First of all, let me go on record as saying that I have no vested financial interest in whether or not women have hysterectomies, since I confine my practice to surgical procedures that I can do in the office.
Second, let’s get our terms straight. A hysterectomy is removal of the uterus. Removal of the ovaries is called an oophorectomy. While it is true that sometimes both procedures are done at the same time, one must be careful to speak of these procedures separately, because they have different indications and different outcomes.
Okay, now that we have that settled, let’s talk.
It is estimated that in 1999, the last year for which we have data, there were some 600,000 hysterectomies performed in the United States.
Is that too many hysterectomies? I’m sure it is. Are there unnecessary hysterectomies being performed? I’d bet money on it. Are there non-surgical options for many of the conditions we use hysterectomy to treat? You bet there are.
But this does not mean that hysterectomies are bad operations.
That’s not what the HERS folks think. They want to see hysterectomies abolished. They tout data from uncontrolled studies and surveys to prove that hysterectomies lead to everything from decreased libido to impaired sexual function to obesity. And that anything other than a hysterectomy is better than the hysterectomy. The media don’t always help the discussion, especially when the only data they quote is the uncontrolled survery data from HERS. It’s all so simple for them. Hysterectomy = Bad. Anything else = Good.
What they do not tell you is that when it is indicated, a hysterectomy can save lives, restore sexual function, eliminate bleeding, resolve pain and improve the quality of life overall. But no one talks about the positive aspects of the surgery.
And no one talks about the many, many women out there who are suffering from heavy bleeding, pain and reduced quality of life because they have been led to believe that hysterectomy is a bad operation. They may spend years trying every other option under the sun so that they can avoid the dreaded operation that might give them back their lives. Some will make it finally to menopause with their uterus intact, but will have lost those years to pain and bleeding in return. Others will eventually give up the good fight and have the dreaded hysterectomy. And the most frequent comment I hear from these latter patients is this – “Why did I wait so long?’
It’s true. When hysterectomies are performed for indicated conditions, and when women make a well-informed decision to have the surgery, they tell me they would make the same decision over again.
This has not been my experience with my patients who have had myomectomies, the favorite surgery of the HERs foundation.
I have had more than a few patients regret their decision to have a myomectomy when, less than 5 years later, they are back with new fibroids larger and more symptomatic than their previous ones. “Why didn’t I just have a hysterectomy then?” they will say, or more disturbing to me “Why did I let everyone talk me out of a hysterectomy”?
Look, if you are 25 and have fibroids and haven’t had your kids yet, then absolutely a myomectomy is the operation you most likely will want. The surgery carries risks, but these pale for most women compared with the thought of not being able to have children.
But women who are done childbearing, and are taking the time out of their busy lives to have major surgery, should at least be given the opportuity to consider having the operation that will solve the problem forever – a hysterectomy.
As to the long term effect of hysterectomy, there are a number of well-done prospective studies showing that removal of the uterus alone does not impact sexual function. In fact, if reserved for women who really need it, sexual function in my practice experience, is often improved.
Is hysterectomy the only option for the conditions I listed above? For most benign conditions, the answer is absolutely not. But it is an option, and a very viable option. For many women, it is their best option.
Hysterectomy deserves consideration and discussion as much as any other procedure. To label it as being bad, or to try to convince women that they should not have this surgery is as much a disservice to women as performing an unnecessary hysterectomy.
Thanks to Kevin, Md for pointing me to the Time/CNN article on hysterectomy.
My hysterectomy was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made! It’s been 10 wonderful years! Before, there were at least 7 days a month where I had to be careful of what I did/where I was. Golf, only if there were bathrooms (or outhouses) on the course; mountain walks, hiking, etc. off limits; long bike rides, nope.
It has been the most liberated 10 years of my adult life. I wish I’d had it done 10 years earlier!
I think it should be as elective as having your nose fixed or your tummy tucked!
(mine was medically recommended after other options proved ineffective – what a waste)
This article only proves what I’ve always said: women don’t have penis envy; men have uterus envy.
I agree 100% – like Katiez, my hysterectomy was the best decision I ever made. For two to three days a month, the bleeding was so heavy I could not go an entire 90 minute class without having to change pads and tampons – *NOT* ideal when you’re the professor! After the surgery, not only did my libido improve, but so did my overall health. I will always be grateful to my doctor, who told me that in my case, the hysterectomy was the only option that made sense.
Note to my readers:
I have removed a comment posted here by the HERS foundation because it contained what I believe are misleading medical statements about hysterectomy, and I do not wish to host such misleading information here. When their website allows posting of opposing points of view, they are free to comment here.
You may visit their website, to which I have linked in my post if you wish to get their point of view.
I also removed a post that had some very mild profanity, and welcome the poster to repost without it.
TBTAM,
Nice post! I must say it frustrates me when my patient’s tell me that they had a “complete” hysterectomy rather than a hysterectomy and oophorectomy. Thank you for including the definition in your post.
Now as a woman who had both the myomectomy (didn’t relieve my pain or cramps) and a TAH & BSO (which did), I think the hysterectomy is very often the right choice. Shouldn’t each woman and her doctor decide? Not some organization like HERS.
Go Girl! Count me in as another ob/gyn who was angered by the CNN article’s implication that myomectomy is always better than hyst; this approach puts many women through 2 surgeries – with their risks and costs – where one would do. Myomectomy or embolization are approaches I use all the time, but they should not be universal or mandatory before hyst in fibroids.
As a slight change in topic, where do you send your patients considering hyst for online info/support that’s balanced, if they ask for that? I used to send people to hystersisters, and I still like/mention it, but it seems much more commercialized than it used to be. Yeah, I have written handouts that I give, but people naturally want third-party information that’s written at an accessible level. (Of course, with an outpatient practice you might not run into this problem.)
RL Bates: Glad to hear you ultimately had a good outcome. What’s important is that each woman make the choice that’s right for her.
Anonymous:
Hadn’t heard of hystersisters till now – their site isn’t bad, but I found it a bit difficualt to navigate and a lot of ads as you way.
I may not do the surgery myself, but I do a fair amount of pre op counseling anyway. I don’t have a single site that I refer to, I hand out some literature and do the rest myself. The problem I continue to have is that so much lumps hysterectomy in with oophorectomy, and we really need to talk about the procedures separately.
Well said!
In some places, though, I think the pendulum has swung too far:
I have many patients for whom hysterectomy is appropriate and their preferred option, but the gyns I send them to still insist on going through all the “medical options” (that I’ve already done) before doing the damn surgery.
I actually had my LAVH done by Dr. Parker – the MD quoted in the CNN article. I basically had to INSIST on the surgery for my severe endometriosis after other options had failed (including excision of the endometriosis by a skilled surgeon). Parker initially refused to do the surgery. Got an MRI done where I worked and it showed adenomyosis. Armed with the MRI went back to Parker. Only then would he consider surgery in a 37 yo without children. He said it was literally the most difficult surgery of his career due to the massive adhesions in my pelvis.
Post op my pain relief was amazing and I was able to stop the narcotics I had been taking for over a year. For the first time in my life I was able to have sex without pain. Wished I had done it sooner.
