Nancy--may I chime in eventhough I am not yet 50 (47).

Menopause is defined as no menses for 1 year--that means no bleeding or spotting of ANY kind.

With that said, the first signs of PERI-menopause the time before menopause is usually an irregularity in your period. It comes to soon or too late. You begin to bleed to little or too much. You may begin to get the occasional hot flash or night sweat. No one can say how your body will behave until it starts to happen. I find also the way you react/perceive perimenopause/menopause can also impact how one reacts to the symptoms, i.e., if you don't think menopause and getting older is a big deal you may find that your symptoms are not a big deal. If you find the the thought of menopause makes you want to hide and die, you may react to the symptoms more severely. In many cultures where getting older becomes an elevation in status, the signs and symptoms of menopause are perceived as minimal and no big deal and vice versa.

As for the fibroids--In most practices if fibroids are NOT giving you any grief--pain, excessive bleeding, so big they are impinging on other organs...usually they are left alone. I'd be questioning your doc all 9 ways to Sunday why he feels like they need to come out if they are not bothering you. I've seen fibroids that have been big as your head (OK, not that big, but you get the idea) and we've just let them alone because they were not causing any problem.

HTH a bit,

Lisa