Like so many others, Odetta spent the pandemic holed up inside her house, working while raising her two children. So, when she began to gain weight, she chalked it up to inactivity.
A few extra pounds, she could understand, but her tummy continued to swell to the point that she looked like she was pregnant. When she finally left the house to take one of her favorite walks in Topanga Canyon, Odetta barely had the energy to get off the trailhead.
“I don’t think I realized how bad it was,” says Odetta, a 52-year-old TV executive with no other symptoms. “When you don’t exercise, you don’t notice your body as much.”
After gaining 30 pounds and no longer fitting into her clothes, that was the last straw.
A disappointing appointment with her old gynecologist
A visit to her existing gynecologist was very disheartening. The OB/GYN told her she had fibroids and would need a complete hysterectomy. In his opinion, the surgery was not urgent, and he delayed it for several months. A six-week recovery time with a March surgery was out of the question.
“June graduation was looming. I couldn’t just lay around for six weeks with work and kids,” she explains, adding that the doctor said the surgery would be impossible to perform laparoscopically.
At her wit’s end, she sought a second opinion and called the office of Dr. Thais Aliabadi.
Her consultation with Dr. Aliabadi
The initial examination and MRI revealed that Odetta’s organs were so pushed together from the fibroids that Dr. Aliabadi was surprised Odetta could function. Her uterus had swollen to five inches – rather than the usual two inches. But then came some good news, Dr. Aliabadi said it was possible to do a partial hysterectomy laparoscopically.
“What I love about her is she explains everything. She showed me another procedure like what I was going to have, and I saw how my surgery would also look,” said Odetta. “When she told me she could do the surgery laparoscopically (after my last doctor said that was impossible), I was immediately very hopeful.”
What is a partial hysterectomy?
A partial hysterectomy is a surgical procedure that removes the uterus and fallopian tubes but leaves the cervix and ovaries intact. A partial hysterectomy results in decreased blood flow to the ovaries, which lowers estrogen and testosterone levels in the bloodstream. Hormonal changes leading to emotional alterations are much lower than a total hysterectomy.
Unfortunately, her partial hysterectomy could not wait
Dr. Aliabadi realized that immediate surgery was needed before more damage was done to Odetta’s organs. At that point, her operation would have to be significantly more extensive.
After a short wait, Odetta was into surgery. Dr. Aliabadi spent four-and-a-half hours taking the fibroids out piece by piece. With this technique, she wouldn’t have to use a scalpel to remove the uterus through the vagina.
“Immediately after the surgery, I was almost all better,” marvels Odetta. “My tummy went down, and my weight was lost. It was amazingly quick.”
And best of all, a thankful Odetta was up and around town taking care of business with almost no discomfort within ten days. “I’m so grateful to Dr. Aliabadi,” she says. “Without her, I may have never gotten my life back so completely.
“Now climbing the rugged hills of Topanga Canyon is no longer a chore. It’s gone back to being enjoyable and even easier because of Dr. Aliabadi’s encouragement.
“It’s a very happy ending,” says the now-cured Odetta. “And it continues to get happier.”
Welcome to the Outpatient Hysterectomy Center, Los Angeles’s first minimally invasive outpatient surgical practice dedicated to women.
For years, Drs. Yera and Aliabadi have spared women from experiencing invasive open surgeries associated with disfiguring surgical scars, extended hospital stays, and long, painful recoveries.
All of this unnecessary suffering was simply because women weren’t aware that minimally invasive outpatient surgery was available.
Luckily, the women of Southern California (and those who wish to travel here) now have a choice. Drs. Aliabadi and Yera are a handful of elite American Ob/Gyn surgeons performing Minimally Invasive Outpatient Hysterectomies.
After performing thousands of these procedures and teaching this surgical technique to gynecologists throughout the U.S. and abroad, Drs, Aliabadi, and Yera collaborated to create an outpatient surgery practice exclusively for women. They aim to raise the bar for women’s health by making these procedures more widely available to women everywhere.
If you have been told you need a hysterectomy, consider minimally-invasive outpatient surgery because your health and time are among your most important possessions.
If you wish to schedule a consultation to learn how we can help you or to establish care with us, please request a consultation online or call us at 844-541-7900.