As a non-surgeon, I tend to encourage patients to exhaust all non-operative options prior to pursuing surgical intervention.
However, I have not failed to note that the hysterectomy is the procedure about which I hear most often “It’s the best decision I ever made.” And I think that says something.
I don’t hear that about their sinus surgery, or their lumbar fusion.
You are more than welcome to post comments on HERS blog:
http://hysterectomyinformation.blogspot.com/
May I add my sister’s story? At 32 she first requested a hysterectomy. Horrible cramping two fulls weeks of the month. Each period lasted 8-10 days, 2-4 of which meant a new pad every 2 hours. She never planned to have children. She tried for three years to find a doctor who would do the surgery but was always told to go on the pill and wait because she “might change her mind” about giving birth. She was so insulted.
She gave up trying, but kept bleeding. Ten years later, the heavy bleeding turned to passing large tissue clots and more pain. She was told she was “peri-menopausal” and that it was a “natural process”.
A couple of years later she got to the point where her periods were lasting 3 weeks straight. She was so disheartened by then that she was just putting up with it. Changing pads every hour for days and days at a time.
Finally, one day she went to her family practice doctor for something else and passed out in the waiting room. That is what it took for her to get a hysterectomy. Twelve years after first asking for help she delivered nine pounds of healthy, happy bouncing fibroids. Seven pints of blood pumped through her arm. An abdominal emergency surgery that could have been done vaginally years earlier if she hadn’t been patronized and written off as just another woman complaining about her period.
By the way, now she feels great. Her energy level is through the roof, her confidence has returned, she feels free to go and do what she wants to – I am so very happy to see her be the sister I grew up with!
TBTAM,
Please remove the comment with the word “d*mn” in it.
anaonymous: I already did – feel free to repost your comment without it.
I’d like to add that for early stage endometrial or cervical cancer, where hysterectomy has cure rates similar to those of radiation therapy, if given a choice (and assuming I wouldn’t need both), I would ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS choose a hysterectomy over radiation.
I had a supracervical hysterectomy in 2001. Best decision I’ve ever made. I had been dealing with literally not being able to leave the house for three days out of every month. I was anemic and exhausted. My doctor tried hard to talk me into a myomectomy, but I knew I didn’t want kids (she thought that at 37, I might change my mind), and that I didn’t want to have to go through surgery twice.
Any time someone says “I’m sorry” upon finding out, I reply, “I’m not”.
I had a hysterectomy (against my wishes) my uterus was normal. This has been difficult for me. Intercourse (I hope this word is allowed) is difficult as it wont take the full length. Orgasms (is this allowed?) are truncated. I know it is an individual choice but to say it is equated with having your nose fixed or tummy tucked is horrendous (imho). I feel mutilated.
I am only 46 years old and my sex life has taken a nose dive. Any suggestions as to how to restore it?
I wish that I had died during my hysterectomy surgery, at age 25. If I had been told the truth about the devastating after-effects of the surgery before the surgery, I would have chosen death, instead. However, articles like yours and some of your bloggers helped to sway my decision to accept my physician’s suggestion that the surgery would solve my medical problems created by an ovarian cyst. After 35 years of living hell since the surgery, it is now clearer to me that the cause of my ovarian cyst was due to the many and varied types of hormone treatments received from my physicians during the 2 years preceding the operation. I did not know then, that Traditional Chinese Medicine which includes Acupuncture and Herbal treatments, along with a variety of other gentle, non-invasive healing modalities will treat the ‘cause’ of most dis-eases especially when we adopt a healthy lifestyle as well. The idea that removing a part of the physical body, (which was created to function as a whole) could solve the ‘cause’ of any dis-ease did not sound logical to me at age 25. Thirty-five years later, it still does not sound logical and I am living proof that it is not. Seems to me you have traded one set of symptoms for another when you remove body parts. How can a woman experience a uterine orgasm without a uterus? How can a man experience an erection without the necessary body part?
I had a hysterectomy to remove fibroids at age 47. I was in good health other than heavy periods. My doctor told me that I didn’t need my uterus; it was the cause of all my problems and I would feel a lot better without it. There were also a couple of women who had hysterectomies who advised me that I might as well have my uterus taken out because I didn’t need it anymore. Despite my doctor telling me that he would only remove my ovaries and cervix if there was something wrong with them, that is, if they were affedcted by cancer, I ended up having everything taken out – the total pelvic cleanout. My life was turned upside down. It took me six months just to return to full time work. My relationships and career have been irreparably damaged. I beg other women not to believe this nonsense we get from doctors and those women who believe that the female body is naturally flawed, that we will feel a lot better if we don’t bleed anymore. Unless you have confirmed cancer, please pursue and exhaust all other treatment options before you allow your vital female organs to be removed. Men don’t have their non cancerous penis and testicles removed as elective surgery because they know that these are vital organs. Women are being conned to believe that their reproductive organs are not just as vital as a man’s are to a healthy sexual life. Synthetic hormones cannot replace what the surgeon takes away. The few women I have met who say their hysterectomy was a good thing usually kept their ovaries and cervix; really hated having periods (they have been conditioned early in life that periods are a real turn off to guys); and generally favour other forms of surgery to remodel their natural body e.g. breast enhancement, lipo and tummy tucks etc. From my experience speaking to women who say they are glad they had their womb removed, these women were never satisfied with the female body they were born with and so were willing to let a surgeon redesign it for them and eradicate those intolerable flaws like menstrual bleeding. I just wish I had challenged the doctor who insisted that I needed a hysterectomy. If I didn’t have private medical insurance, I would still have my uterus and ovaries intact. Don’t kid yourself. It is a profit motive which drives the hysterectomy industry. When your doctor tells you you need a hysterectomy, ask him “Would I still need it if I didn’t have privbate hospital insurance cover?”
As devastating as losing one’s sensuality and childbearing abilities are, they pale in comparison to the loss of being able to cope with the most basic day-to-day, minute- to-minute struggles which hysterectomy surgery creates. I do not understand why it is that physicians and their patients emphasize the sexual and childbearing aspects of the surgery. For me, they have been the least of my concerns, after surgery. There can be more to life than sex and reproduction if one can function otherwise ‘normally’. So far these same physicians have not provided any answers on how to achieve this, post surgery, and it’s been 35 years and counting. Every man and woman should sign the HERS Foundation Petition at http://www.hersfoundation.org/anatomy
requesting it be made mandatory for every woman to be given access to the free DVD “Female Anatomy: the Functions of the Female Organs” before she signs a hysterectomy surgery consent form. Hopefully, this will be adopted worldwide.
The stories told on this blog give details of gradually worsening physical symptoms over time, then the surgical ‘solution’ while under the care of physicians. What’s wrong with this picture? Lets start looking for healing practitioners who will help us work to improve our symptoms (before surgery). They do exist. With their help perhaps surgery may be avoided. Check for all available information and options including the ‘Alternative/Complimentary’ information found online. Try http://www.hacres.com . Try your Health Food Store. Also, check HERS Foundation website for free counseling and information
Having your uterus amputated and sewn into a closed pocket is a horrifying experience. It would be similar to a man having parts of his sex organs amputated. I wonder if men would lie to other men about the side effects of having their sex organs removed to protect their self image, I doubt it. Scientists don’t even know the biological make up of all of the hormones produced by a womens uterus yet, it is at this point in time, a vast unknown.
