ATLANTA – Emory Healthcare doctors are changing the lives of patients by providing new procedures to women suffering from symptoms caused by uterine fibroids that cause severe pain.
The cracks in her voice solidified her emotions when 47-year-old Ameerah Simmons began talking about her experience with uterine fibroids. “I didn't know what was wrong,” Simmons said.
The weathering storm is nothing new to Simmons, a survivor of Hurricane Katrina. She and her family left New Orleans and settled in Atlanta in 2003. She starts working as a gate agent at the airport and says that in the end her life is on track.
“We had nothing. Even our toothbrushes meant we were alive,” Simmons says.
But a few years ago, an unexpected, unknown cramps, fatigue, migraines, severe bleeding and floods of clotting during her menstrual cycle began to overwhelm her. Debilitating pain affected my personal relationships, and I was forced to miss out on several days of work each month. After a doctor's visit, pelvic examinations and ultrasound, she learned that she was suffering from symptoms caused by uterine fibroids.
“Uterine fibroids are the most common benign and refer to non-cancerous tumors of the uterus. They grow from single muscle cells, are stiff, small and large tumors, with minimal symptoms “It's restricted to,” says Cherie Hill, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Emory Healthcare and an assistant professor in gynecology and obstetrics. With Emory. “However, other uterine fibroids can cause severe and painful periods.”
Hill continues, “Some of the uterine fibroids can be very large and push part of the abdomen like the bladder, causing pressure and often increases urination. They also make the reproductive organs more prone to the reproductive organs. You can press and it can cause pain during sex.”
Hill is one of three Emory Healthcare physicians who provide a minimally invasive procedure called laparoscopic uterine fibroid radioablation administered via the Acessa Provu system. However, she is the only doctor performing the procedure at Emory University Hospital in Midtown, and this procedure is designed to relieve pain and heavy bleeding by reducing the heat source that controlled the water source. They say there is. This new method is an alternative to hysterectomy. This is a surgical procedure used to remove a woman's uterus. Hill performed more than 10 laparoscopic fibroid radiation ablations so far in February, including Simmons' procedures.
“During the procedure, two small incisions are made in the abdomen while the patient is asleep,” says Hill. Next, use a thin camera to place a small probe directly on the uterine fibroid to which controlled heat is applied. The fever reduces the volume of the uterine fibroid by about 45%, changing consistency, softening the uterine fibroid and eliminating symptoms.
Hill says this new approach is a great option for patients with uterine fibroids that are causing pain and severe bleeding but want to keep the uterus intact. However, due to limited testing in this population, the procedure is not recommended for women who want to get pregnant.
Following the procedure, most patients see a reduction in severe bleeding. Within 3-6 months, it also relieves much of the pain. According to Hill, recovery from the procedure takes 1 to 2 weeks six to eight weeks after traditional myorectomy. This is a surgery in which a much larger incision is made in the abdomen to remove uterine fibroids.
Simmons says her ultrasound revealed she had three uterine fibroids. The two are the size of the grapes and the size of the plums, and the cysts in her ovaries. Now, women who have survived many storms are experiencing brighter, healthier and painless days.
“The changes happened quickly. I tried everything, but nothing worked before this surgery,” says Simmons. “I led Dr. Hill. That was the best decision I'd ever made. I wish I was me back then.”
Learn more at Emory Healthcare or access women's health services here.
