Fibroid Removal Success Stories:My Fibroid surgery testimonials…..
“EXORCISING” FIBROIDS… A PERSONAL STORY
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Today is two years and two days since I had a myomectomy, a surgery to remove fibroids, the troublesome uterine tissues that have remained the bane of countless females of child-bearing age and predominantly Black women.
It took about seven years to summon the courage to submit myself to the expert surgical knifes of the incredible consultant genealogist/obstetrician and surgeon, Dr. Bamigboye Ezekiel Ogunbiyi, CMD of the excellent Tolbert Specialist Hospital in Gaduwa Estate, Abuja (through the recommendation of my bossom-friend-since-teenage-years and a guardian angel, Marwill Omaji).
It took seven whole years including two particularly excruciating ones to do so because I was scared stiff of the surgical knife. Because I knew several women who had died from fibroids surgery-related procedures including four journalists, two of whom I knew one-on-one: Because I knew May Ellen-Ezekiel from a distance, a childhood journalism hero, and three other women journalists, two of whom were professional friends and who had their beautiful lives and dreams cut short as a result of fibroids surgeries’ complications… I was afraid. 😱.
But my fears did not take away the pains– the cramps that grew worse by the months until it stole two days each month from me as I would be cocooned at home writhing in pains. It took away perhaps several pints of blood from my body monthly especially in the last two years pre-surgery for two, three days a month. I won’t bore you with the graphic details… 🥺
Fibroids altered my life… And drugs didn’t help. I went for all kinds of supplements that promised wonders and those that would restore lost vitamins as I kept circumventing the process, kept postponing my wellbeing. They only dug a painful hole in my finances. 🤦♀️
And my Lagos-based doctor didn’t help matters either. He reminded me ‘gently’ and with a smile, that surgery was the lasting solution yet kept pumping my system with very strong painkiller injections and drugs monthly to hold down the pains till yet another month… Until it dawned on me, through a much younger doctor at another hospital that the strong analgesics were potential poisons to my system.
On April 10, 2021, the ordeals came to an abrupt end after a few hours in the operations theatre in Abuja. A clean end. No complications and no further growths whatsoever thereafter. It’s truly amazing how remarkably different life has been since then. And I have wondered why I had to delay the good day for so long out of the gripping fear 😨…
Two years on, I am discarding the robe of privacy to pen this reflection and especially to shed some light and perhaps help a sister or two. Especially to shed light on this reproductive health issue that has become the albatross of too many of our women, mostly fought in private and sometimes in ignorance.
MY CANDID ADVICE TO OUR WOMEN: PLEASE GET A GOOD SURGEON (ESP A GYNAECOLOGIST) TO REMOVE YOUR FIBROIDS IF THEY BECOME A NUISANCE, AND DON’T FALL FOR SCAMMERS ONLINE AND OFFLINE CLAIMING THEIR ONE-IN-TOWN SUPPLEMENTS OR CONCOCTIONS WOULD ‘DISSOLVE’ THE TUMOURS. PLEASE, DON’T’.
ALSO, THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU FOLLOW THE CROWD OF UNINFORMED WOMEN TO PRAYER MOUNTAINS OR DELIVERANCE SESSIONS SO YOUR FIBROIDS COULD FALL OFF AFTER A THUNDEROUS PRAYER OR A FORCEFUL HIT ON YOUR HAPPLESS STOMACH. KAI, DON’T. PRAYERS INDEED MOVE MOUNTAINS BUT DON’T FORGET THAT GOD ALSO CREATED AND ENDOWED THE SURGEON. THE LESS SAID THE BETTER. DON’T BE SCAMMED, DEAR SISTER.
REPEATED WARNING: FIBROIDS ARE NOT DEMONS THAT NEED TO BE EXORCISED, THEY ARE PART OF YOUR BODY TISSUES, THEY ARE NONCANCEROUS TUMOURS; GET RID OF THEM SURGICALLY THROUGH AN EXPERT IF THEY BECOME TOO TROUBLESOME. AND YOU CAN QUIETLY HAVE A HYSTERECTOMY IF YOU ARE DONE WITH CHILDBEARING. YOUR HEALTH AND OVERALL WELBEING SHOULD BE YOUR PRIORITY.
THANK YOU.
But don’t bother if your fibroids are quiet and asymptomatic (eg the sizes are not threatening, they are not located in sensitiveparts of the uterus and they don’t give you issues), then live with it, it is the fate of many women of African descent, some statistics say as many as 30% of women in Nigeria for instance harbour the tumours with incidences projected to be up to 37% in general Africa-wide.
A CRY FOR HELP
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On behalf of the millions of our women battling this health menace and with no resources to seek quality medical relief, I am here today hoping, praying, and imploring good-spirited individuals and institutions to make the provision of free or discounted fibroid surgery programmes a priority.
Many women continue to languish in the perennial clutches of fibroids with some falling prey to the schemes of peddlers of fake drugs or quack doctors and so many do not survive the scams; very preventable deaths. Some also, sadly end up with damaged uterus. The dream of many to have their babies are also scuttled by fibroids’ entangling hold, how can we help the few we can to make their life’s motherhood dreams come true by extracting the stumbling blocks? I can’t even imagine the ordeals of women in rural and impoverished areas.
There are already some medical missions offering free or discounted surgeries here and there but they are by far inadequate juxtaposed with the statistics of women battling uterine fibroids in Nigeria and many parts of Africa. Help fund an operation or two if you can, and thank you sincerely in advance.
Finally, I am deeply grateful to my Abuja friends plus my Lagos friends and many others who showed up for me in April 2021: My bosses, relatives, colleagues and everyone who stood by me during and after the surgery. Too numerous. Thank you and God bless you. You know I see you, appreciate you and love you. ❤
My fibroid removal success stories was written and shared by–
Betty Abah