At 44 years old, I went into ER with severe abdominal pain. I had never had any female problems prior to that. I always had light uneventful periods. I was diagnosed with possible ovarian torsion. I had no bleeding and my vitals were normal. From that point, I was told I was going to be given a total hysterectomy. Why? When I questioned it, no one would answer me, and the doctor seemed to be trying to sell me a total hysterectomy. I was told that I could be totally recovered in two weeks. I was in pain, drugged and knew I needed help. I made my doctor promise only to do what was absolutely necessary. I woke up with a total hysterectomy. My ovaries, uterus and cervix were amputated instead of just removing the cyst. The doctor told me it was necessary and that he had to take everything. According to him, he had to amputate my uterus because there was a less than 1 cm fibroid on it. There was nothing wrong with my uterus, cervix and my other ovary He never attempted to untwist the ovary with torsion. He made no attempt to do anything but gut me, and worse, forced it on me. Now I have chronic lower abdominal pain for the first time in my life. I have severe night sweats, hot flashes and overall weakness. My ability to have an orgasm has decreased by about 90%. This is truly a nightmare. I never wanted a hysterectomy, made it clear, and there was no medical basis for it, but all my healthy female organs are in the garbage somewhere. At over 600,000 women being hysterectomized a year, there is no shortage of doctor’s willing to do it. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that when you look around and realize that every one out of three women you look at under the age of 60 have been gutted in the U.S, it is clear there is something very wrong going on. How could a 1/3 of the women, only in the U.S. need to have all their female organs amputated? There’s only one way for a doctor to do an unnecessary hysterectomy, and that is to lie to the patient. I would like to see one doctor post here and tell us what the standard of care is for a hysterectomy? What would make it necessary? Under what circumstances, other than cancer would the benefits outweigh the risks? Anyone?
I was assured that I was going to feel better than I ever did, in my life, by the convincing obgyn who tricked me with legally false information in writing. I was given a total hysterectomy, for a fibroid tumor, with cancer scare tactics, and told it would be a six to eight week recovery time. I have never felt worse, I have little sexual sensation in the closed pocket of pain I was left with. I have abdominal pain, vaginal pocket pain, severe vaginal dryness and a morbid loss of energy, my stomach is now protruding oddly, and I am unable to sleep. The hormonal damage to my body is extreme, and was not discussed beforehand with honesty. I would warn any women to seek medical attention from an internist, or anything other than a hysterectomy. Hysterectomy is the removal of your sex organ, how can they say you will feel better than ever? For the money? At the cost of a womens health and wellbeing for the rest of her life. My husband has watched me suffer and cared for me for the past eleven months, he watched as I went from a healthy, loving, energetic, wife and sexual partner, to a disabled human being. These are real women talking now, not doctors, and I plan to have my husband write tomorrow. I agree with the women who posted before me. These are women’s lives ruined for the rest of their lives, and their tortured husbands exist, too. Bring it on, these phony laws permitting doctors to lie, must be changed.
In respone to rlbates comment: “Shouldn’t each woman and her doctor decide? Not some organization like HERS.” If we lived in a world where gynecologists were honest, that sounds like a good idea, but unfortunately we don’t. Do you really think they want to give up over 600,000 major surgeries a year? Can you imagine how that would impact their income? HERS has no financial stake in stopping these doctors from hacking up women. I had gone to my gyn for over 20 years. I thought he was a good person, but unfortunately he was on a mission to amputate all my sex organs and lied to me to do it. I am a real person who did not need a hysterectomy and it did far more damage than good. Now I have to live with it. Someone needs to stop these criminals from lying and butchering women.
Your information here is not at all the state of the arte of MODERN GENDER MEDICINE!Your information would have been right before the two world wars but not in our century!
The only indication for hysterectomy is cancer! And for other benign illness of the uterus there are enough alternatives today because of the knowledge of MODERN MEDICINE and GENDER MEDICINE – and this is the new evidenced based medicine!And if a woman must loose the uterus because of Cancer she MUST be supported in all ways: physical and psychological! This should be the normal HUMAN reaction to the lost of an reproductive organ!
To cut off the whole uterus for benign reasons is an OLD FASHIONED and CRUEL method! And modern and well skilled doctors know perfectly about the importance of the uterus for a woman’s health. And YOU don’t tell here that if you are cutting off the uterus you are diminishing at the same time 40 to 50% of the blood flow directly to the ovaries!
And you don’t mention the psychosociological aspects of this cruel method for the woman’s whole life!
Maybe you are not instructed by the research about the woman’s body in the last 30 years? It seems so! The new women generation is already used to get informations thanks of the Internet! And every intelligent woman can inform herself about the alternatives,about the opinions of the best doctors worldwide and the procedure and consequences of hysterectomy on medical sites of the best doctors in the world!And these doctors don’t share at all your old fashioned opinon!
I add here the links to the statements of the National College of Gynecologists of FRANCE and the website of the well knon austrian endocrionolgist Dr. Johannes Huber and the website of doctors from an hosptial in Vienna, who are specialized in preserving the female organs during surgery!
But I fear that you don’t speak french or german!
http://www.cngof.asso.fr/d_cohen/coB_19.htm#haut
http://www.drhuber.at/medizin/endoskopie/myome.html
http://www.endofem.at/pressetext.htm
Your information here is really misleading and so old fashioned that I am really astonished that this is possible in our days!
I only hope that every woman would be critical enough to inform herself on the NEW MEDICAL OPINION OF GENDER MEDICINE ABOUT THE REAL CONSEQUENCES OF CUTTING OUT THE UTERUS!
Anonymous:
A hysterectomy is absolutely NOT the equivalent of a nose job – it is major surgery that should never be performed without a clear medical indication, and full consent of the patient. I am sorry to hear that this may not have been the case with your surgery.
Note that while I argue that hysterectomy is an important treatment option, by no means am I arguing that every woman should have one, or that you should have had one.
If you libido is impacted, perhaps you also had an oophorectomy – removal of the varies – if that is the case, you can consider hormone replacement.
Take care.
Gail Sharpe:
I think I was pretty clear in my post that there are unnecessary hysterectomies and that removal of the ovaries is a separate operation that has different consequences than a hysterectomy.
There are many options short of a hysterectomy and removal of the ovaries for dealing with an ovarian cyst, not the least of which is removal of the cyst itself, hormonal treatments, etc. Without knowing more about your case it is very hard to comment further, but it sounds like you had more surgery than may have been needed for whatever it was that you had.
I probably refer less than a handful of patients for hysterectomy each year. I see many, many more women that that who are suffering from fibroids, abnormal bleeding, endometriosis and other conditions for which historically hysterectomy was the only treatment option. My patients receieve full informatiomn on ALL their treatment options, including surgical, and we decide together what is best FOR THEM. For the record, I saw five patients this week with fibroids, and none of them is getting surgery.
