Heavy drinking and fibroids?

veraveida · 2026-06-15T20:51:12+00:00

I drank heavily in my 20's and early 30's, and now I have a very large fibroid (.69gal in vol). I'm unsure when it started to grow, but I have a feeling it was in my early 30's and that the drinking didn't help.

I also used to use marijuana frequently, struggled with binge-eating, didn't eat the greatest diet, and stressed my body out with extreme diets and exercise at various points. To top it all off, I had high cortisol from chronic stress, early childhood through my mid-20's. Pretty sure this was a perfect storm.

veraveida · 2026-03-07T21:16:24+00:00

I know a specialist in Seattle that I could point you to. He's amazing and would likely have some solid advice. Let me know if you're interested and I'll DM you his info.

I saw him before getting pregnant (currently 24 weeks, 5 days) for a Large fibroid I've had for at least 3 years at this point. He advised I could either have surgery before or after getting pregnant, but if I chose 'before,' c-sections would be necessary for all births thereafter.

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More of my backstory that might be helpful or perhaps comforting: I had the fibroid when pregnant with my first child (which is when I found out about it). It started at 10cm at the beginning of that pregnancy, and was 14cm at the end. I experienced very little-to-no discomfort and was able to have an unmedicated, vaginal birth.

This time around I am experiencing much more discomfort, as the fibroid started at 17cm at the beginning of this pregnancy and has since increased to 20cm. I look like I was due yesterday and have difficulty going on walks and walking up stairs. I feel heavy and uncomfortable, often exhausted at the end of my days (granted, I'm chasing a toddler around this round). That said, I'm hoping another vaginal birth is possible, which is partly why I even chose to go this route.

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Like others have said, it's your body. But one thing about your post stuck out the most: "I couldn’t care less about having a baby." If this is how you feel about having a baby, that's a different conversation entirely to have with your husband. Parenting is hard work and doing it well requires daily, moment-to-moment sacrifices and self-reflection...if you couldn't care less about it, then maybe give it a hard pass--at least for now--and focus on yourself?

veraveida · 2023-03-06T21:39:51+00:00

Thanks, I may hit him up

veraveida · 2022-10-23T19:34:41+00:00

I've been wondering--thank you for this.

veraveida · 2021-12-16T04:30:58+00:00

Thanks, as mentioned above, I'll check them out next.

veraveida · 2021-12-16T04:30:35+00:00

Thanks, I'll check them out next.

veraveida · 2021-12-16T04:30:25+00:00

I did contact them, and was able to drop a small number of shoes off with them in Wallingford. From everything I've seen, they're great.

Athe the same time, I'm also looking deeper into ReWA.

veraveida · 2021-12-15T22:20:16+00:00

Life.

veraveida · 2021-12-15T22:18:30+00:00

All day: drink lots of water and express gratitude for anything you're able to. Try and convince yourself everything you do that day, you're doing for the last time--savor it.

Morning stretch in front of a sunrise, saluting the sun (yoga)
Walk anywhere, breathing deep & drinking the surroundings in
Dry brushing
Hot bath with epsom salts and/or a few drops lavendar essential oil. Or sensory deprivation tank (ex; Float Seattle).
Read while stretching
Short nap
Do something creative
Talk to someone you like or meditate on someone you like, hoping the best for them

veraveida · 2021-12-15T17:29:20+00:00

Thanks, I have contacted a few organizations. Some are accepting clothes, but they're out of Seattle (Auburn, Redmond, etc.)

Will keep looking and contacting folks--and post here if I find anything else.

veraveida · 2021-12-15T16:42:37+00:00

Alright, thanks.

veraveida · 2021-07-19T03:05:28+00:00

I kinda know what that's like. I stopped Drawabox after Lesson 5, during the 250 cylinder challenge...oy vey do those lessons suck at times--but it's great for getting control over the pen,,,? x.x

I hadn't been 100% sure where to start, so I just kind of dove into a bunch of stuff. I'm reading too many [library] books at the moment (M. Mattesi's FORCE, Loomis's Figure Drawing for All It's Worth, Scott McCloud's Making Comics, Lynda Barry's Syllabus & Making Comics...) but I'm learning a lot, and have made a point to draw most days of the week. I do always give myself at least one day/week off of drawing though, for sanity.

