endometrial abalation/novasure and recovery

IM GETTING READY TO HAVE A HYTEROSCOPY/D&C/NOVASURE ON AUG. 27..I'VE HAD LAPAROSCOPY ON THE RIGHT OVARY 4 ENDO 5 YRS AGO ALONG WITH THE LUPRON FOR 6 MNTHS, NOW I HAVE A CYST THAT IS 3 INCHES WIDE AND ALMOST 2 INCHES LONG, I'M ON LUPRON DEPOT 3 MNTH SHOT..THE DR DOESN'T WANT TO REMOVE THE CYST JUST YET, MY PRIMARY DR AGREES TO SEE IF THE LUPRON SHRINKS IT, I'M 35, HAVE 3 TEENS AND TUBES TIED MARCH 22, 1994..I HAD TO CHOSE THE NOVASURE BECAUSE I AM A CAREGIVER TO MY 86 YR OLD BEDRIDDEN GRANDMOTHER..I DIDN'T START THE HEAVY BLEEDING UNTIL LAST MNTH WHICH LASTED 22 DAYS & THEN STARTED BACK 21 DAYS LATER & WENT FOR 8 DAYS, BUT THE LUPRON STOPPED IT..I HAVE BEEN ON VICODIN & DARVOCET FOR MNTHS, NOW I'M BK TO THE VICODIN 750 TO CONTROL THE PAIN (WHICH WE NOW KNOW IS FROM THE CYST) I HOPE I CAN RECOVER AND GET BACK TO THE NORMAL LIFE WITH NO PERIODS QUICKLY SO I CAN TEND TO MY GRANDMOTHER. THANK YOU ALL 4 YOUR REPLIES YOU MADE MY DECISION ALOT EASIER!!!! :-D

I just had the Novasure done Tuesday.The first day I had really bad cramps which where pretty much gone the next day. It's Saturday and I still have no bleading or discharge. But, I do have sensations like burning insde and preasure like I have to pee.It's nice to know that some of you didn't have any bleading(I was really worried that it didn't work). Now I guess I'll just have to wait to see if I have a period and how intence if I do. Good Luck to all of you and so far I think it's worth it. Oh, and I also had back pain and still do(not as bad as a few days ago.)

I would like to know what kind of problems, I am considering this and no one talks about long term , I know its new but I want to know about long term problems.

I am a 38 year old, mother of two (four pregnancies), and had been experiencing some clotting over the past 6 months (inconsistently, however for about half of the periods over those months). I also had heavier bleeding that began recently. The clotting and bleeding began to interfere with work and daily activities. I had an ultrasound to see if I had fibroids or another ovarian cyst (I've had a few; one grapefruit sized one surgically removed many years ago). The ultrasound results showed I was fine. My doctor suggested I speak with a specialist to see if I was a candidate for the ablation procedure. I met with the specialist and we determined that since my bleeding and clotting were interfering with life, and since I was finished having children but wanted to maintain my normal hormones (no hysterectomy wanted), that the NovaSure would be a good choice.

About 4 weeks later, I had the surgery. That was yesterday (9/7/07), in the South Bend, Indiana outpatient clinic, even though the two local hospitals were also available. The date I wanted the surgery determined the location. On the morning of the surgery, I went in at 6:00am with a 7:00am surgery scheduled. I met with the nurse, doctor and anesthesiologist to discuss what would happen during the procedure.

Although I could have just had a local, I decided to have a general anesthetic. Due to previous experiences being put under, I requested a sedative and anti-nausea medication in the IV. They were accommodating. Soon the nurse returned and said, "cocktail time -- here comes a triple martini!” Within a few minutes I was feeling quite good! The next thing I knew, a nurse approached me and said, "How are you feeling?" I said, "Good. Are we about ready to go in?" to which she replied, "We're finished!" The surgery had happened and I didn't even know it. I wasn’t feeling any pain or discomfort at all, just tired. The nurse said I woke up with a smile on my face. My husband was brought in and after about 20 minutes I was ‘with it’ enough to be wheel chaired to the car to go home.