I think the previous comments are testimony to the fact that when an informed decision is made, and in the right patient, hysterectomy can be the right choice.
As to herbal medicines, I know of no herbal remedies that have been proven to be effective for the gynecologic conditions that lead to hysterectomy. If reliable data are ever published, I will be ther first to offer such remedies.
Best,
TBTAM
Anonymous #2:
I am surprised to hear such cruel generalizations about the women who are happy with their choices. I think we need to be supportive of one another and our choices.
As to the profit motive – what’s mine?
Again, hysterectomy does NOT include removal of the ovaries. As to leaving the cervix, that’s an individual choice for each woman to make – research has not shown a major difference in outcomes, sexual or otherwise, but every surgeon I refer to offers supracervial hysterectomy for those women who prefer that surgical approach. And none removes ovaries unless there is cancer or it is specifically requested by the woman (some women really do want them out, especially those with family histories of ovarian cancer, and I respect their choices.)…
Best,
TBTAM
Anonymous:
As I’ve said, I believe that there are many unnecessary hysterectomies being performed in the United States, and any unnecessary surgery is wrong.
My issue is that those who oppose hysterectomy are using unsupported, sometimes incorrect and certainly misleading information to convince women that ALL hysterectomies are bad. This is clearly not the case, as I think the testimonies above have shown.
At the same time, in no way am I arguing that all hysterectomies are good. I am arguing that hysterectomy is a very viable option that should not be dismissed out of hand.
Make sure you always get a second (or third or fourth) opinion before undertaking any major surgery such as a hysterectomy, and get as informed a health care consumer as you can be.
Peace,
TBTAM
Hysterectomy ruined my wife. It took her from a happy, vibrant, energetic women to a person with a life-long set of problems. I feel betrayed by the medical industry period. They destroyed my wife’s health for money, by not giving us the correct information about my wife’s condition, minimizing the hysterectomy, and lying about sex after hysterectomy. If we would have been given the accurate information beforehand, we never would have done it. For the past eleven months, I have felt terrible watching my wife suffer, and feel guilty that I did not look it up on the computer. The arrogant treatment, by these so called physicians, after they tricked us, was like a horror movie. I would strongly urge all men to not let this happen to any women in your life. If it weren’t for the, Hersfoundation.org.. I am not sure my wife would even be alive today. The Hersfoundation, has not asked us for one penny for all of the help they have given us. Don’t get this operation without getting the real information from the Hersfoundation, I wish I had.
TBTAM: You are right, it was way more surgery than necessary. I had a dermoid cyst. A benign cyst of the ovary. That was it. No cancer, no other problems. So I was completely butchered and mutilated. Why would a doctor do that? Care to speculate? What is not mentioned here is that this type of thing is done to women all the time. While you agree that unnecessary hysterectomy and ovary removal happens, you don’t seem to be concerned about the devastation that it causes women while you are defending and promoting it. Oh yeah, well maybe I had more surgery than I needed, big deal, right? Well, it’s a huge deal and has taken away my ability to enjoy sex and mutilated me and caused me multiple health problems. I was perfectly healthy prior to that. You are promoting a surgery that is done to women at an astronomical rate and mostly at no health benefit for the woman (on the contrary, it causes all kinds of health problems). How many of the over 600,000 per year do you think are actually needed and benefit the patient? You can read all over the internet of womens’ stories and how they are told they need a hysterectomy. Very few are given any alternatives. Most women don’t really know why they are getting one. They are told they are a mess, or oh, you have a cyst, it all has to go. Or the dreaded tumor, yep, it all has to go. That is the norm. Unlike most women, I acquired my medical records and educated myself and learned I had been lied to from beginning to end. Suggesting HRT as a remedy for having all your organs hacked out is insane. HRT is dangerous. I was given it and started having massive headaches (one of the side effects is stroke). I have no sex drive, and my ability to achieve an orgasm has been so compromised that it’s sickening. While you may not promote unnecessary hysterectomy, you seem to only have tunnel vision. One-third of the women in the U.S. do not have their sex organs. How do you explain that? There will always be plenty of doctors willing to butcher women for their own financial gain. What we need are specific standards so that no woman is ever given an unnecessary hysterectomy and/or ovary removal; so that no woman is uninformed of all the alternatives and risks. At this time, that is not reality. I am still waiting for any doctor to post the elusive standard of care for hysterectomy and ovary removal. Anyone?
The HERS Foundation has no financial stake in hysterectomy. The HERS Foundation will not make money if doctors are no longer allowed to butcher women at alarming rates. On the contrary, gynecologists and hospitals are making billions every year. Who is more objective?
Anonymi:
Your personal stories of adverse outcomes are proof that unnecessary removal of the ovaries or uterus can indeed have tragic outcomes.
And the stories of those who are happy with their surgery shows that when performed for real indications and in a well-informed patients, the outcomes can be positive.
As to standards, they indeed exist. As I think my patients’ experience has shown, when these standards are applied, excellent outcomes can result.
Best,
TBTAM
To TBTAM
You keep defending your actions here and in your article of promoting hysterectomy surgery, for whatever reasons you mention. I have no problem in sharing my own pre-surgery details for you and others to ponder the whys and wherefores on the necessity for the surgery. However, I encourage you not to keep ignoring the cries of the vast numbers of women (and the men who love them) by placing your focus on … ‘was the surgery necessary?’ The surgeries can not be reversed and too many of us were given incorrect, inadequate and even false information about the after-effects, before we consented. Hysterectomized victims are now focusing on trying to get doctors to stop obtaining ‘consent forms’ from their patients for this surgery, without their patients being fully informed and without using deceit to gain consent from patients. Will you sign the HERS Petition? Will you encourage other doctors to also sign? You do not have to give a public reply. Your actions will speak louder than any written or spoken word. You have deleted the HERS BLOG from your website because of, … … ‘what I believe are misleading medical statements about hysterectomy’. Those of us who have benefited from the HERS Foundation’s free help and information say, SHAME on you! Please post ‘the other side of the story’ from HERS!
Your other comment to me about you not having any ‘proven’ information about herbal remedies that are ‘effective for the gynecologic conditions that lead to hysterectomy’ is understandable and appears to be in line with your above comment regarding HERS … ‘misleading medical statements about hysterectomy…’ Native Americans and other so-called ‘uncivilized’ people who have existed from time began, did not have the FDA and AMA to prohibit them from using their God given provisions, like herbs and whole foods, for health and healing. They did not ban free speech, not victimize whistle blowers like Kevin Trudeau (author of, Natural Remedies They Don’t Want You to Know About, and, More Natural Cures Revealed). Health is everyone’s God given right and we need to stop worshiping ‘medical doctors’ as if they alone can make informed decisions for us all. Surgery and modern science have their place in our lives. However, that place should not exclude our own personal participation in our own health care information gathering and decision making. How can we do this if people like you are too fragile to allow the posting of opposing views from resourceful sources like HERS by calling it ‘misleading’?
