Natalia Xiomara 09/08/2006 It's amazing how we take so much for granted, including our health. I can only say that I thank God for letting my path cross with Dr. Wests' because I was certainly headed towards physical destruction. On July 25, 2006, just twelve days after my 41st birthday, Dr. West successfully removed 18 fibroid tumors from my uterus, the largest weighing in at 30 lbs.! The total weight of all 18 fibroids was around 45 lbs. I am a slender 5'8" woman who wears a size 4, just to give you a picture of my physique and just the thought of having my stomach so protruded that I looked like I was nine months pregnant! Everywhere I went, people asked me if I was pregnant and it became very depressing that I didn't want to go out in public. I tried every remedy there was, homeopathic, changing my diet and nothing worked to shrink the fibroids. All of the doctors I had seen over the years told me that I would have to have a hysterectomy. I told them that I wanted to have children and I refused to let them remove my uterus. So, my fibroids continued to grow as I continued to avoid a hysterectomy. They grew so large that they were resting on all of my vital organs, liver, intestines, bladder; I had major digestive problems, swelling of the feet, vericose veins in my legs, bloated feeling after each meal and mental depression from watching my body deteriorate slowly. Dr. West has given me something that all of the money in the world cannot buy and that's saving my life! I cannot thank you enough Dr. West. I truly hope that women out there who are suffering as I have suffered can find you before they give in to a hysterectomy. Thank you a million times over Dr. West!! May God bless you eternally!! |
Irene G. New York 08/16/2006 08/16/2006 It?s been four weeks since I had a myomectomy performed by Dr. West and I can?t recommend him highly enough. I am a 50-year-old who had fibroids for quite awhile; most of the time they never bothered me. But then recently one of my fibroids grew so large that it went through ?cystic degeneration? (outgrew its own blood supply), which caused a great deal of intense pain. I needed to have them removed and I chose to get a myomectomy. I did not want to get a hysterectomy because I believe it is important to keep your uterus and ovaries if at all possible. After reading Dr. West?s book and meeting with him prior to my surgery, I was convinced that Dr. West was the doctor for me. He carefully answered all my questions before the procedure, and his enormous experience and skill gave me a great deal of confidence before the surgery. Most importantly, Dr. West shows a lot of compassion and care for his patients, which is in rare supply these days. Dr. West also gave me excellent advice after the surgery and taught me to get the right amount of exercise so that I could heal as rapidly as possible. I am feeling better everyday, and my friends are amazed at how active I am. Dr. West?s assistants, Lynne and Sondra, are also very caring and helpful. Thanks to Dr. West and your wonderful staff. I will always be grateful for everything you?ve done for me and for everyone else that you?ve helped! |
Pamela Finn, RN Conifer, CO 07/05/2006 Dr. West- I am now back home in Colorado, resting comfortably in very little pain and working away on the computer only 4 days post-op! I flew back home only two days after surgery! I would like to thank you for your kind , caring ways. You immediately made my husband and I feel calm and comfortable in your abilities as a surgeon as we flew in and met you only one day prior to surgery. I immediately felt that you cared about me as a person and my wishes for a myomectomy only...in fact you GUARANTEED IT! I was not required to sign for a hysterectomy if "all did not go well". You were confident in your abilities as a surgeon and it was so wonderful that I did not have to wonder if I would wake up without my organs. What a horrible feeling to have to wonder what you will wake up with. I am sore of course, but feeling better every day. I could not believe that I felt so good I asked to be discharged the day after surgery and you said yes! My husband and I thank you for allowing me to keep my uterus by doing a myomectomy as I wished. It is very sad to say that it took my flying to NYC and meeting you to get the surgery that I wanted. There is something terribly wrong with that. I had consulted with 3 different doctors out here in the Denver-Metro area and was beginning to feel that trying to "keep my parts" was hopeless.... The surgeons out here in Colorado wanted to do what was best and technically easiest for them, not me and even tried some "scare tactics" and threatening to get me to have a hysterectomy. They told me that I was, "tying the hands of my surgeon" by not consenting to a TAH/BSO. One surgeon said if I was his wife he would "take everything out so I would never need to have surgery again", another said that I had too much scar tissue from past myomectomies and it would be best to "take everything out" ....best for whom?? Not me! I am so glad I listened to my gut and refused to have a hysterectomy. Unfortunately I suffered needlessly in pain since last October trying every homeopathic remedy I could find including a change in diet , Neprinol, Acupuncture etc. Then I researched on the Internet and found you! What a godsend! Your explanation of how and why you do the procedure the way you do made absolute perfect sense and it is a shame that more surgeons are not doing the same exact procedure trying to preserve a woman's organs which have been documented to provide hormones throughout a woman's life. These organs are in our bodies for a reason and not just for "childbearing". If men had to have their "male organs" removed because they were "over 40" or had "all the children they needed" trust me....there would be a lot less hysterectomies! I actually said to my male GYN surgeon whom I have