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Endometrial biopsy
Hi,
I was wondering if anyone might be able to shed some light on my situation. I have gone for probably about a year with no periods, although I really haven't been keeping good track, it could be longer than that. I'm 49 years old, and started going through menopause pretty early. Last week, I had what seemed like a normal period, lasting about 5 days, and pretty heavy. Looking it up online, I realized I should get in to have this checked, and did that today. I had a pap that came back normal 3 months ago. Today, he did a vaginal ultrasound, which showed the lining of my uterus to be 9mm thick, and he said that was a little high, so he did a biopsy. He seemed pretty confident it would come back benign, but now I'm kind of wondering why. With post-menopausal bleeding, and then the thicker lining, wouldn't that be a strong indicator of uterine cancer? Or, is there alot of other reasons for these things?
He said that sometimes, menopause sort of drags on, and doesn't stop as suddenly as it does for other women. I've never taken any HRT drugs, or Tamaxafen (sp?)...I have three children, but I am overweight, and do have some blood sugar issues that I'm trying to work out.
I was wondering if a 9mm lining is very worrisome, or is it mostly attributed to more benign causes? I hate waiting for the results!! Thanks so much! Val
I was wondering if anyone might be able to shed some light on my situation. I have gone for probably about a year with no periods, although I really haven't been keeping good track, it could be longer than that. I'm 49 years old, and started going through menopause pretty early. Last week, I had what seemed like a normal period, lasting about 5 days, and pretty heavy. Looking it up online, I realized I should get in to have this checked, and did that today. I had a pap that came back normal 3 months ago. Today, he did a vaginal ultrasound, which showed the lining of my uterus to be 9mm thick, and he said that was a little high, so he did a biopsy. He seemed pretty confident it would come back benign, but now I'm kind of wondering why. With post-menopausal bleeding, and then the thicker lining, wouldn't that be a strong indicator of uterine cancer? Or, is there alot of other reasons for these things?
He said that sometimes, menopause sort of drags on, and doesn't stop as suddenly as it does for other women. I've never taken any HRT drugs, or Tamaxafen (sp?)...I have three children, but I am overweight, and do have some blood sugar issues that I'm trying to work out.
I was wondering if a 9mm lining is very worrisome, or is it mostly attributed to more benign causes? I hate waiting for the results!! Thanks so much! Val
I had a friend who had thickening of the uterus. It turned out to be benign. I hope you have prayer support.
I learned from research, due to my own experience that even an MRI, which shows more than abdominal ultrasound, cannot see smaller endometriosis implants. And it was through a cystoscopy of the bladder that I first got a clue that a tumor in my uterus might be pressing on my bladder. The ultrasound, if I remember correctly bore out the urologist's theory.
But then, too, I had an endometrioma growing in my left ovary, and the gyn doctor thought on ultrasound that it was a round lucid cyst and possibly completely normal and could hang around for years. Through urology department, I got two MRIs. It showed the abnormal endometrioma in the ovary. It also showed something the radiologist thought was an endometrioma next to my bladder. It wasn't until my hysterectomy it was learned that what was thought to be an endometrioma near my bladder was likely where my bladder was found to be folded and stuck with sticky endometriosis to my uterus.
I learned from research, due to my own experience that even an MRI, which shows more than abdominal ultrasound, cannot see smaller endometriosis implants. And it was through a cystoscopy of the bladder that I first got a clue that a tumor in my uterus might be pressing on my bladder. The ultrasound, if I remember correctly bore out the urologist's theory.
But then, too, I had an endometrioma growing in my left ovary, and the gyn doctor thought on ultrasound that it was a round lucid cyst and possibly completely normal and could hang around for years. Through urology department, I got two MRIs. It showed the abnormal endometrioma in the ovary. It also showed something the radiologist thought was an endometrioma next to my bladder. It wasn't until my hysterectomy it was learned that what was thought to be an endometrioma near my bladder was likely where my bladder was found to be folded and stuck with sticky endometriosis to my uterus.