My husband drove me home, and I was a bit slow walking, but feeling good. I had some moderate cramping and back pain about two hours after the surgery and we were home (after pain meds in my system probably were wearing off). I took 3 Advils (could have taken 4). They didn't do much, so I took 2 darvosets and they kicked the pain and I slept for several hours. Four hours after the 2 darvosets I took some more Advil and was tired but feeling very well. The first day of recovery I had very, very minimal pink, watery discharge on a pad, and when I would wipe after going to the bathroom, there was very lightly tinged discharge on the tissue. By the end of the day I was feeling just fine and no pain meds needed for bedtime. I didn’t have much of an appetite throughout the day, but had green and red roobis teas with honey, some crackers, and later for dinner had sushi from the market.

Today, day two, I feel completely normal -- went walking with a friend to the local Farmer's Market, doing laundry, dishes, carrying things, and even messed around with my husband in the morning (not intercourse of course, but felt like I could have!).

The doctor who performed the surgery has done a ton of them, and is very well-respected in the area and with this surgery.

Of course, it is only day two, and I don't know what my results will be, but the surgery and recovery are going marvelously well. I read some scary stories on this site yesterday. Had I read them *before* the surgery, I might have been scared out of it. But, the research I've done, the confidence I have in the doctor who performed it, and the potential benefit make it a worthwhile choice for me.

Best wishes to everyone. It does seem like there are different recoveries and quite different results for particular individuals.

Blessings to all.

Juli

I just had the novasure procedure yesterday. Cramping right after was very intense, but was gone before the next day (procedure was done around 1:30 pm). I'm anxious to see if this is going to work. Pain during my periods was horrible. Felt like my insides were going to fall out! ...and the clotting and heavy bleeding was tough to keep up with.

I am scheduled to have the exact same procedures as you in Oct. I jumped at the idea of no more periods without total invasive surgery. Now that I have been reading through all of these posts I am beginning to wonder if it will all be worth it. I don't have major bleeding, my periods are normal but I do have cramping and alot of discomfort. I am still planning on going through with it, I have a few weeeks to back out if need be. I am wondring f all these other women had the same procedures as in the D&C and hysterscopy? My Dr said it is the only way he will do it so not to leave anything foreign or questionable behind.



Thank you for your post everyone!

I have to say, IM terrified of the procedure! I have high pain tolerance to everything but work being done down there. I am getting valium and 750 mg of vicodine. I had laser surgery on my cervix with no pre pain meds and survived that but I am still afraid of the pain. Can someone tell me how bad it really is or is not? I had a c section and never dialated nor labor pains. Today alone my period is so bad I have taken 2- vicodine 750's and the cramps havent subsided. Yes, Im still upright! LOL. Vicodine has a reverse reaction. It doesnt make me sleepy.

I had the procedure on Sept 5, 2007 and I too was scared to death of having this done. I have panic attacks and I dont like work being done down there either. My doctor was great and gave me valium and pain meds the night before and the day of the procedure. I had the procedure in her office due to insurance and was prepared for the worst because I wasn't going to be knocked out as originally planned. She gave me shots "down there" to numb me which didnt hurt at all. I could suffer thru the 2-3 minutes of total process/procedure again if I had to. The procedure lasts about 90 secs but she also had to dialate me which did cause pain. So it did hurt and it was uncomfortable but I have had problems with my periods for 20+ years and would go thru this again if I had to. When its over the pain subsides almost immediately, except for a little bit of cramping for me. I thought I could never do this without being knocked out, but I did and I survived and I feel better mentally than I have felt in a long time. You can make it thru it, just make sure you take meds before the procedure.

Good luck to you and anyone else who is thinking of having this procedure. It is way too early to tell if it worked for me or not, but I am just thankful that finally I had an option other than a hysterectomy.

I am a 45 yr old mother of 3 and have scheduled my Novasure procedure for Oct 2nd.

I am scheduled to run a 10 mile race approx. 7 days after the surgery. Can anyone tell me if I will be able to do this run after the Novasure procedure?

I had my surgery 2 weeks ago (Sept 19, 2007), I am still having pain and a lot of discharge. My abdomen in finally starting to get back to normal--I was VERY bloated for a week and a half after the procedure. I had very little pain after the procedure. It was controlled with advil. My pain now is not major but it is uncomfortable (sort of like bad cramps before a period). Seeing how everyone recovers differently, you may be able to run the race, however, I would not push it.