known for over 15 years "how would you feel if you had your testicles removed because of a benign tumor... you don't need those anymore...after all....you have 10 children!" He grew very quiet and I finally think he understood exactly how I felt. I can't believe I said that, but I was fighting to keep "my parts"! He said he would be willing to try to do a myomectomy, but could not guarantee it. He said that there "may not be enough uterus left to put back together." I was not satisfied with that answer. I wish surgeons would be more open and willing to learn Dr. West's surgical technique which is quite different from the normal way of performing myomectomies. Maybe it is not as much of a money maker for surgeons or perhaps they have to fight the insurance companies as to why they did not do a hysterectomy. It is my feeling that Insurance companies play a large role in all of these unnecessary hysterectomies. I would like to know if I could sell your book, The "Hysterectomy Hoax", in my little store in the mountains to help educate women that they play an important role in the decision making of what happens to their bodies. After all....we are the ones that have to live with our decisions, not the surgeons aren't we? I definitely plan on "spreading the word"! I wish you always the best that life has to offer. I look forward to many years without the pain and discomfort from uterine fibroids! Thank you for removing all of the scar tissue from past surgeries. I feel like I have a fresh start. My scar is a very thin line right now. I will definitely stay in touch with you! My husband and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts! If you should ever come out to Colorado with your family let us know! Sincerely, Pamela Finn, RN, Critical Care/Trauma |
S. Bachner New York 06/29/2006 I would like to add my voice and many thanks, as yet another of Dr. West?s highly grateful and happy patients. I had had fibroids for several years, and had finally decided to have them removed. The largest one was on the outside of, but right on top of the uterus, and was about 5 or 6 inches wide. My GYN had said she could remove them whenever I was ready. But after she looked at my most recent ultrasound, she decided that a hysterectomy was ?strongly indicated?, because of the large fibroid. I told her I definitely did not want a hysterectomy at all, and she said that she would make every effort to only remove the fibroids, but that she could not guarantee this. I had terrible visions that I would wake up after the surgery, with her standing there, telling me she was so sorry, but she had to do the hysterectomy. I went to another doctor for a second opinion. He told me he had done many myectomies, and felt confident he could do one for me; no need for a hysterectomy. I thought this was great, except for the fact that he said that beforehand, he would need me to take a drug called Lupron for six months, which he said he used to shrink large fibroids. He told me not to look Lupron up on the Internet, as I would just ?scare myself?. I did look it up, and apparently it had a lot of difficult symptoms attached to it. Around that time, I found Dr. West?s website. I e-mailed him and asked him his opinion of Lupron. He wrote back that it was terrible for this kind of surgery, since it turns the hard fibroid matter to the consistency of jello, making it much more difficult to remove. He said it was just as easy for him to remove a large fibroid, anyway. I then read Dr. West?s book, ?The Hysterectomy Hoax? which was incredibly helpful. Fortunately around this time I got a new job, with different insurance, and was able to make an appointment to see Dr. West. The first consultation I had with him was a great relief, and I knew immediately that he was the right doctor. He was very patient, answering all my questions about this condition, and every aspect of the surgery. He told me he would absolutely not do a hysterectomy, and that there was no need for one. His intelligence and confidence was matched by his obvious kindness, compassion, and sense of humor. I was still pretty nervous before the procedure, since I had never had any kind of surgery before. But everything went very smoothly. After the surgery, there was indeed very little discomfort. My stay in the hospital overnight was very comfortable. The nurses, who were all great, kept commenting on the fact that Dr. West?s patients always do so much better and recover so much more quickly than patients of other doctors who have the same surgery. Dr. West released me from the hospital the day after the surgery, and I had a pretty easy recovery at home. I even went to a baseball game less than a week after the surgery! If you are contemplating a myomectomy, I would strongly recommend that you go to Dr. West. Thank you again, Dr. West, for your insight, kindness, skill, and dedication! |
Penny Boivin Phoenix, Arizona 04/13/2006 I had fibroids when my son who was a breech presentation was born by C-section in 1988. The fibroids in the birth canal were blocking normal delivery. By the time I had them removed by Dr. West in June of 1998, my uterus was the size of a woman in her fifth month of pregnancy. There were signs that my fibroids had gotten so large they would have affected my bladder. So they absolutely needed to come out when they did. Before talking to Dr. West, I looked into the myomectomy procedure in Phoenix of my home state of Arizona. The best they were offering was an outpatient only laproscopic procedure. In May 1998 when I was evaluated by Dr. West in his office, I discovered that that procedure would have been positively dangerous for me to undertake, as he correctly saw just how large my fibroids had become. They were about to interfere with my bladder! The day after surgery, I was doing Chi Gung in the hallway. I was feeling that good! Thank you, Dr. West. You not only preserved my uterus, you saved my life! |
|