If you look at the blog’s uterine diagram, you can see that the uterus is structurally important to the integrity of a woman’s pelvic floor. It serves as a part of her pelvic floor. It supports both the bowel and the bladder. The uterus is able to do all this because it is itself suspended from her spine by ligaments in a sling like fashion. These ligaments also serve as conduits for circulation and for nerves. The uterus has a large blood supply. It has to for it to be able to support a baby’s growth. The uterine arteries not only supply the ovaries but other pelvic organs as well (like the vagina). To remove the uterus, the ligaments, blood supply and nerves must be severed as well. To remove the uterus quite literally is to leave a hole in a woman’s pelvic floor. A hole that her bladder and/or bowel is likely to prolapse into.
The blogger who wrote that the uterus is an endocrine organ is correct. That is, that the uterus secretes substances for use in other parts of the body.
As to the uterus and sex, I will quote from Master’s and Johnson’s “Human Sexual Response,” 1966, chapter 17, under orgasmic phase, “Female orgasmic experience usually is expressed over a longer time sequence. It has onset with contractions of the uterine musculature and of the vaginal orgasmic platform. The uterine contractions develop in the fundus and move toward the lower uterine segment. Concomitant with the onset of uterine contractions is the development of contractions of the orgasmic platform in the outer third of the vagina. These two physiologic responses to overwhelming sexual tension provide the sensations of total pelvic contraction that the sexually oriented woman identifies with orgasmic expression.”
In an intact woman, uterine contractions occur in part because the ovaries secrete oxytocin. (Just as physicians use synthetic oxytocin, pitocin, to induce labor.) Oxytocin not only causes contractions but it is also a stress reliever and, most importantly, the hormone of mating and maternal behaviour. A woman’s mind is used to ovarian and uterine sensation/stimulation. Without it,a woman can feel very alienated– even from those who love her most.
This helps explain the many psychosociological problems that often follow hysterectomy and ovary removal.
And the “best thing I ever did women?” One, some women, for whatever reason, never liked sex and/or their body. Two, some cope thru denial and thru secrecy. In a very sexual world, women do not want to thought of as asexual. Three, some women do not equate their health problems to their surgeries. And, four, “misery loves company” –and won’t get others to join her if she tells the truth about these procedures.
I will tell you that I went to a nursing home and asked several lucid residents about hysterectomy. All openly spoke up against it. Removed from everyday social nuances, their voices were quite clear on the subject.
None of this is news to the medical community. Women have cried in terror from the first. Old gyn texts give ample testimony to their desperate mental distress as well as to hysterectomy and ovary removal’s often devastating health results. BTW, the ovaries are a woman’s gonads and their removal is medically termed castration.
There is a huge gender divide between the conservative care that men routinely receive regarding sexual, endocrine, and reproductive organs as compared to the routinely destructive care that women receive. Men’s parts are spared while women are parted out. The lack of truly informed consent is instrumental to creating- and maintaining- this disparity of treatment.
It is my fervent hope that one day doctors will realize not only how much harm is being done to their patients but also realize that the medical profession is never again viewed in the same light as it was prior to the unnecessary hysterectomy and/or ovary removal. Not by the woman afflicted, nor her like tortured husband, nor anyone else that she can reach– with her outstretched gyn text. Or, better yet, a HERS brochure.
Gail and anonymous:
No one is denying you your personal experiences, accusing you of not knowing your own body, or demeaning your experience of your hysterectomy. I find your comments about other women surpisingly insensitive and cruel given that you purport to protect women.
Again, please remember that oophorectomy and hysterectomy are distinct procedures. To speak of them as the same serves only to confuse.
As for HERs, I believe they have their own web site, which anyone who wishes is free to visit. This one is mine.
For the record, I will not sign any petition that would require every doctor to provide a HERS DVD containing medically inaccurate information and uncontrolled survey data to every woman considering hysterectomy before allowing her to consent to surgery. Let’s see, 600,000 hysterectomies a year x $5 per DVD – that’s 3 million annually to HERs. Hmm.. Financial conflict?
Finally, to all, the data on hysterectomy rates is over 5 years old. In the intervening years since 1999, the last year the CDC has reported data, I have seen a dramatic decline in hysterectomy rates in my area due to the introduction of new and effective means of treating fibroids, dysfunctional bleeding and endometriosis. I am speaking, of course, about Uterine artery embolization, the Mirena IUD and GnRH Agonist add-back therapy. Looking into my crystal ball, I predict that when the next CDC data are published,we will see much, much lower numbers of hysterectomies than in 1999. All due to advances in medical science that have been embraced by physicians and patients alike, and all supported by solid medical research. Despite these, hysterectomy remains in my armamentarium as an effective treatment for a select group of women who, in my experince, will have good outcomes.
‘Nuf said. I’m outta’ this discussion. Or as Linda Richman would say – “Talk amongst yourselves.”
Interesting how you used the gross profit of what the DVD cost instead of figuring out that there is really little left over for the HERS Foundation when you consider the price of postage, packaging, DVD and time to copy. No one will be getting rich. Why don’t you multiple 600,000 by what it costs for each hysterectomy? Give us that number.
I love the way that you quickly tallied up the amount of money that HERS supposedly might make while never venturing to the surgeon’s, the hospital’s or even big pharma’s financial “take and stake”. The thing is, HERS is a non profit foundation.
As to “the best thing I ever done women,”I have one for a friend. She encouraged me to have the surgery. Later, when I went to talk to her about it, she defended herself saying she still had orgasms ’cause she “could still tighten the muscles in her vagina.” The poor thing thought of a Kegel as an orgasm. She didn’t know the difference! Because she’d never had an orgasm!!You see, she had her hysterectomy at a young age. She was subsequently plagued by depression but never knew that it could be related to her surgery.
Before she was forty, she was told that she needed both knees replaced. She had and has high blood pressure that is very difficult to treat. Her heart gives her trouble and she is obese.
I brought her texts to read. To be honest, she didn’t read very much but she did stop telling everyone it was the best thing that she’d ever done.
If you can reach the women, if they can understand the chain of consequences that may follow hysterectomy and/or oophorectomy, then most will stop their promotions. I wish that I could say the same for the medical profession at large.
It’s really a shame that your well reasoned post has been slammed by these HERS wackoes, who demean and degrade women by pretending that we poor little dumb women need them to protect us from the big bad doctors.
It appears as though one or two people are writing all of these anonymous posts. By pretending to be different people, they have revealed themselves as liars.
For them to promote Kevin Trudeau, a known con man who has done jail time for credit card fraud, and has been the subject of many exposes into his illegal activity, and who takes advantage of desperately ill people by selling them books that say they can cure their cancers by changing their eating habits.
As a cancer patient, I can tell you that there is nothing more abhorrent than these promoters of “natural” or “wholeistic” cures, which make ill patients second guess their difficult treatment regimens and offer false hope.
I have no sympathy for the promoters of these “remedy’s.” They are not ignorant: they are con men and women who prey off the desperately ill.
As far as hysterectomy goes: I had one at 38 and afterwards wished I had done it years ago. Sexual function was improved, and my constant anemia, which kept me weak for yeasr, went away and I was able to fully enjoy life.
Ooperectomy is of course a more drastic operation, with the resulting side effects of premature menopause in young women. However, when it comes to women at high risk of, or in treatment for, a variety of reproductive cancers, it is not only justified, but life saving.
