Fibroids: The Complete Guide to Taking Charge of Your Physical, Emotional, and Sexual Well-Being

Fibroids are "solid lumps of muscle and connective tissue" that grow in and around the uterus and are almost always benign. They are the result of "a single cell gone wild," but why this happens is a mystery. They affect from 20 to 80 percent of women. Although some women have no symptoms, others experience abnormal uterine bleeding and pelvic pain or pressure. Fibroids can trigger miscarriage, preterm labor, and sometimes infertility. Author Johanna Skilling sees fibroids as "an interruption" of your uterus, blood flow, physical well-being, and lifestyle, as well as a disruption of your self-image and self-esteem, which may leave you feeling shamed, damaged, and helpless.

Skilling is not a doctor; she is a woman with fibroids. When she was diagnosed, she read everything she could find, interviewed medical experts, and compiled stories from other women. She presents information about conventional medical treatments, alternative therapies, and diet, along with tips, anecdotes, and humor (for example, the "top 10 things you resemble while taking an MRI" includes "one of those pretzels with cheese filling" and "a lime wedge in the neck of a beer bottle"). Skilling's aim in writing this book is to provide both a source of information about fibroids and a "support group in a book" for women with fibroids to find comfort and sharing. She succeeds. --Joan Price