An Expert Opinion On Detecting And Treating Fibroids

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NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS – August is recognised as Fibroids awareness month. The condition affecting millions of women causes painful growths in the uterus, that
lead to bleeding, and even infertility.

Our Evlynn Ferguson recently sat down with The Bahamas’ first expert in less invasive care.

It’s a story that matters, especially to women who are ashamed sometimes going undiagnosed and untreated.

Meet Interventional Radiologist and Fibroids expert, Dr. Mikhail Higgins.

From the Family Medicine Center on Blake Road, he shared with me how his purpose goes beyond borders, with women flying into his Florida practice and now here at home.

He’s proof that Bahamian led care, can draw patients from across the globe.

“Being able to draw those women to the Bahamas, to be cared for, is just obviously something that really allows me to be particularly humble because, you know, we are always of the mindset in The Bahamas that were small, but mighty. Um, and I think that we can be, um, even mightier, when we step into our purpose and be exactly what God created us to be.” – Dr. Mikhail Higgins

As common as Fibroids is for women, the topic often stays hidden.

Dr. Higgins explains why silence has become the norm, even when the impact is life‑changing.

“This condition that affects 70% of all women, and 80 to 90% of all black women, okay.
So for every 10 women that are black, eight to nine of those women have five points, okay.
You would think that because it’s so common, women are talking more about it. But they don’t. Women really sort of look at this as a condition where they just suffer through it. Why, Because it’s really not something that they feel comfortable talking about. On the other side, they feel that either they suffer in silence or they have to undergo this sort of invasive surgery where they have to part with their uterus.” – Dr. Mikhail Higgins

That silence carries weight, from everyday struggles to deeply personal losses.

He believes a dedicated awareness month, can create space for women to finally speak freely.

“Or they, they’re gonna have to undergo an invasive surgery, they may have to repeat that in 2 to 3 years, which is often the case. And so when you have a month where women can really be sort of given a space where you can hold space for them to have a conversation where they don’t have to be shamed of talking about, you know, heavy menstrual periods, where they don’t have to be shamed about talking about waking up in the night multiple times to urinate. Whey don’t have to be ashamed about saying, you know what. You know, intimacy with my partner is no longer enjoyable. It’s actually painful, or they don’t have to be ashamed of talking about losing two and three pregnancies.”

As our discussion moved to treatment methods, Dr. Higgins points to a groundbreaking option first pioneered in the U.S. and brought here in 2021.

For him, it’s about giving Bahamian women choices to protect their health and quality of life.

“The procedure that I introduced to the Bahamas into the Caribbean in 2021, which is a unit fibroid analyzation, which is a treatment where I’m able to go through a little 10 millimeter incision. I am able to navigate my way to the roots of the entire fibroid conglomerate, the blood supply that supplies all of the fibroids, you know, it could be 25, it could be 250. It could be 12, it could be 120. And I’m able to kill the entire fine break compartment and eliminate them all.”

And for his advocacy and exemplary work, recognition has followed, placing him among global voices in the fight for better care.

For Dr. Higgins, it’s proof that one Bahamian can make a difference.

“And so being able to be selected, um, you know, uh, in a, in a, in a group that was particularly esteemed, where there was an Academy Award, when I repeated the Wongo, um, a U.S. Senator, uh, Al brooks of the state of Ireland, who’s, uh, in the process of passing a bill to improve, uh, funding for fibroid research. So, um, to be among such a rarefied group of very esteemed individuals, and to be the only man, um, and to be the only international person, um, outside of the U.S. Is is, you know, just an honor.”