I hope everything went well today with your procedure!

I had novesure 2 weeks ago and i am feeling great! Hardly any pain after the procedure and was back to work in just a couple days. Wont know for a few weeks how well it did as i havent had a period yet. I ended up having a lot of tissue and polyps in my uterus that caused me to have a period every 2 weeks. So far no regrets just looking forward to seeing how well it worked and not being anemic anymore.

Hello,

I had the novasure procedure almost 2 months ago this week and my periods
have not stopped and as a matter of fact, my periods are twice as heavy as they where before the surgery. My Dr says give it @ least 3-6 months before I look for any changes? That just does'nt sound right to me.

Any advice out there? I feel like I have been bamboosled by my Dr. just for the money. Sad huh.

I had the Novasure procedure done on October 2, 2007 and so far I am doing great! I had the procedure done at the Physicians Pavillion Surgery Center in Smyrna Tennessee. I had general anesthesia complete with IV. I had a Hysteroscopy done along with a D & C to "clean" out the uterus and then the Novasure procedure. I woke up from surgery great. I do recommend the "patch" for nausea if you get sick normally from anesthesia like I do. I had a previous surgery on July 24, 2007 to remove my R ovary and a cyst that looked horrible, I was suppose to have the Novasure done during that surgery, but my doctor did not like the way my Ovary looked and wanted to wait for the biopsy to come back in case I needed to have a hysterectomy, It came back benign! Praise the Lord and give Him the glory! I had cramping that day of surgery, like I do when I start my cycle, and then very minmal the day after. I took one percocet when I got home and then Ibuprofen 800 mg 5 hours later and then another Ibuprofen 800 mg before going to bed. and that was it. I do have watery clear discharge and still having it, no big deal, just wear a pantiliner. My periods did not hurt before the procedure, only the first and last day of cycle and had medium cramping (not severe and not mild). the reason that I chose Novasure was because I had been bleeding abnormally for that past 3 years. I thought this was a normal thing to do when getting close to being pre-menopausal (I am 46 years young!) My doctor said no that this is not what you do when getting ready for menopause, you are suppose to slow down in the bleeding not increase. I would bleed 3 weeks out of 4. Not heavy, just enough to ruin underwear, and not know when bleeding would be heavy or light. just very frustrating. I was told by my doctor that if the Novasure does not work then she will schedule me for a hysterectomy. I have heard from some people that I know that has had this done and some have light periods and some, their periods have stopped. I am just waiting to see what happens in the next few months.

Hi! It seems unwise to me to run in a race 1 week after surgery. Like most surgeries, it takes six weeks to heal. Why not just be careful and not do the race for now?

I'm having this procedure done on Oct. 17th ( in two days) After reading some of the posts it's a bit concerning. I've read that some of you have had fibroids and still had the Novasure done. The Dr. is suppose to check to be sure you Don't have fibroids and that the uterus is healthy before doing this procedure. Maybe this is why some of you are still bleeding heavy? I'll post my results after wed. I'm 32, three kids, tubes are tied and I'm healthy.

Before Novasure came out, I was having gushing periods lasting 14 days, huge clotting, horrible cramps - so bad, in fact I had to use public bathroom and ended up scrubbing floor when a clot came out and burst at McDonalds (how groase). Well, at that time I went to a Dr. here in South Carolina and she performed the Uterine Baloon (as I said before, Novasure was not out yet). Dr. later sent me a congratulations, you're in menopause card. However, I wasn't. Period stopped for 6 months and came back. Now, I have incredible back pain, periods last 14 days once again and I have to wear everything, Super Duper Tampons, Pads at the same time. Well, I went to another Dr. who did a pap smear and I bled during the pap smear. She said, , "my god, your uterus is huge!" At this point nothing phases me. She said uterus must be removed. I am working to get to surgery to have this done. Here is the answer for everyone - don't do Novasure, don't do uterine balloon, have the darn thing removed. The other stuff does not work and, if it does, it is only a temporary fix. If you haven't gone under the knife yet, don't unless they are removing the uterus period. After both Novasure and the baloon, you can't have kids anyway, so, get rid of it. If you don't, it will just require you to have another surgery later. Good for the Dr.'s, not for the patients.