The HERS wackos, if successful, would cause thousands of unnecessary deaths in this country. They are truly despicable.
I was given an unnecessary total hysterectomy which has done a lot harm to me.
Prior to the unnecessary hysterectomy, I had incredible multiple orgasms all my life. Now I can barely achieve one and it’s weak and weird feeling. My doctor got paid, I got messed up for the rest of my life.
No one would die of cancer just because they were educated and informed prior to surgery.
Too bad you had to resort to name calling.
LEGAL, MEDICAL MAL-PRACTICE EXPOSED….What are you so scared of, the truth? Or the fact that a women can no longer experience a uterine orgasm after her uterus is removed, being public knowledge. The obgyn practice who removed my uterus, said, in writing “some women say, sex is better, after a hysterectomy”, they completly coached me and my husband through this cancer scare tactic surgery with false information, and it was legal. Even if a woman has cancer, she should have the correct information, let alone us poor women who were tricked. It was apparent to us that we were tricked, when I was still in the hospital. The treatment after the surgery, was uncaring, and the doctors made comments to me that made it clear that I had been tricked, like they were done with me now, after I had been a life long patient. Just a couple of the comments I lived through over several months after the surgery were: 1.) “You could have looked it up.” 2.) “Now you can get a Harley and a Tattoo.” 3.) “Stop it your going to make me laugh”, when I was in excruciating pain. 4.) “My mother likes the Black Cohosh and Blueberry, by estroven”, (his mother must be at leat eighty years old.) 5.) “Your not coping.” 6.) “Get some counciling” 7.) “It served you well”. (my uterus served me well), when it was removed by deceipt, and there are no laws to protect us. No laws to protect me, or my husband from a life-long set of problems, and unfair treatment. O.K., lets just let this happen to a couple more million women? Please do not dismiss this issue. We should have justice, but there is none, yet. Not until the laws are changed, regarding a womens unseen reproductive organs, will I personally stop fighting for this issue to protect women, and the men who love them. Signed, husband and wife, from rural, PA.
I’m anonymous whose sex life took a nose dive. Thank you for your suggestions. I choose not to go on hrt but am trying to work it out myself. I do still have the inclination to have sex (libido is a mental state). I just need to cross the barrier that an unnecessary operation was performed. I have a strong marriage and health. Those two must be utilised to getting good results. I’ve been moved by the testimonials here.
I can understand how someone with large fibriods causing severe bleeding will find life post hysterectomy a much better one. No one needs to feel imprisoned by their monthy cycle. Also with large fibriods an orgasm will be compromised as will enjoyable and pain free sex (as with endometriosis). Sure a hyst is better for a patient than radiation and above all someone with cancer should be counselled to have everything removed, no one is disputing this. Ultimately it comes down to the choice of the well informed patient. No-one should have this operation imposed upon them.
However attitudes prevailing within the medical establishment must change. Many doctors are working hard to do this. The consensus must be, as you rightly point out TBTAM, that this is a major operation. No less important than any other.
A recent article from CNN regarding unnecessary surgery.
http://cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/27/healthmag.surgery/index.html?iref=newssearch
To tbtam: What information in the, Hersfoundation DVD, “Female Anatony”, do you find inaccurate? As a foundation, the standards of accuracy are very strict for Hersfoundation. What do you specifically disagree with on Hers DVD, “Female Anatomy”?
Signed, husband and wife, from rural PA
We want doctors like TBTAM to encourage their patients to explore all the NON-SURGICAL options available, including those that TBTAM might consider ‘opposing’ views. I hope TBTAM will suggest to his patients that they visit this blog, before considering any type of surgery.
In my opinion, too often, Western medical professionals give treatments that RESULT in surgery becoming necessary, after they have treated their patients. In some cases, they have treated these patients over many, many years.
In my opinion, I received inappropriate medical treatments that RESULTED in my symptoms worsening over a two year period immediately prior to my surgery. This should have been a wake up call to me, however, because I had become so weakened and ill, I grabbed at the nearest branch and ‘quick fix’ to get out of my downward spiraling misery. The surgery, in my opinion, caused the addition of a myriad of additional worse symptoms. These additional, worse symptoms, all hidden from view, thanks to my physicians, then and now, who do not give full disclosure on the KNOWN after-effects to be expected after this surgery.
In my opinion, SUCCESSFUL, non-surgical treatment of those women who say, “It’s the best decision I ever made.” would have resulted in them not needing any surgery at all. I believe that the remedies do exist to successfully treat their symptoms, without surgery. Just my opinion. Who knows what unknown, hidden symptoms they may currently have, or develop in the future, which they will be encouraged by their physicians not to link to their surgery?
The whole body acts as a whole.
We need to save our body parts, and information gathering, is the best way to do this.
Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners do not consider their treatments successful if their patients end up needing to lose some of their body parts, after their treatments, as far as I know.
No doubt there are many other alternatives to surgery, lets keep looking for them everywhere.
Let’s also keep looking for those physicians who do not consider themselves ‘successful’ when their patients need surgery, after their prolonged medical treatments.
The below quote is from a portion of the CNN online article titled:
‘5 operations you don’t want to get — and what to do instead’
and published Friday, July 27, 2007 at website address:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/27/healthmag.surgery/index.html?iref=newssearch
What to do instead (of hysterectomy surgery)
Go knife-free. Endometrial ablation, a nonsurgical procedure that targets the uterine lining, is another fix for persistent vaginal bleeding. Health.com: Your guide to fibroid fixes
Focus on fibroids. Fibroids are a problem for 20 to 25 percent of women, but there are several specific routes to relief that aren’t nearly as drastic as hysterectomy. For instance, myomectomy, which removes just the fibroids and not the uterus, is becoming increasingly popular. And there are other less-invasive treatments out there, too.
In France in the early 1990s, a doctor who was prepping women for fibroid surgery — by blocking, or embolizing, the arteries that supplied blood to the fibroids in the uterus — noticed a number of the benign tumors either soon shrank or disappeared, and, voila, Jacques Ravina, M.D,. had discovered uterine fibroid embolization.
Since then, interventional radiologists in the United States have expanded their use of UFE (typically a one- to three-hour procedure), using injectable pellets that shrink and “starve” fibroids into submission. Based on research from David Siegel, M.D., chief of vascular and interventional radiology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, New Hyde Park, New York, 15,000 to 18,000 UFEs are performed here each year, and up to 80 percent of women with fibroids are candidates for it.
Another new fibroid treatment is high-intensity focused ultrasound, or HIFU. This even less invasive, more forgiving new procedure treats and shrinks fibroids. It’s what’s called a no-scalpel surgery that combines MRI (an imaging machine) mapping followed by powerful sound-wave “shaving” of tumor tissue.
Hysterectomy
There’s long been a concern, at least among many women, about the high rates of hysterectomy (a procedure to remove the uterus) in the United States. American women undergo twice as many hysterectomies per capita as British women and four times as many as Swedish women.