Hi,
Thanks so much for the reply, that was very helpful information! I'm sitting on pins and needles waiting for the result of the biopsy, it's so hard. I'm also now feeling like I'm noticing other symptoms, but I'm sure that can be psychological. I feel like a pressure on my bladder, just an uncomfortable feeling, but I didn't have that before I found this out. I'm concerned because, even though I had blood tests years ago that showed me to be in menopause, I thought it was fairly normal for me to have periods with long spans in between them. I always felt like I was having hormonal flucuations, because I would also get mood swings and heart palpitations, right before my period.
This latest period just seemed like it had gone too long without one, so I looked it up, and that's when I went to my doctor. I've always kept up on my regular paps, and just had a normal pap and mammogram 3 months ago.
I feel like with the abnormal bleeding, and then the thickening, this is a strong sign of cancer, but I guess it can be other things also?? I've never taken HRT, and I have three kids. I am overweight, though. Wish I had worked on that years ago now!
On the polyps thing, if I were to have that, those should have shown up on US, right? I was hoping obviously for something like that, which is more benign, but I was thinking that was ruled out by US. My doctor was fairly reassuring, saying he thinks it will come back benign, but he's being safe. I just don't know what else it could be if it's not a polyp, it seems like that endomterial hyperplasia is when you are a bit younger, and just starting menopause. I'm 49, and started menopause early, probably started symptoms in my 30's.
Thanks again for your help!! Such a nervewracking time!! Val
Thanks so much for the reply, that was very helpful information! I'm sitting on pins and needles waiting for the result of the biopsy, it's so hard. I'm also now feeling like I'm noticing other symptoms, but I'm sure that can be psychological. I feel like a pressure on my bladder, just an uncomfortable feeling, but I didn't have that before I found this out. I'm concerned because, even though I had blood tests years ago that showed me to be in menopause, I thought it was fairly normal for me to have periods with long spans in between them. I always felt like I was having hormonal flucuations, because I would also get mood swings and heart palpitations, right before my period.
This latest period just seemed like it had gone too long without one, so I looked it up, and that's when I went to my doctor. I've always kept up on my regular paps, and just had a normal pap and mammogram 3 months ago.
I feel like with the abnormal bleeding, and then the thickening, this is a strong sign of cancer, but I guess it can be other things also?? I've never taken HRT, and I have three kids. I am overweight, though. Wish I had worked on that years ago now!
On the polyps thing, if I were to have that, those should have shown up on US, right? I was hoping obviously for something like that, which is more benign, but I was thinking that was ruled out by US. My doctor was fairly reassuring, saying he thinks it will come back benign, but he's being safe. I just don't know what else it could be if it's not a polyp, it seems like that endomterial hyperplasia is when you are a bit younger, and just starting menopause. I'm 49, and started menopause early, probably started symptoms in my 30's.
Thanks again for your help!! Such a nervewracking time!! Val
When I still had a uterus, I had an endometrial biopsy that came back abnormal. The gyn doctor gave me a list of abnormal results in stages- mine was the first stage, called abnormal proliferative. It comes from an imbalance in hormones- she put high estrogen and low progesterone.
The second stage of abnormal is benign hyperplasia (overgrowth). Benign, as you may already be aware, means non-cancerous.
The third stage is atypical hyperplasia and the fourth stage is cancer. I had a D&C and got 6 polyps removed that may have been causing some abnormal bleeding. My next endometrial biopsy came out normal. I did not take the birth control pills the doctor tried to push on me, trying to scare me about cancer.
The second stage of abnormal is benign hyperplasia (overgrowth). Benign, as you may already be aware, means non-cancerous.
The third stage is atypical hyperplasia and the fourth stage is cancer. I had a D&C and got 6 polyps removed that may have been causing some abnormal bleeding. My next endometrial biopsy came out normal. I did not take the birth control pills the doctor tried to push on me, trying to scare me about cancer.
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