Robin Gooden suffered from severe symptoms due to uterine fibroids, leading her to consider a hysterectomy. After researching alternatives, she chose uterine fibroid embolization (UFE), a less invasive procedure that effectively shrinks fibroids and alleviates symptoms. The UFE significantly improved her quality of life, allowing her to regain her health and energy.

1. success story
A simple procedure
D
espite being an
unpleasantand
powerfully life-
altering medi-
cal procedure,
hysterectomy seemed to be
Robin Gooden’s only choice.
Three years ago the Fort
Lauderdale native began suf-
fering from intense cramps, ir-
regular menstrual cycles and
other symptoms. “I was tired
all of the time,” she says. “It
was a roller coaster ride. I
could never focus on how to
plan out my days because I
didn’t know what was going
to happen…I couldn’t focus
at work, I couldn’t attend any
family activities outside of the house because I was so afraid.” Her
menstrual cycle had become unpredictable, arriving twice a month.
Her energy level dropped, and she became anemic at one point,
even requiring a blood transfusion.
The cause of all this misery was uterine fibroids, which are be-
nign, non-cancerous growths that develop inside and on the walls of
the uterus. Robin saw her doctor, who prescribed birth control pills
to get her cycle under control and help shrink the fibroids. But the
pills didn’t work. “They would actually make me feel nauseous all the
time,” she explains. They also didn’t shrink the fibroids. “We did a
sonogram and the sonogram showed where the fibroids were actu-
ally growing,” says Robin.
A friend recommended a gynecologist. His recommendation
was that she undergo a hysterectomy. Robin made sure she got a
second opinion from another doctor, who also recommended a hys-
terectomy. She scheduled the procedure, but still had her doubts.
She did some research on fibroids and discovered that for-
mer Secretary of State Con-
doleezza Rice treated her
fibroids with uterine fibroid
embolization (UFE). Robin im-
mediately made an appoint-
ment with another gynecolo-
gist and asked about UFE.
This doctor then referred her
to Dr. Linda Hughes, who is
an interventional radiologist
at Imperial Point Medical
Center. UFE is performed by
an interventional radiologist
in a hospital in an outpatient
setting. “The goal of UFE is
to shrink fibroids, relieve the
patient from the symptoms
they cause and prevent un-
necessary surgery,” says Dr.
Hughes. “It is not known what causes fibroids, but they are fueled
by hormones and they steal blood from the uterus. Once a patient
reaches menopause, the fibroids tend to go away naturally,” explains
Dr. Hughes.
The UFE procedure usually takes between 30 minutes to one
hour. The patient receives “twilight” sedation instead of general anes-
thesia. UFE is done by inserting a thin tube into an artery at the top
of the thigh and using X-ray imaging to guide the tube into the uterine
artery. Tiny round particles are injected through the catheter and into
the blood vessels that lead to the fibroids. These particles block the
blood that is flowing to the fibroids, causing them to shrink.
When the fibroids begin to shrink, the pain and other symptoms
go away and women will generally return to having a normal men-
strual cycle. Overall, UFE is a simple, safe procedure and it is covered
by most major health insurance plans.
For Robin, the UFE has made all the difference. “I feel like a mil-
lion dollars!” she exclaims.
By Abel Delgado
Made all the difference
Robin Gooden and Dr. Linda Hughes
16 Broward Health