u/ExperienceFew6531

I’m looking for honest opinions from people who’ve been through fibroid surgery or anyone familiar with the medical/legal side of this.

I had an elective myomectomy for a symptomatic 10–11 cm fibroid. Before surgery, the only imaging my surgeon used was an ultrasound that was about 5 months old. He did not order a repeat ultrasound or an MRI. During my follow-up appointment, he told me that he had actually considered getting updated imaging before surgery but decided against it because he wanted to save me money. He also said an MRI might have changed the surgical plan, although he couldn’t say for certain. That entire conversation was legally recorded.

During surgery, he discovered that my fibroid was in a completely different location than expected (posterior/deep in the pelvis), so he aborted the procedure because removing it would have required a much larger incision than we had planned. I woke up with an abdominal incision, went through recovery, but my fibroid was still there. I now have to undergo a second surgery with a specialist.

At my follow-up appointment, he apologized multiple times, recommended that I see a specialist because the case was beyond what he was comfortable doing, and later waived his surgical fee. However, I’m still responsible for the hospital and anesthesia bills, I missed work, lost income, and had to recover from a surgery that ultimately didn’t treat the problem.

I understand that once he realized the anatomy was different, stopping the surgery was probably the safest decision, so that’s not what I’m questioning. My concern is whether the preoperative planning was appropriate for a large fibroid in an elective surgery. Would you consult a malpractice attorney or ask the hospital to compensate you in this situation? Has anyone had a similar experience, and if so, was the hospital willing to cover costs or offer a settlement?

I’m looking for honest opinions, especially from anyone who’s had large fibroids removed or works in healthcare.
I had an elective myomectomy for a symptomatic 10–11 cm fibroid. My only preoperative imaging was an ultrasound from about 5 months before surgery. My surgeon did not order a repeat ultrasound or MRI, even though he told me the fibroid had likely grown since then.

During surgery, he found the fibroid was in a completely different location than expected (posterior/deep in the pelvis), and he aborted the procedure because removing it would have required a much larger incision than we had planned. I woke up with an abdominal incision, but the fibroid was still there.

At my follow-up appointment, he apologized several times, referred me to a specialist, and told me he had considered getting updated imaging before surgery but decided against it because he wanted to save me money. He also said an MRI might have changed the surgical plan, but couldn’t say for sure.

I understand that stopping the surgery once he found unexpected anatomy was probably the safest decision, and I’m not questioning that. My question is about the preoperative planning. Given a large fibroid, 5-month-old imaging, and an elective surgery, do you think it was reasonable to proceed without updated imaging, or would you consider that below the standard of care? Has anyone else had a surgeon recommend an MRI for a large or complex fibroid before surgery?