While Johnson said that fibroids don’t have a causal link with anything, life with fibroids is not hopeless.

“There’s no diet or exercise or birth control — there’s nothing in your daily life or activity that you can do to avoid fibroid formation that we know of. But, you most certainly can be very in-tuned with your body and understand that you can have fibroid formation and have a plan, that if fibroids are significantly impacting your life, you can do something about it.”

Johnson suggests that women who are experiencing problematic fibroids do research on their providers and options.

“Don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t have options,” he said. “If your doctor is not listening to you or not hearing your concerns or not giving you a multitude of options that work for you then you need to find a new provider. Oftentimes, we get complacent with our providers and that’s when bad things happen.”

“Do your research,” he continued. “There are so many resources you can use to optimize your care — utilize them, and if you’re not getting those answers and options, you gotta keep looking.”

Johnson said many of his patients have come to him after another doctor has told them they were infertile or needed a hysterectomy.

“Don’t let anybody just tell you that,” he said. “I haven’t had any women with extensive fibroids yet that I haven’t been able to salvage her uterus except for a patient who actually had cancer and those fibroids were cancerous — it’s a rare thing, but it happens. Unless those fibroids are cancerous, they can be removed and your uterus can be preserved.”

Outside of his work directly in the medical field, Johnson is a co-author of the 2018 book, “Pulse of Perseverance: Three Black Doctors on Their Journey to Success,” and a major champion for health care equity through his program, Doc 4 Da Streetz, for which he serves as a “voice for the people in the fight to eradicate healthcare disparities by sharing his knowledge and skills with those in need,” according to his website.

Leslie D. Rose