Hello,

I haven't been to this site in a while. But I have been interneting alot recently. I found out last Friday that I am headed for a Hystorectomy. I have been having "peri-menopause" symptoms for a couple of years now. But my heavy periods got so bad, that I went in and had an endo - ablation done last January. Hoping this would fix things, and it did for a couple of months. In may I had another heavy period, but then in June I did nothing. Just had all the symptoms, cramping, bloating, all the good stuff. So I am thinking, ok maybe this is the end or the beginning of the end. 2 weeks ago my period came back with such force, I thought I would bleed out before I got to the dr. Office. When I got there, she just looked at me and said, that's it. your uterus is out of here. I guess she saw some small fibroids when she did the ablation, but hoped that maybe the proceedure would get them. Not so, they are still there and they are not giving up. So, now I am scheduled for August 19th to have everything out. I have never had and operation of any kind, so all the unknowns are pretty scary. My own family has not been overly supportive so far. My husband is a dear. He is just as scared as I am, but he keeps a good front and gives out hugs anytime I need them.
Tthanks for listening
Norma

Best thing I ever did for myself was the hysterectomy at 30......I felt wonderful. The only drawback is not knowing where in your cycle you are...because obviously no period right...I wish you all the best....loads of positive thoughts coming at you. Keep us updated okay!!

normalita

Can I just say-if you have a choice, I would suggest on asking that your ovaries be left? Usually if you have a hysterectomy over the age of 45 the ovaries are removed routinely, in the very rare incidence that some time in the future the patient may have ovarian cancer.

I had to have mine removed-even though they were healthy-when I was 54 -because I had uterine cancer.I had a very hard time without mine and joined another site as well as this one-Hystersisters.

I have read such a lot of posts on that site from poor women who had hysterectomies for conditions such as yours and had their healthy ovaries removed routinely without even being consulted. They were having anger and huge regrets over this because they felt so dreadful and could not get themselves over it. It is terribly hard on your body even at menopause to have your ovaries removed because despite what people think, they do not just shrivel up and die. They still continue making smaller but essential amounts of hormones including normal levels of testosterone-responsible for libido and energy years after menopause.

I am now heading for 4 years since my surgery and I am only just beginning to feel ok with very little hormonal support. There is no guarantee as to whether HRT can be tolerated-I am one of the unlucky ones who cannot use it although I am using testosterone which has helped. I suggest you least ask about the possibility of keeping your ovaries. It is a huge thing to have them removed unneccesarily. The term for this is "female castration". That just about sums it up.

As for the actual hysterectomy-well that can only improve your life-as Medium has suggested. I assume as she had her hyst so young that her ovaries were not removed.
I hope you will think about what I have said and will understand that I am not trying to freak you out. I just think sometimes we women are not properly informed and given all the choices. It is after all your body!
Good luck with the surgery

janet c

Yes Janet...sorry I should have mentioned that. I had my hysterectomy at 30....they left the ovaries.

Hi Their,

I just thought I would throw in my experience. Towards the end of last year, I was having horrific problems. I was hemoraghing 2 x a month. Horrible clots etc. They did an internal & external sonogram, and found I had a huge fibroid tumor. The gyno doctor immedietly wanted to do a hysterectomy. I said no, thus started my journey into studying hormones. Well after all that I had read, I knew that I was estrogen dominant, and realize I had been for a longgggg time. I started on bio-identical progesterone about 5 months ago, this put me on a 23 day cycle, and now I just bleed normally. Look up all the e dominant symtoms, I had 99% of them, they are all gone now.

I dont' know if you had your hormone levels checked, but I have seen where their were alot of women that had uneeded hysterecomy's. If it were me, (and it was lol) I would get your hormones check, if bio-progesterone works for you, you would spare yourself alot of possible future problems.

~Hugs

It looks like you received very good advice from everyone. I had an endometrial ablation for heavy bleeding that ended up buying me a little time before my hysterectomy due to endometrosis. I requested that one or both ovaries be left in provided they looked healthy. One ovary had to be removed due to the endometrosis. I have never regretted the surgery or the outcome. It seems you have nothing to lose by trying hormonal treatment to try to shrink the fibroid.

Thanks everyone, it was all good advice and believe me I have tried everything. I tried progesterone cream for a while and all I did was rub it on, it didn't help in the slightest. I have avoided HRT because of breast caner that runs in my family. I did the ablation that worked for a couple of months then all my symptoms came back and was making up for lost time. I trust my doctor and I am not in the least upset to loose my uterus. The doc tested my hormone levels, but the results are not back yet. So, there will have to be more discussion at that time. The overies are still up for discussion also. I have a nurse friend that had everything out and she said it was the best choice she made. So I have heard both ways. I will be 55 in November. I just feel that if my periods have not stopped on thier own by now, I need to make it stop. I understand the risks, I have done nothing but google every part of the operation, the recovery, I even watched a video of a vaginal Hyst on You tube. The biggest thing I have going right now is people to talk to. Of my group of friends, my nurse friend is the only one who has been through this. None of the women in my family have gone through this, I am the first. My mom comes from the old school and will not tell me if any of my other grandmothers or aunts have been through a hyst. She did tell me that "something like this happened to your grandmother once" but that is all she will say. So I have to look else where for support. I appreciate your responses to my post very much. I will come back often and I will post how things went or are going as we get closer to my August 19th date.
Thanks again
Norma

I had the uterus and cervix removed last year and I am so happy it is gone !

Insist they leave your ovaries and also do the surgery vaginally or via davinci surgery. You will be up and going in no time flat. Just don't do anything strenuous for several months, you have one chance to heal!

I had a hyster over a year ago via the "davinci method." Awesome way to go!! I was up and walking without pain within 24 hours!!!