next »

[ideagirl]

I really hate to be a downer, but a good friend of mine had a complete hysterectomy a couple years ago, and she is still having problems - everything from random abdominal pain to fatigue. As others have said, I think the recovery time really has to do with the individual and the extent of the hysterectomy.

Absolutely true. I really urge any woman who's faced with the prospect of a hysterectomy to explore every alternative before going under the knife. This organization can help you sort through the options:
http://www.hersfoundation.org/
A few years back many of the medical students at my local medical school (which is among the top in the country) went to their dean and announced that they were not going to participate in hysterectomies anymore unless the operation was being done because of cancer. In their view, the operation is so drastic and has such a high risk of complications and side effects that it should only be used when it's necessary to save lives. The dean said okay, and let them opt out.

[ideagirl]

As I am not actually using my uterus for anything but a place holder, I don't care what my fibroids do as long as they don't annoy me.

You actually are using your uterus--it produces hormones, and it's involved in sexual response--and you're also using everything it's attached to (I mean the ligaments, nerves, blood vessels, etc. that run through or to the uterus), which have to be severed if you get a hysterectomy. The nerve severing is why hysterectomy carries the risk of partial or complete loss of sexual sensation, and severing the ligaments is what can cause chronic lower-back and pelvic pain after hysterectomy, because that whole pelvic area is no longer as well supported as it should be. And it's not possible to perform a hysterectomy without severing those things--the uterus has to be cut out, cut away from them.

I hear you about not being bothered by fibroids so long as they're painless--I just wanted to point out that the uterus isn't just a placeholder. It, and the system of nerves etc. that it's part of, are doing something there, whether or not you intend to have children.

[octoprof]

I really hate to be a downer, but a good friend of mine had a complete hysterectomy a couple years ago, and she is still having problems - everything from random abdominal pain to fatigue. As others have said, I think the recovery time really has to do with the individual and the extent of the hysterectomy.

Absolutely true. I really urge any woman who's faced with the prospect of a hysterectomy to explore every alternative before going under the knife. This organization can help you sort through the options:
http://www.hersfoundation.org/
A few years back many of the medical students at my local medical school (which is among the top in the country) went to their dean and announced that they were not going to participate in hysterectomies anymore unless the operation was being done because of cancer. In their view, the operation is so drastic and has such a high risk of complications and side effects that it should only be used when it's necessary to save lives. The dean said okay, and let them opt out.

For the record, cancer isn't the only life-threatening or life-style limiting condition that can suggest a hysterectomy is a good idea. If I hadn't had mine, I woudl have eventually bled to death 4 years ago. Not a good way to die. I did not have cancer.

Yes, looking at all the alternatives is always a good idea (second opinions, alternate treatments, etc.).  Risks of various side effects and reulsts, as well as the surgeon's experience level with similar patients, are only some of the information a patient should investigate.

However, those medical students (cited above) clearly didn't yet know enough about all the possible medical conditions that a woman faces.

[ideagirl]

However, those medical students (cited above) clearly didn't yet know enough about all the possible medical conditions that a woman faces.

I think their dean would've told them that and not allowed them to opt out, if that were the case. I don't know, of course--I wasn't there, etc. etc.--but it would surprise me if a medical-school dean let students refuse to perform a certain procedure for anything other than life-saving reasons, if in fact the students were wrong; wouldn't he instead have said "you're wrong--in addition to cancer, there are XYZ other reasons that a hysterectomy might be the only viable option for a woman"?

My understanding is that, apart from cancer and perhaps some other small number of life-threatening problems that I don't know about (e.g., your situation), hysterectomy is pretty much never the only or best option. There are all sorts of other ways to deal with fibroids, endometriosis, and [insert names of other conditions that seriously impact a woman's quality of life]. That is what my local med students wanted--they wanted training in those other options, and they did not want to do what, in their view, was the gynecological equivalent of a lobotomy, in that it destroys an organ that does not need to be destroyed, and that can be treated in a less drastic way.

[kedves]

Marlborough, best wishes for a good procedure and quick recovery!

[llanfair]

Sorry I'm so late weighing in.  I had an abdominal hysterectomy, keeping the ovaries, at 35; the fibroids were causing all sorts of problems including anaemia (heavy flooding even between periods, for eg.).  I've never regretted it, and certainly I've never missed the monthly mess.

Recovery from the belly wound was easy - somehow my GYN failed to cut any nerves, so no pain - but the anaesthesia made my IBS kick into high gear.  I was bloated and bunged up for weeks. 

If in doubt, ask for Dulcolax, or Dicetel, or whatever moves you.  (Ohhh, I'm sorry - it had to be said!)  And have a safe surgery and a swift and easy recovery!

[zoelouise]

Radical hysterectomy at 33 for cervical cancer. Kept the ovaries; haven't missed the uterus. Peed into a bag strapped to my leg for a couple weeks. Back to work part-time in 4 weeks, full time in 6 weeks. Still felt funny when I coughed for 6 months, but no big deal. I went on a weekend out-of-town trip by plane about 7 weeks after surgery, walked plenty on the trip, and had no problems.

The hyperbole about loss of sexual function/sensation is interesting. For years it was felt, based on post-surgical reports, that the rate of such problems was quite high. Then, a few years ago a (female) researcher thought to ask women about sexual satisfaction both before and after surgery, instead of just afterwards, as had been done before. Guess what! She found out that the women who had sexual problems after hysterectomy also had sexual problems before hysterectomy. Sorry I do not have references handy.

I sure don't miss dealing with a period or worrying about pregnancy.

It really was a boon to have family members stay with me and care for me the first week.

Good luck!

[octoprof]

It really was a boon to have family members stay with me and care for me the first week.

Yes, someone needs to be looking after you the first week! My parents came for that week, and they were a big help. I was fine on my own after that.

[marlborough]

Thanks, everybody, for your kind words and advice.  It certainly isn't something to undertake lightly.  I am feeling lucky that if cancer had to pick an organ, it was swell to pick one that can get removed relatively cleanly and that I'm not using!  Bye, bye, troublemaker. 

I am grateful to have my mother coming--if you have to be whiny about things and need intimate help, it is good to have mom on call.

[llanfair]

Thanks, everybody, for your kind words and advice.  It certainly isn't something to undertake lightly.  I am feeling lucky that if cancer had to pick an organ, it was swell to pick one that can get removed relatively cleanly and that I'm not using!  Bye, bye, troublemaker. 

I am grateful to have my mother coming--if you have to be whiny about things and need intimate help, it is good to have mom on call.

Is it ever! I actually had to go home from the hospital to my mother's house - the SO had a nasty cold and one thing you don't want right after belly surgery is a cough.  Mom spoiled me rotten, which was just what was wanted.