 I'm Rashmi. I'm a 46 year old child-free cisgender woman living in Bangalore. My life is divided between 2020, that is pre-2020 and post-2020. So pre-2020, I was a photographer. I made films, I documented movements, I taught photography and I taught art. I travelled a lot. In 2020, when the lockdown happened, I started to experience a lot of pain in my back. This was extraordinarily painful. It disabled me. I couldn't travel. I couldn't get into an auto. Sometimes even walking on the road, if there was a pebble or something, then I would go into spasms. So I was like, okay, let me just get it checked. Now I met a rheumatologist because I said, okay, this is chronic pain. I've had investigations before. I've had x-rays done. I've met doctors. And there was nothing that was diagnosed. Thankfully, I had a rheumatologist who decided to investigate further. Ordered an MRI and there was this really big fibroid. So it was about 7 centimetre into 8 centimetre. And I was also diagnosed at the same consultation with spondyloarthritis. Ms Rashmi presented to us last year when she was 45 years old with history of painful periods, low back pain, urinary incontinence. All these symptoms were affecting her quality of life. This also included mood swings occasionally. We explained to her with regard to the procedure of uterine artery embolization, what she would have to go through, how simple the procedure is. And meeting with Dr. Reddy Prasad, I think it was really comforting to be able to have that conversation. I was not just like, I was not a diagnosis and a solution. I was something more than that. So with interventional radiology itself, to kind of look at what was my quality of life, how could Dr. Reddy Prasad's intervention through this procedure change and improve the quality of my life. So I think kind of going through that was really nice. We gave her time to decide which procedure she wanted because there are several options in the management of fibroids. One is medical treatment with hormonal therapy. The other one is surgery which could be myomectomy or hysterectomy. And minimally invasive option, uterine artery embolization. Our family has been with Manipal hospitals for the past two decades. My dad was treated here, my mom was treated here. And there's a certain level of trust that is already inbuilt in the relationship I share with the hospitals. And I know it. So there's a certain comfort. So I was really happy to know that they were offering uterine fibroid embolization. I went back, I spent about two weeks researching on the procedure. I sat through loads of YouTube videos by doctors. As well as there are a lot of patient testimonies about going through the whole process. So I kind of like knew that this was okay. That this was something that I could deal with and do. So I came back and scheduled it and went through it. She went through the procedure very smoothly. This is a pinhole procedure. The procedure is performed just through a two to three millimeter incision. There is no blood loss. There is no scarring. And usually patients are discharged the very next day after the procedure. This procedure is performed under sedation. Once I went back home, I think the pain was, the pain kind of reduced. But I developed a complication. I had a gut infection. Then I had to come back into hospital. So my recovery took a little longer than would be expected. One year following the procedure, all her symptoms had dramatically improved. Equally importantly on the MRI scan, there was complete infarction of the fibroids. And there was reduction in the size of both the fibroids and thereby the volume of the uterus. Within a month, I was back on my feet. Within like two months, it was as if, you know, this whole, like it was a huge chunk of pain and disability that had been erased. As Ms. Rasmu mentioned in her own words, the hospital stay is very less. And there is less risk of infection. And there is quicker resumption to work. Within two months, I was like back. I was able to walk. I was able to take an auto. I was able to do work. I had so much of energy. And it just felt like, I felt light. And that was like, that was so amazing. My message to women with fibroids is, you would discuss with your gynecologists if you would be suitable for uterine artery embolization. And then make an informed choice about the procedure that you would want to go for.