Ericka and her husband want to start a family.
"I absolutely look forward to someone calling me mom," she said.
Ericka has fibroids, non-cancerous tumors that grow on the wall of the uterus. Not only do they reduce fertility, they cause a lot of discomfort.
"Severe menstrual cycles with heavy bleeding and lots of pain," she said.
Even after surgery her fibroids came back. She thought a hysterectomy was her only option, until she heard about uterine fibroid embolization or UFE. Radiologists thread a small catheter into the arteries that supply blood to the uterus, and the fibroids.
"And we actually go in and we put in permanent, very tiny spheres, which block the branches of the artery that go to the fibroids," said Dr. Karen Garby.
That cuts off the blood supply.
"And when their blood supply, like any tumor, is cut off, they shrink and they die and they become scar and they no longer cause the symptoms," said Dr. Garby.
Studies show UFE is successful in 90 percent of cases.
Ericka is hopeful that motherhood is in her future but also is relieved to be pain-free.
Women who get pregnant after the procedure will likely have a cesarean section, rather than risk rupturing the uterine wall.
Menopause occurs in 15 percent of women who have the procedure after age 45.
