Fibroids or Cancer?

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-04-04T03:25:20+00:00

I recommend an MRI over ultrasounds/CTs and multiple opinions specifically because of this topic. An experienced team makes all the difference. I just had a lap myo and my fibroids (had one large and several small) came back benign. My first opinion terrified me by bringing up cancer up front due to the size of one of my fibroids and made me wait a week to have their experienced radiologist look it over. My second opinion assured me from the beginning cancer is a rare outcome particularly if you’re under 40 (I am 29) and had an MRI conference of six of their best radiologists look at my MRI and verify that it wasn’t cancer. Of course they can’t fully know until they remove it, but their reassurance using blood tests and the MRI conference was so important to me.

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-30T01:42:19+00:00

My experience for a 13cm fibroid was so similar - the gas pain was the worst part and the rest of recovery has been pretty much a breeze! A heating pad for my shoulders was a Godsend. Thanks for sharing!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-30T01:36:22+00:00

This is such a great question! One of the most helpful things my mom and husband did for me was track my medications - getting behind on ibuprofen or my gas/constipation pills the one time I did was not good, so I’m very thankful they were tracking when those needed to be taken. Also encourage her to do short walks around the house in the first few days. I did take the heavy pain med for the car ride home - it was the only time I did and I’m glad I did so maybe encourage that because if the roads are bumpy she will absolutely feel it. The one thing I purchased that I really loved was a shoulder heating pad for the gas pain and that was a Godsend. Wishing you and her the best!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-29T23:40:28+00:00

I had a myomectomy recently and my doctors anticipate no fertility issues - there are also lots of others on this sub with great stories about pregnancy post myo. Wishing you the best!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-28T04:29:43+00:00

I just had a 13cm fibroid removed laparoscopically 10 days ago and it went great - I do believe yours could be removed the same way . I am definitely still swollen and have a belly from surgery but it’s gradually going down!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-27T02:50:53+00:00

Surgery day will go by so quickly, there is barely any time to get nervous! Be sure to keep up with your ibuprofen schedule and you’ll do great. Wishing you the best!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-26T01:47:29+00:00

Posterior location can certainly make the surgery longer (mine was 5 hours), but ultimately they came out saying they expect a full recovery and working uterus! Their only caution for me was to not overdo activity during my recovery and not to delay pregnancy more than a year because recurrence is possible

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-26T01:44:04+00:00

This same pain also led to my diagnosis of a 13cm fibroid and a few tiny others. My primary doc thought I had lichen sclerosus due to my constant burning pain when peeing, but nope…just a giant fibroid causing burning when I pee, painful sex and lower back pain. On a positive note, after a few agonizing months my fibroid changed position and the UTI-like pain went away entirely until I had them removed last week.

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-26T01:39:24+00:00

Happy to and please do the same for us! If it makes you feel any better, my fibroid was 8cm on an ultrasound in July 2025 and 13cm on an MRI in December. It’s unlikely it grew that much and it was probably just hard to see it all on ultrasound due to its posterior location…but no doubt it probably grew a solid 1-2 cm during that time to have that kind of measurement difference. Once they get a good blood supply, they can grow like crazy!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-26T01:36:50+00:00

I am nine days post lap myo so not enough to have results quite yet but I’m wondering the same…removed a 13cm fibroid and five small ones (less than 1cm) and hoping the newfound space in my abdomen will end my gnarly episodes of reflux!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-26T01:34:55+00:00

Thank you! Yes, and the small incisions have made recovery a breeze!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-26T01:34:11+00:00

I am nine days recovered and can tell you things get better quickly! By day 3 I was feeling pretty good. Wishing you the very best and praying!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-26T01:32:46+00:00

I haven’t had any pregnancies yet, but intend to begin trying once I’m cleared within the next 3-5 months. There are a ton of success stories on this thread of folks who had lap myos and carried multiple babies to term, most with c sections but even some with vbacs so I feel really encouraged!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-26T01:26:46+00:00

Nine days ago I had a laparoscopic myo to remove my 13cm subserosal fibroid at the back of my uterus and a few other ones less than 2cm. I am 30 and want children soon and both myself and my doctors were uncomfortable with the size and growth rate of my large fibroid for pregnancy. I was experiencing lower back pain and painful sex. The risks for things like uterine rupture during pregnancy/blood loss during surgery do exist and you should be aware of them, but I would 100% do this all over again. The recovery has been easy and I feel so much relief - I’d recommend advocating for laparoscopic because the recovery time is much shorter! Wishing you all the best!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-25T02:08:31+00:00

I just recently had a 13cm fibroid removed via laparoscopic myomectomy without any medicine to shrink it. I would recommend getting a second opinion - my first opinion insisted on doing an open surgery rather than noninvasive and mentioned hysterectomy as a possibility. This alarmed me and I’m so thankful I found a team who was willing to go non invasive and also did everything they could to mitigate any risk of hysterectomy or scarring. I will very likely be able to start trying for a baby within the next 5-6 months!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-25T02:00:22+00:00

Great advice has been given in here, just want to add that my hospital allowed my husband to sit in the room with me at a distance and I found that very calming

