Dr Lee Featured in Goop In a recent appointment, gynecologist Bruce Lee, MD, saw a woman who looked eight months pregnant. She wasn’t. But the benign tumors in her uterus had grown so large that it looked as if she might be. She was seeing Lee that day to get those tumors, called uterine fibroids, treated for the first time. The reason this patient had waited so long to get help, says Lee, is because the standard treatment for fibroids is a hysterectomy: a full removal of the uterus from the body. The patient didn’t want a hysterectomy, so she

It has long been held that many hysterectomies are performed “unnecessarily” in that other alternatives that are less radical, costly, and risky, may have been appropriate. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has publicly stated that the number of hysterectomies for benign conditions is too high and should be reduced. Many patients desire a hysterectomy, do well, and are happy with their choice. Others may not be aware of alternatives and the pros and cons hysterectomy. Still others regret having had to have major surgery and have their uterus removed for a benign condition such as fibroids. Along those