Endometrial Ablation: Have you heard of this? Removing uterine lining

KlassicalKat · 09-30-2005, 02:28 PM

HI, cysters,
I am 48, done with the childbearing years and entering menopause. A friend of mine is also 48 and told me that she had outpatient surgery yesterday to get an Endometrial Ablation. She told me she was tired of the heavy periods and cramping and this procedure gets rid of the uterine lining so you never have any more periods.

She is kind of a pushy person and kept urging me to have this done, but I am skeptical. It sounds a little scary to me:
This description is from a medical website:

"Endometrial ablation is performed during a procedure called operative hysteroscopy. A narrow viewing tube is inserted through the vagina and the cervix into the uterus. A tiny camera attached to the viewing tube (hysteroscope) allows the uterine cavity to be shown on a TV monitor during surgery. Your uterus is filled with a harmless liquid to make the procedure easier. The lining of the uterus is then burned away or vaporized, using a heat generating tool inserted through the viewing tube."

My friend is confident that she won't have any more periods, but some websites I have visited don't confirm this and say that the uterine lining CAN regenerate and some women return to having light or even heavy periods.

In any case, it is NOT for women who want to have more kids and, like any surgery there are risks. I am just surprised that I had never heard of this before. I don't think it's for me (I'm too chicken), but have any of you heard of this or know someone who had it done?

Thanks for reading this,

Kathryn

KlassicalKat · 09-30-2005, 04:45 PM

Here I am, back just a few hours after posting this question. I was sitting here thinking, "Duh! Why not do a search on this?" and I found some posts in this forum, including this one on the link below, about warnings about the procedure! Pretty scary! I wouldn't have this done myself, esp. since I have had a C-Section, but this post and responses I found were interesting:

http://www.soulcysters.net/showthread.php?t=32688&highlight=Ablation

Kathryn

tariana · 09-30-2005, 08:16 PM

I wouldn't do it. To me, it's disrupting the normal cycle of your life -- going through menopause, etc. I don't know; I guess it's everyone's own choice what to do though.

KlassicalKat · 09-30-2005, 10:28 PM

Yes, I agree, I don't want to do it, either. Hopefully, in just a few more years, I will be through menopause and through with periods anyway. Why do such an invasive procedure this late in the game? Although I must admit at first it sounded tempting as I've always had heavy, crampy horrible AF.

Kathryn