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Lifetime TV Strong Medicine Patient Files
Embolization was featured in an episode of "Strong Medicine," Lifetime's hit show about a leading Women's clinic in Philadelphia. In the show, Dr. Stowe (played by Janine Turner) recommends that one of Lu's (Dr. Louisa Delgado) patients have a uterine artery embolization to cure her bleeding fibroids.
On their site, Lifetime highlight's one woman's real story about her own decision to have this new procedure. That women was treated at the Fibroid Treatement Collective. Here it is in her own words:
View a Clip from the Episode
Patient name: Mrs. Hong
Age: 42
Marital status: Married, one daughter, 21
Medical status: Collapsed in the women's clinic with severe stomach cramps and bleeding.
Diagnosis: Uterine myoma, bleeding fibroids.
Recommended treatment: Dr. Delgado recommends a hysterectomy, a removal of the uterus.Dr. Stowe suggests instead a uterine artery embolization, a new, non-surgical procedurethat cuts off the tumor's blood supply by blocking the artery that feeds it. Theuterus remains intact.
View a Clip from the Episode
Patient:
Monica Fabian, Age: 32
Career:
Sales Executive
Where:
Palmdale, California
Date:
July 30, 2000
I was healthy until 1996, when my gynecologist asked me if I was pregnant during a routine annual exam. I wasn't, but my uterus had enlarged to the size of a two-month-old pregnancy.
At that time, my periods were heavy, but they lasted only about three days, so I put off investigating the problem until after my wedding that year.
In 1997, when I went for another exam, the doctor did an ultrasound and found a fibroid in the lower back part of my uterus, attached to the lining. I knew what it was — I'd gone to the library — but when he said he wanted to do a myomectomy (a surgical removal of the fibroid), I got scared. I knew that if something went wrong while they were removing the fibroid, they would have to perform a hysterectomy. I was newly married and trying to have kids! So I went to another doctor to get a second opinion. He did an MRI and told me the same thing.
"Can I get pregnant?" I asked.
All he could say was, "Try."
After I had two miscarriages in 1998, the doctor realized that the fibroid had grown and was taking blood away from the baby. I decided to try to go ahead with the myomectomy, and the doctor started me on Lupron shots to begin shrinking the fibroid.
Then, one of my friends saw a story about uterine artery embolization on Dateline NBC. The story mentioned a program at UCLA that specialized in fibroid tumors and this new, non-surgical procedure that cuts off the tumor's blood supply by blocking the artery that feeds it. My husband Michael and I had just moved to California by then, so I made an appointment at the UCLA Fibroid Collective and asked a lot of questions. I found out that the uterine artery embolization only cost $4,000 and that it was covered by my insurance. I asked the nurses whether they though my uterus could support a baby once once the blood supply was blocked. They told me that many of their patients had successful pregnancies after having the UAE.
I had the procedure in December 1998. First there was an extensive ultrasound, then a hysteroscopy and a laparoscopy — all to determine the fibroid's location and to screen for malignancy. As it turns out, my tumor was about eight centimeters. For the embolization, the doctor put a tiny hole in my thigh up around where my pantyline is and shot pellets into one of my arteries to block the blood supply to the fibroid.
Afterward, my leg was a little sore — as though I'd exercised too hard — but that was it. Two days later I was up and on my feet. I even went to the Rose Bowl Parade!
By February 1999, the fibroid had shrunk to five centimeters. By May it had shrunk to four centimeters, and then in June I got pregnant! We had Paul in March 2000. He was an eight-pound, 10-ounce, baby boy. And now I feel fine. I'm going back in September to get a new reading on the fibroid and I'm anxious to see how much it's shrunk. But I haven't found any others. I think I made the right choice.
For the original version of this article:Lifetime TV: Strong Medicine - Patient Files
As an educational service, members of the FTC provide questions and answers regarding fibroids. Please note that the questions and answers are not medical advice and there is no substitute for diagnosis and, where appropriate, treatment by a qualified and licensed physician of your own choosing.z