Sex, Lies, and the Truth About Uterine Fibroids

Well, it's taken much longer than I ever anticipated to finally see my book in print -- about 1.5 years -- but, it finally hit the bookshelves on April 23. :)

Sex, Lies, and the Truth About Uterine Fibroids
A journey from diagnosis to treatment to renewed good health
Carla Dionne, Executive Director, National Uterine Fibroids Foundation
Foreward by Scott C. Goodwin, M.D.
ISBN: 1583330704

Table of Contents

"This is the most comprehensive, well-researched, and informative book on the subject of uterine fibroids. If you have uterine fibroids, there is no other medical resource more important to your future."

Tori Hudson, N.D.
author of Woman's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine

"If you've just been told you have uterine fibroids, the first thing you should do on the way home from the doctor's office is buy this book. Sex, Lies & the Truth About Uterine Fibroids contains the most relevant, patient-centered information on fibroids that I've seen collected in one volume."

Michael S. Broder, M.D., assistant professor
UCLA School of Medicine
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

"This book contains information that will provide women with a near complete kit to deal with the industry that has grown up around that oft-removed organ, the uterus. It should be required reading for every woman with fibroids who hears the phrase "you need a hysterectomy..."."

Steven J. Smith, M.D.
Director of Interventional Radiology
La Grange Memorial Hospital

"...an in-depth primer on what uterine fibroids are and how women can go about seeking the best possible therapies....Dionne is a consumer activist to love."

Shari Roan
Los Angeles Times, June 11, 2001

"A *MUST READ* for any woman with uterine fibroids."

Jeannah McElroy
Hysterectomy Awareness

"A provocative and comprehensive assessment of every available treatment option for the symptoms of uterine fibroids and the latest methods for dealing with the fibroids themselves."

Nelson's Books 2002
http://www.nelsonsbooks.com/index.html

"In Sex, Lies, and the Truth about Uterine Fibroids: A Journey from Diagnosis to Treatment to Renewed Good Health, Carla Dionne, Executive Director of the National Uterine Fibroids Foundation, assesses treatment options for this common condition. The most frequently recommended treatment is a hysterectomy; indeed, over 200,000 women per year undergo hysterectomies for this relatively benign disease, despite the fact that there are alternatives. Dionne herself successfully overcame fibroids by other means and is committed to letting other women know that hysterectomy is not the only course of treatment available. Thoroughly researched, her book arms women who suffer from uterine fibroids with important information and, even more importantly, options for good health."

Publishers Weekly
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

"The executive director of the National Uterine Fibroids Foundation has written a very personal book that takes the reader through her years of trouble with fibroids.

Elizabeth Williams, Fresno City Coll. Lib.
Library Journal

Contents

Foreword, by Scott C. Goodwin, M.D.

On Over-Operating in Gynaecology

Introduction

1. Why Me?

So What DO We Know About Uterine Fibroids?
Show Me the Research!

2. Anatomy of a Fibroid

What is a Normal Uterus?
What is a Uterine Fibroid?
How Are Uterine Fibroids Discovered?
Can Uterine Fibroids Become Cancerous?
Fibroids and Infertility

3. The Choices

Influencing the Patient
A Few Words about Drugs, Devices, and the FDA

4. Ignore the Fibroids

The Doctor Answers
Rapidly Growing Fibroids
But I Can't Ignore the Fibroids
Okay. I've Weighed the Risks. I'll Ignore the Fibroids.

5. Treat the Symptoms

Menorrhagia--Hemorrhagia--Abnormal Uterine Bleeding
Anemia, Fatigue
Chronic Pelvic and/or Back Pain and Pressure
Constipation
Urinary Incontinence

6. Treat the Fibroids

Myomectomy
Uterine Artery Embolization
Myolysis/Cryomyolysis
Hysterectomy
Clinical Research
Lupron (Gonadotropin Releasing Hormones -- GnRH)
Mifepristone
Female Reconstructive Surgery (FRS)

7. Related Health Issues

Adenomyosis
Cancer
Dysplasia
Endometriosis
Hyperplasia
Ovarian Cysts
Polyps
Sexual Dysfunction
Uterine Prolapse

8. Making a Decision

Doctors
Special Procedures: Endoscopic Surgery (Laparoscopy/Hysteroscopy)
Informed Consent
Insurance
Friends, Family, and Co-Workers
My Choice

9. Keeping a Journal

My Journal

Conclusion

The Internet
So Let's Talk
The Men Survey (discussion of findings)
Good Doctors -- Are There Any?

Appendices

National Uterine Fibroids Foundation
Table: Treating the Syptoms of Fibroids
Table: Treatment Options for Uterine Fibroid Tumors
Table: Related Health Issues
United States Medical Boards
Sample Informed Consent/Total Abdominal Hysterectomy
Men Survey (copy of original survey as posted online)
Cyberspace

Glossary

Bibliography/References

Literature citations
Chat Rooms/Message Boards
Websites
Recommended Books