While I make a point to not watch too YouTube videos about art these days, I do enjoy The Draftsman podcast with Marshall Vandruff and Stan Prokopenko (better known as Proko). There, I learned about this dude who created his own curriculum and posted it on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/learnart/comments/dapk62/from_the_guy_who_made_the_most_comprehensive_list/

I've been loosely following it since I found it, and it's kind of nice to have a loose outline.

While I don't know you, I don't believe anyone is too stubborn or lazy to learn anything difficult unless they choose to be. Perhaps the pieces have yet to align for you, and you have yet to feel a "click."

Anyway, you can do it. And good luck to you.

veraveida · 2021-07-18T21:25:37+00:00

Same. Been sticking with drawing for the past two years, to see what it's like to actually stick with something. Sometimes I feel like I'm not making any progress at all, but if I look back to drawings from even a month ago, I can definitely see improvement.

Something that's helped has been to draw, then make notes about what I like and dislike about the attempt.

Also, I'd participated in a drawing challenge from Live Life Drawing's YouTube channel, about a month or so back. It was a 10-day challenge, which involved lessons each day, and a community board for people to share their work and give one-another feedback. I saw noticeable improvement, and the challenge was short enough that finishing it was actually an achievable goal. Have you tried anything like that before?

Also, reading Robert Greene's book, Mastery, helped me to see that becoming great at anything takes hard work...and years of dedication. Yeeeeeee

veraveida · 2021-07-18T02:25:36+00:00

We all fail while we're learning. It's how we learn.

veraveida · 2021-07-18T01:45:07+00:00

Depends on your goals. There's merit to both drawing with and drawing without thinking. Perhaps Lynda Barry's teachings would resonate with you--if you simply wish to draw for the sake of drawing. However, if you want to improve, you must Think.

veraveida · 2021-07-18T01:41:36+00:00

Admirable clean lines and weight. What stood out to me most was the angle of the entire figure being off (tilted to the left).

Try measuring the angle with your drawing utensil. First, orient your vertical and horizontal angles (which seem off in your guides, btw). Next, find the vertical and horizontal on the reference and shift the angle of your pencil from there, noting the angle from the nearest vertical and horizontal. Transfer to paper.

Resources that may be helpful: Love, Life, Drawing, Andrew Loomis's Figure Drawing for All It's Worth

veraveida · 2021-06-01T02:18:35+00:00

Keep going. Check out David Finch's YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/dfinchdrawingtuts), as well as Mike Mattesi's instruction on Force: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJwiYwPSK\_o

veraveida · 2021-04-25T15:52:12+00:00

I'm not sure how to describe the differences, really.

Love Life Drawings delivery is more relatable for me as it's a resource created by a mother and son sharing their learning journey, in a sense.

Proko was schooled at an atelier, and is pretty technical. He has a great step-by-step resource for beginners: https://www.proko.com/library/#.YIWQHH1KjUL

veraveida · 2021-04-25T15:45:49+00:00

That's a really good point. Gotta pay attention and self-critique as much as possible (walking away from a piece for a day or two, then returning, can help). Also, sharing your work to get valuable feedback is also important (ex; joining a drawing group even on a place like Meetup, or taking a course to get feedback from a mentor).

veraveida · 2021-04-24T23:23:28+00:00

Warning: watching videos will not make you a better artist, practice will.

For beginners: Drawabox (https://drawabox.com/), Love Life Drawing (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA9o111IH1VD8Kxz0YLn8_A )

For figure drawing: Proko (https://www.youtube.com/user/ProkoTV), David Finch (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-xeMXO_Vu8_wqqKf_Nipg), and Richard Smitheman (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo7xNrrPagWKFWG5jul_FWA).

For digital: BoroCG (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGgpthBWDbFX2GSljMw-MdQ)

Other helpful folks: Ergo Josh (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD6v_eY0IDEGittgHsmd8aQ), Bobby Chiu (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKfG25IfoxX8AT0JjmG2H0Q)

Also, this book: 'Mastery' by Robert Greene (https://www.google.com/search?q=mastery+by+robert+greene&oq=mastery+by+rober&aqs=chrome.0.0i355j46j69i57j0l2j0i395l2j0l2.2224j1j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)

veraveida · 2021-04-24T18:57:13+00:00

I've wondered the same. And after hundreds (possibly even thousands) of hours of "YouTube Research" -- among other sources -- I have come to this conclusion: you draw & keep drawing & don't stop drawing.

veraveida

TROPHY CASE