasn’t the right answer at that point of exploration.

That prompted me to get a second opinion. I had told my parents about the upcoming plan to have a hysterectomy and my mom, being a nurse, thought that seemed really drastic. She encouraged me to talk to her friend’s daughter who is a well-regarded OB/GYN in San Jose. I talked on the phone with her and gave her a brief history and she immediately said two things:

• “Wow, that’s…drastic. If you were my patient, that would be the last thing I’d suggest, certainly after more monitoring and exploration. If anything, I would recommend the fibroid surgery again.”

• “Second, the IUD you currently have is a low-dosage one, that could potentially be messing with you. Have they considered swapping out your IUD for another one or taking it out and going on a higher dose pill? This doesn’t happen often, but sometimes the IUD’s effects can wane over time and yours might just be doing it faster, hence the frequent periods.”

I brought this information back to my OB/GYN and I said I would prefer to remove the IUD and allow my body to reset and then go from there. She removed my IUD (which was painless, thank god) and afterwards, I found another OB/GYN at another practice.

I had a consult with this new OB/GYN and she even said the same thing — how drastic that was and that she probably would’ve suggested the removal of the IUD first as well. From our long talk, I got a really good feeling with this OB/GYN. She listened, didn’t rush me, and just had a great demeanor and I felt really comfortable around her. I ended up transferring to this new practice and she is currently my doctor and I’m so glad I found her. She has been amazing with my care and lo-and-behold, after the IUD came out and after I didn’t go on anything hormonal for several months, my body reset, and my periods have been regular and manageable for the past couple years.

Wild, isn’t it?

Above anything else, I hope the take away here is to advocate for yourself every.single.time. You are worth it AND you deserve it. We pay an astronomical amount for healthcare in this country and that comes with demanding the RIGHT care for the services we pay for. Always, always get a second or third opinion — just like you would for getting quotes on a car repair or a house repair. Your health is just as important and you should know exactly why a procedure or drug or diagnosis is recommended to you.

Have you ever experienced anything like this? I’d love to hear your stories and draw awareness to advocating for oneself, especially in a healthcare scenario. Drop a comment below 💜

xx

-Julie