The surgery is commonly used to treat persistent vaginal bleeding or to remove benign fibroids and painful endometriosis tissue. If both the uterus and ovaries are removed, it takes away sources of estrogen and testosterone. Without these hormones, the risk of heart disease and osteoporosis rises markedly. There are also potential side effects: pelvic problems, lower sexual desire and reduced pleasure. Hysterectomies got more negative press after a landmark 2005 University of California, Los Angeles study revealed that, unless a woman is at very high risk of ovarian cancer, removing her ovaries during hysterectomy actually raised her health risks.
So why are doctors still performing the double-whammy surgery? “Our profession is entrenched in terms of doing hysterectomies,” says Ernst Bartsich, M.D., a gynecological surgeon at Weill-Cornell Medical Center in New York. “I’m not proud of that. It may be an acceptable procedure, but it isn’t necessary in so many cases.” In fact, he adds, of the 617,000 hysterectomies performed annually, “from 76 to 85 percent” may be unnecessary.
Although hysterectomy should be considered for uterine cancer, some 90 percent of procedures in the United States today are performed for reasons other than treating cancer, according to William H. Parker, M.D., clinical professor of gynecology at UCLA and author of the ’05 study. The bottom line, he says: If a hysterectomy is recommended, get a second opinion and consider the alternatives.
Funny that there is all this stink about doctors pushing unneeded surgeries on unsuspecting women when in fact (as I posted above) my sister tried for YEARS to get help but was refused over and over. Had she been taken seriously early on she could have avoided all of the trauma associated with emergency surgery and almost bleeding to death.
I am really appalled by the paragraph from one of the many many “anonymous” attacks above that said:
“””And the “best thing I ever did women?” One, some women, for whatever reason, never liked sex and/or their body. Two, some cope thru denial and thru secrecy. In a very sexual world, women do not want to thought of as asexual. Three, some women do not equate their health problems to their surgeries. And, four, “misery loves company” –and won’t get others to join her if she tells the truth about these procedures.
Never liked sex? Denial? Secrecy? Can’t figure out that their health problems might be related to surgery? MISERY LOVES COMPANY?
What an incredibly wide and judgmental brush you paint your fellow women with. It seems that if a woman doesn’t agree with your agenda then she must be a pathetic, frigid, naive wretch who hates her own body and wants to suck everyone around her down into the depths of her wretchedness?? Sheesh!
My older sister and I both had eczema growing up. This was a condition where doctors prescribed continuous creams and special soaps to treat. We suffered with relentless itching, unsightly and raw/bleeding rashes that we kept covered. Interestingly, I grew up and with better control over my environment than I had during the poverty of my youth – I was able to stop the breakouts, but lasting damage had been done with the topical steroidal creams. My sister on the other hand continued with a lifestyle which lacked sufficient whole foods or attention to detergents and personal care products. Her eczema went on to become more severe, covering greater portions of her body, and she was supplied with even stronger creams than in our youth.
I mention this experience to contrast with the present discussion on hysterectomy. It’s not about “good hysterectomy” vs “bad hysterectomy” as even the doctors “in practice” don’t make the distinction to their patients that the owner of this blog wants to cling to. In practice doctors show little restraint on their recommendation to perform a hysterectomy (whether with or without removal of cervix and/or ovaries). It is disingenuous of doctors to run the two extremes of either letting women suffer with pain/bleeding, etc. and hold out hysterectomy (eczema cream) as the only option and hold it until women are pleading for relief – or the other extreme of performing unnecessary hysterectomy (whether with or without removal of cervix and/or ovaries).
An operation that is less damaging than hysterectomy with removal of cervix and/or ovaries – is still damaging. Do we actually have to debate over removal of the uterus. Reproduction is a BASIC function of all living beings, it’s one of the markers of health. On what planet do we think its removal is of no consequence in spite of loss of function.
But for the sake of arguments, let’s say that tommorrow, doctors only performed hysterectomy, without removal of cervix or ovaries. Can the medical community guarantee that women would go on to live normal lives as if they were intact. Can they guarantee the optimal functioning of the remaining ovaries and other pelvic structures over the lifetime of the woman. Do we have any studies to confirm this guarantee. Are there death and disability records of the women who fail to have their benign gyn conditions treated in comparison to those who do.
But the real issue is that this issue is debated at all. There is no part of my anatomy that can be removed without consequence. Yet a male-dominated industry wants to claim that if I just cut a little here and not over there, I should be fine. I’m only interested in optimal health, not what someone who may not have my best interest at heart considers good enough health.
Ladies, the game on the table is that women need to come up with (collectively or inidividually) a plan and understanding of reproductive health. From menustration to menopause and beyond, or else we will continue to be at the mercy of doctors who see surgical removal of female organs as routine. Doctors who will campaign and use semantics and our lack of understanding on how the body functions as a whole against us. Doctors who continually frame these discussions so that we spend our time only talking about good vs bad hysterectomy, hormones, symptoms and not optimal female health or wholeness, or root cause.
Tbtam: I believe you may have been speaking to me in your above post, correct me if I am wrong. “No one is denying you your personal experiences, accusing you of not knowing your own body”
No, I did not know that I was in severe hyperthyroid when the doctor convinced me I was a ticking time bomb. (Apparently, most hyperthyroid patients who have never had symptoms before, don’t know, and are in a high state of anxiety) My health was excellent all of my life, regular-clock work menstration included. I am not a physician, I am an accomplished Fine Artist.
I had marked it on my chart that I had a thyroid nodule, and had been having my levels checked, but they pushed me into that operating room, before I even finished the paperwork, and I was pleading with the doctor to just remove the tumor (he looked gravely at me and shook his head no, my husband was really afraid for my life). The IV was inserted in my wrist incorrectly. I was still discussing the surgery, I said I was really scared, and was shaking (having tremors?), was this killing me? I thought I was in the hands of accomplished doctors. The anesthetist said, do you want something to calm you down, I said yes, the anesthetist started the anesthesia, not something to calm me down. When I woke up, my legs were flying all around the bed uncontrollably, and I did not sleep but several hours a night for the next five and a half weeks, until my family doctor prescribed, atenolol, and tapazole, for the hyperthyroid. I also had a “klebsiella pneumonia” wound infection, gone untested, and untreated. I should have known this, I was still discussing what was happening to me, when they attacked me. Many women do not know how the female anatomy is in medical terms, and all of the literature I believed I was reading as medical literature, did not regard my uterus as my sex organ. How was someone who is an artist supposed to become a medical expert, when they have a “fibroid tumor”, they never knew about growing at the speed of sound? – Severe Hyperthyroid, perhaps? – Anyway, tbtam, “outta’ this discussion” is a bit arrogant, when this is your field of expertise. Why you outta’? I find it interesting to talk to an expert in their field. Why not be a hero and step up, answer the questions, like there may need to be a solution. Thanks for caring.
