Dear Dr. Parker,
Thank you very much for your website. I have benefited from it.
I am 50 and still having regular periods. I have had a pelvic and pap every year since I was 16. I had one in June 2009, and then the next one in October 2010 with a new gynecologist who identified a uterine fibroid, which an ultrasound confirmed to be the size of a grapefruit. I am to have another ultrasound in 3 months. My gynecologist is concerned this it could be cancerous, basing this on the fact that a fibroid was never detected in previous exams. She mentioned a hysterectomy.
In reading your articles, it seems plausible that a fibroid could grow to the size of a grapefruit within 16 months and not be cancerous. Actually, studies seem to indicate that less than 1% of uterine fibroids are cancerous.
I am not bleeding heavily. I do have what feels like a bit of a “stitch” in my side which I presume to be this fibroid, but I have no pain worthy of requiring surgery.
I know this is not much information for you to base an opinion on, but I would like to hear your thoughts on this matter. I don’t want surgery, and I can live with a fibroid as long as I am not jeopardizing a possible cancerous tumor. It’s the “cancer” word that scares me. Otherwise, I would think nothing of having a fibroid.
Thank you again for providing this website.
In a study we published, the risk of sarcoma (cancer of the uterine muscle) was 2/1000. It is much more likely that this is a growing fibroid. There is a protocol that has helped me rule out sarcoma – it is described on this page: https://www.fibroidsecondopinion.com/fibroids-and-cancer/
I hope this is helpful,
Bill Parker, MD
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