Asking for Help and Getting It!

By Marjorie Coley

From the first day I left my radio days behind and decided to take the job as Public Relations and Marketing Director for the Center for Image Guided Medicine at Emory Adventist Hospital in Smyrna, I was always amazed at the sheer number of women who are suffering in silence because of uterine fibroids. As I attended health fairs and community health talks, women from all walks of life would share their stories with me about their journey through dealing with fibroids and the horrific symptoms associated with fibroids.

I was particularly touched by a woman I met on January 25, 2012. I had just left a health fair for the federal employees at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building on Spring Street. I decided to fill up my SUV at the Kroger on Dekalb Medical in Lithonia. I still had on my Got Fibroids T-shirt. It’s my standard garb for health fairs.

As I finished filling up my SUV, a woman in an Expedition said to me, “Why are you wearing that T-shirt?” I told her I work for the Center for Image Guided Medicine at Emory Adventist Hospital and I just left a health fair. She said, “Can I talk to you for a minute?” Of course, I said sure.

The woman who happened to be a lab tech for another hospital proceeded to tell me about her story. She said she had fibroids since she was fifteen. She said her grandmother and her mother suffered from fibroids but both of them had hysterectomies and that was something she said she would avoid at all cost.

I told her all about the UFE (Uterine Fibroid Embolization) procedure. She was already aware of the procedure. In fact, she said she asked her OB/GYN to perform the procedure on her. She said her doctor told her fibroid was just “too big” and she was not a candidate for UFE. I told her she should see UFE and Fibroid expert Dr. John Lipman, the medical director of the Center for Image Guided Medicine. This is his specialty, he should be the one to tell you, you are not a candidate for UFE.

I told her all about Dr. Lipman and his credentials. I told her Dr. Lipman has performed more UFEs than any other doctor in Atlanta. Let him tell you, you are not a candidate. She proceeded to tell me about how long she has suffered and that even though her doctor told her she should have a partial hysterectomy, I told her to get a second opinion. I also explained to her about the white pants movement and how women who have fibroids can’t or don’t wear white pants. At that moment, tears came to her eyes. She told me how wonderful it would be if she could wear white pants someday.

The woman told me she doesn’t want to have surgery. She said she wants to keep her uterus. I told her she can keep her uterus. Don’t let someone tell you, you can’t keep it. After explaining to her the UFE procedure takes less than an hour and you can go home the same day with a band aid, her eyes got brighter. When I told her, the recovery period is only one week, she said I have that time now.

When we finally parted, she said "I’m going to call Dr. Lipman tomorrow. I want a consultation. I want to end my suffering. I want my life back."