Signed, husband and wife, rural PA
Wow!! Someone sure opened a can of worms here. This is just one more response on the TAH/BSO topic. Maybe I’m just an ignorant redneck but maybe, just maybe, there’s some sort of conspiracy going on here. No, no. I don’t believe that physicians are out to take over the world by castrating women. What I think is that our medical industry as a whole, has been redesigned by certain industries whose sole purpose in life is to make as much money as they possibly can and to heck with the consequences. This is just one easy way to do it. Actually,up until a few years ago, these procedures have been the bread and butter of many ob/gyn practices and, unfortunately, deemed totally acceptable by the public at large. I was raised in the South where a hysterectomy was and still is in most places,considered to be the natural course of events in a woman’s life. So when my doctor suggested it to stop my break-through bleeding problems, I never questioned the validity of it. The only questions I had concerned fears of excess bleeding since my mother died during a hysterectomy. She actually bled to death. A horrible, horrible death considering the fact that she was totally aware of her circumstances till the very end. That ‘procedure’ left my father raising 5 girls, ages 18 mths to 12 years old. So, I knew that this could be a serious surgery, in that I could die. But no one ever told me of any other consequeces or negative affects. As a matter of fact I recall the good doctor telling me and my husband how much better my life was going to be afterwards, and ‘wink, wink’ how much our sex life would improve.
Well, had the hysterectomy. I didn’t have to receive blood transfusions and things seemed to be progressing as expected. I went home, took it easy and went for my 6 wk check-up. The doctor said I was good to go and released me. That weekend we went to see some friends and when I got up from my chair….something dropped inside of me. I could feel it in my vagina.
My husband and I went home and called the dr immediately. when I told him what had happened…that something had fallen, he said it was impossible. He eventually agreed to meet me at the ER.
To make a long story shorter, I experienced vaginal vault prolapse with enterocele. I’d never even heard of such a thing and didn’t fully understand what was going on until I happened to find the HERS Foundation. However, that was after the Sacralcolpopexy with Halban’s Culdoplasty to repair the prolapse. Basically what they did is attached a mesh to the top of my vagina and took it through me and attached the other end to the sacral area of my spine to keep it in position. Spooky stuff huh?
Over the next couple of years, my sex life catapulted. I couldn’t do without my Premarin. My skin stayed dry and i had a difficult time focusing….but I also began to have a little pain. It eventually became extreme but was repeatedly blown off by my doctors. They assumed it was a nerve issue that we’d have to address later. Meanwhile, it had gotten so bad I could barely walk. Nor could I remain sitting for any length of time. I was pretty miserable.
When Katrina came through and destroyed everything in sight for hundreds of miles around, I began to have a discharge with bleeding.
As soon as I was able, I went to my doctor who diagnosed me with bacterial vaginosis. He prescribed a vaginal antibiotic. After taking said prescription, I called him back because it didn’t help. He prescribed yet another antibiotic. This time an oral and vaginal regime.
By this time my hubby and I are getting really scared and thinking that this might be a cancer issue.
So, when I went back, my husband came too. The doctor finally did a thorough exam and told us that I had mesh erosion and it was infected.
I began researching and going to different doctors and finally found a doctor that I felt confident about. After all, he’d been all over the world to teach other doctors his procedures and I’d talked with him on the phone and been to his office. It was very Posh, clean and efficient and he reassured me that he’d done these type procedures thousands of times. I felt I was in good hands. I will say that had I listened to the advice I got from the HERS Foundation, I never would have gone to see him. I should’ve listened.
I want everyone here to know that total exision of mesh is no trivial thing. The surgeon, my wonderfully personable, worldwide surgeon, perforated my rectum and created a recto-vaginal fistula. Of course, the next step was a colostomy, which didn’t co-operate. The colostomy incision got infected and caused a huge hernia which has left me looking like I’m approximately 12 months pregnant….with none of the usual expectations. I was hospitalized for nearly 8 wks, most of that in ICU and I’m due to have this hernia repaired next month which will be my 7th surgery following a simple hysterectomy/oophorectomy.
What’s worse, is this could’ve all been avoided by simply removing a fibroid. I’m sure the good doctor could come up with a logical explanation for all this but IMHO it’s all about money…..easy money. So, say what you will about the HERS Foundation but I say this…Had I known about this organization before my TAH/BSO I probably wouldn’t have had it but even if I HAD elected to go through with it anyway, at least I would’ve been able to make an educated decision regarding my health. I’m now 48 y/o and I will never be the same. I have always been healthy and extremely active and you should see me now. I’m just barely able to get through a day and I’m raising a 3 1/2 year old. So, regardless of whether you’re an advocate of hysterectomies or not, one thing we should all agree on is that EVERY woman in this nation should have the right to KNOW what’s actually being done to her body in regards to a hysterectomy and every ob/gyn in the nation should have to inform her first of the options, then of the possible complications and after-effects of this surgery. That’s what this petition is all about…just giving every woman the information to make an Educated Decision. Now, I ask you, how can you argue with that?
I just read the CNN article, and I want to caution women as the article’s bottomline is that women need to be educated about the alternatives. It doesn’t matter how much education women have on the alternative as they are not the one’s performing surgery. I’ll elaborate with my experience:
At 35 upon routine pelvic exam I was found to have fibroids. While I hadn’t come to the office with any gyn issues (no pain, bleeding, intercourse issues, etc.) and had been living my life with work and school as normal. Upon finding out my condition and refusing hysterectomy as an “would I mind” option, I sought out to find a doctor to perform a myomectomy. Actually, I wanted no surgery at all, but did not know what else to do at that time.
I had not had children, had never had any gyn issues, and my periods had been regular up to that point. Well I found a doctor who I informed that hysterectomy was not an option and what did she need to determine if she could do a myomectomy. My logic being I was not planning on convincing any doctor of my right to keep my uterus. As a matter of fact, my plan was to walk out on any doctor who suggested hysterectomy – why take any chances.
I’m sure all can tell how this story ends – I was given a “Myomectomy Consent Form” to sign as the doctor agreed that she could perform a myomectomy to remove my fibroids. Funny thing, the consent form had a sentence that stated that a hysterectomy might be necessary. I immediately asked why was this sentence on the form and was I in danger of having a hysterectomy??? Because of my hesitation in signing the form, the doctor shook her head to the negative and wrote some assurances on the form (at least I thought).
In the end I was given a TAH with removal of one ovary. In the post-op paper work, the doctor carefully noted that she had discussed with me the possibility of a hysterectomy and that since she left one ovary I would not be in menopause. Surgery was performed in one hour with a nine-inch vertical incision (6 inch from my navel up) to remove two fibroids.
To date, I’ve lost 10 years of my life, my career, education, family, finances, etc…. I wonder why there is such fevor for ensuring that the practice of this surgical procedure remains unchecked (although admiting to the problem) instead of it being directed toward stopping the dismantling of women’s bodies and lives.
You said a mouthful:
“I wonder why there is such fevor for ensuring that the practice of this surgical procedure remains unchecked (although admiting to the problem) instead of it being directed toward stopping the dismantling of women’s bodies and lives.”
my sister has a hys and one ovary removed due to several years of abnormal paps and three Leeps, severe endometeriosis, heavy periods since 14, an intolerance to most hormonal BC methods and finally giant ovarian cysts. Her original ob wouldn’t do the surgery as shewas only 27, however he was very kind and referred
her to another ob who would.
She is blissfully happy now and actually says her sex life became much better with orgasm coming much more quickly and intense