What It’s Like Living With a Uterus Problem And Choosing Ablation

WARNING: This post talks about bodily functions and includes words that might get you banned from speaking on the floor of the House in Detroit (and possibly Texas now too, but I digress). 🙂

I’ve received a lot of messages asking how everything has been going since my post a couple of weeks ago about my breakthrough bleeding issues returning. For those of you who haven’t been following along on this not-so-fun journey with my ongoing uterus problem, here’s a summary of the last eight years.

I had Madison in 2004, and afterward, I experienced what I lovingly call the never-ending period for six months. My doctors called it breakthrough bleeding, but let’s be honest, if you have to wear a pad, it’s a period. We tried birth control, and thankfully, it got things under control.

Fast forward to 2006. I had a miscarriage, then became pregnant again and had Will in June 2007. That’s when this uterus problem really took over my life. I had a period, or breakthrough bleeding, for nine straight months. Yes, nine months. Imagine dealing with that every single day. It was exhausting, frustrating, and emotionally draining. My hormones were completely out of balance, and it took trying ten different birth control pills before we found one that worked. Since I wasn’t allowed to try generics, each switch cost about $50, and the side effects were intense. One pill affected me so severely that my friend Elizabeth seriously considered driving four hours just to make sure I called my doctor.

My doctor performed a hysteroscopy to rule out anything abnormal causing the uterus problem, but everything looked completely normal. Eventually, I started Seasonique, which helped stabilize things for quite a while.

At this point, people usually ask why I have breakthrough bleeding in the first place. My OB-GYN explained that my uterine lining is unstable. Some areas are thick, others thin, and because it isn’t uniform, the lining sheds unpredictably. Sometimes exercise triggers it. Sometimes it occurs for no clear reason. This uterine problem can cause bleeding for a day, a week, or even months.

Things stayed relatively stable until about a year ago. Then the breakthrough bleeding returned more frequently. Around the same time, I began losing weight on Nutrisystem. Bill and I decided to stop birth control since it wasn’t helping anymore, and honestly, I thought it might even help my weight loss. It did help in some ways, and I realized I had side effects from birth control I hadn’t even noticed before.

However, stopping birth control made my uterus problem worse again. The bleeding became constant, and I knew it was time to see my OB-GYN. We had already discussed my options two years earlier. If we couldn’t control the bleeding, the next step would be an ablation. That idea terrified me.

At my appointment, my OB-GYN told me I looked great and congratulated me on losing over 50 lbs. He also explained that my options were limited since I wanted to avoid treatments that could cause weight gain. My choices were birth control, an IUD, or an ablation. We tried birth control again first, but within three weeks, I gained weight rapidly, had another period, and felt emotionally awful. Clearly, that wasn’t the solution for my uterus problem.

At that point, we made the decision to move forward with an ablation.

For those unfamiliar, an ablation removes the uterine lining using radio frequency energy. A small wand is inserted into the uterus, expanded, and delivers energy to remove the lining. It sounds intense, and honestly, it is. I’ll be having the procedure as an outpatient surgery along with another hysteroscopy and D&C on July 26. Since we are done having children, this is the best option to finally resolve this long-term uterus problem.

My doctor told me that about 80% of women see a significant decrease in bleeding after an ablation. Because I don’t have other complicating factors, he feels confident this will help.

I’m sharing this because when my uterus problem first began, I felt completely alone. I had no idea how common this was. After blogging about it, I discovered so many other women experiencing the same thing. Most stories online focus on worst-case scenarios, but many women I’ve spoken to in person have had positive results.

I hope sharing my experience helps someone else feel less alone. I plan to write a follow-up after my ablation and, hopefully, share good news. Too often, people only write when things go wrong. I’m hopeful that this will finally be the solution that gives me my life back.