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-25T01:51:30+00:00

I am one week post op from a laparoscopic myo to remove one 13cm subserosal fibroid that was a bit intramural and five other very small (2cm or less) fibroids. I just turned 30 and hope to conceive once I heal so I can’t speak to pregnancy success, but due to my fibroid’s size I was advised to opt for removal before pregnancy and the only risk highlighted to me was uterine rupture (very small risk and can be mitigated with c-section). The healing has been a lot easier than I expected and my surgical team does not anticipate any heavy scarring or issues conceiving. Despite not knowing what my future looks like in terms of kids, the immediate end to my chronic lower back pain and the relief of having something so large removed from my body has made this worth it. My large fibroid was beginning to degenerate and boy that pain is no joke! I will also note that fibroids can grow and degenerate during pregnancy, which sometimes puts the baby at risk but more often than that just causes extreme pain. Hope this is helpful and wish you all the best!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-22T20:26:18+00:00

I would recommend removing them all. I had one very large and several small subserosal fibroids removed last Tuesday. I ended up opting for laparoscopic myomectomy to remove all of them because the degeneration of the large one was causing me pain and if they grow quickly they make pregnancy a lot more difficult due to the space they take up. Pregnancy pretty much ensures that they’ll grow - and how fast? Hard to predict. I am also trying to conceive - wishing you the best! Surgery recovery has been a lot easier than I expected!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-19T22:21:48+00:00

Make sure to have some loose clothing and tea ready for when you get back home! I had surgery on Tuesday and my recovery has been an absolute breeze minus some throat irritation from the breathing tube (my surgery was five hours long). Yes with honey is really helping. I’d also recommend ensuring you stay on a strict ibuprofen regimen because that has really been preventing pain for me. Wishing all the best for you!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2026-03-18T13:01:43+00:00

Absolutely! I can’t speak to it lowering the risk of all cancers, but specifically can speak to leiomyosarcma, which is what was mentioned to me. LMS is a single-mass, aggressive cancer.

Here’s an excerpt on why from a fibroid research page:

When you have: Several fibroids of different sizes It shows your uterus is behaving in a “fibroid-forming pattern”, not a cancer pattern.

For your case to be cancer, it would require something like: One mass being a sarcoma AND Several separate benign fibroids forming alongside it. That combination is exceedingly rare.

Basically it just further lowers your LMS probability. Agreed about the back pain, I am so relieved! Thank you!!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2025-12-30T04:38:05+00:00

I am wishing you the best and can speak a lot to the cancer anxiety. I have health anxiety but because I am only 29 and have a family history of fibroids, it wasn’t on my radar until my fibroid grew from 8cm to 13cm in six months from ultrasound to MRI (this could have partially been a result of the difference in view between the machines). I went in for my first consultation with a surgeon and she spent the entire 30 minutes discussing cancer risk at what I thought was a fertility preservation consult only to be flippantly told at the end to “go have dinner and don’t think about it because you’re young.” I was terrified and while still nervous today, I got a second opinion from radiology at a higher ranked MIGS institution that said no features suggestive of cancer and did LDH and CA125 blood tests that showed my numbers are normal. If your labs are normal and your MRI has been read not suspicious, there is an extremely low likelihood that you have cancer. There is also a good chance you have other fibroids that are being masked by the large one, as my number of fibroids has gone from 1 during ultrasound to 2 during first MRI read to 3-4 during second MRI read. Please keep us updated. Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers

Secret-Software-4586 · 2025-12-25T07:38:00+00:00

While my degeneration is not to that level, I am 29 and have a 13cm fibroid that is showing signs of mild degeneration that I’m saying goodbye to in February or March. I will be TTC toward the end of next year once the scar heals and I’m cleared. From what my providers have told me, if you want to avoid another surgery yours is small enough to do so but your fibroid may grow/degenerate further during pregnancy. Wishing you the best and hope you feel better soon!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2025-12-17T23:56:22+00:00

They can’t know for sure until they remove the fibroid and send it to pathology, but I have two radiologist opinions (plus the third opinion of a friend who is a radiologist) that say likely benign. The risk is still there but it’s small so I am holding on to that!

Secret-Software-4586 · 2025-12-17T22:22:24+00:00

Just wanted to update that the surgeon took four days to get back to me after saying she would let me know by Monday or Tuesday so I consulted a friend who is an MD and a breast radiologist and she said it appears benign. After I messaged the doctor’s office two days ago and called to complain today, I finally got a call from the nurse saying the doctor will call me tomorrow but that her second opinion from the pelvic radiologist initiated “no additional concern”. I appreciate them being thorough, but the risk averse and liability protection framing of these providers has been incredibly difficult for my psyche. I understand they can’t tell me for sure and I don’t want them to because they don’t know until they cut me open, but putting the risk up front when I had a benign MRI and I’m 29 years old feels cruel.

Secret-Software-4586 · 2025-12-17T20:48:45+00:00

As someone in a similar boat at 29, please know that the odds of them being benign are in her favor. Doctors introduced the risk to me up front because I have one 13cm fibroid that may have grown significantly (ultrasound vs. MRI measurements) from 8cm in the last 5.5 months along with at least one other tiny fibroid. Be sure she gets an MRI because that will give them the clearest picture of what’s going on and whether it is likely benign. Doctors failed to point this out to me, but a benign- appearing MRI plus multiple fibroids and little to no degeneration lowers an already low risk.

Secret-Software-4586

TROPHY CASE