@2929 and @lisalucier Thank you for tagging me on this post, Lisa. I had a almost total hysterectomy Jan 1999, at age 45. The only thing left was one ovary, because the tumors had wrapped around the other one. In fact they "delivered" about 10 pounds of tumors. I had the fibroids growing for about 7 years, with increasingly heavy periods. There was severe anemia due to blood loss, before surgery. I am the one who chose to wait, but realized as I was then living in a more rural setting, that I couldn't afford to jeopardize my health any longer. As the nurse bluntly told me, "don't get in an accident. You'll bleed out before we can get you to a hospital!" They were not able to conduct any pelvic exam due to the size of the tumors. It took the remaining ovary 1.5 yrs to shut down. I never took any hormone replacements. My quality of life remained as before. I also am child-free by choice, @2929. It seems some women sail thru menopause, and you just very well may be one of those! Having an OB-GYN and primary who you trust, is critical. To be frank, I never have had a high sex drive, so the surgery did not affect me in that manner. Hope this helps, and please feel free to post again with any more concerns.