Hysterectomy or just Lap

[lacjmc]

I know that I am going to have to have surgery.  I am menopausal and the doctor said that the type of surgery would depend on the outcome of the labs.  I am really tempted to have a complete hysterectomy no matter what.  Do any of you have some advice?
Thanks,

[AnotherKatie]

You are so right Tascha that with each generation we become stronger.  This is a great forum for us and am for one sure am glad you guys are out there.  Together we can make changes, one step at a time.
Love Katie

[Gatsby]

Katie, maybe with all of us together, we can make it better for our daughters.  Look, we know more than our mothers did and we can pass our knowledge on.  Women need to be empowered with the knowledge that it is our body and we do know when something is wrong.  Just look how many of us got our test results sooner because we demanded them instead of waiting for the dr. to make an appt. whenever he chose.  We know the symptoms and we know the procedures.  With each generation we become stronger.  God bless all of you.
~Tascha

[AnotherKatie]

Can I rant too?  I am 48, down to one ovary and with a bunch of junk in there apparently, having a total hyster next week and trying to remain calm. I feel like they are just, with this surgery, "Killing the messenger" as in, why don't they determine early on what is causing these cysts and fibroids?  For the longest time my doc just kept saying "well you seem to have fibroids but we will just watch them".  Yeah like watch them get huge, and make me ill, and then say "Hmmm better that get all out now".  Why don't they do more (early on)exploration into FSH, your estrogen levels, etc.  Why don't they send you to endocrinologists?  Is it because they often can't find anything anyway?  Is it still a sad fact that it is just easier and cheaper to just slash and burn and yank those parts out in an hour?  Why do they just shoot you down when you ask about myoectomy (spelling?) "Oh you are finished having kids, it is a long difficult surgery, you can bleed too much, the fibroids come back blah blah".  I read Christine Northrup's book and it just made me angry because... well.... where is she or the doctors that are like her when I need them?  Plus all the supplements she talks about make my head swim.  I love my husband and I love our sex life and I feel bad that things are going to change.  He is awesome and we will cope but...

OK thanks I feel better, I am just so worn out, anemic, and dreading this, have had a two month wait... I will accept that it is for the best because I have to but I question "Is this the best that they can do?"  I want better for my daughter.
Sorry this was so long, I will be fine, there are people here who are more scared than I and have scarier stuff but you can't help but wonder if these were men's diseases.....??
Katie

[brel]

I GUESS THE REASON i AM APREHENSIVE ABOUT THIS IS I HAVE READ ABOUT WOMEN STILL HAVING PROBLEMS WITH CYSTS WHO HAVE HAD FULL HYSTERECTOMIES.

[fabmom4]

I,too, am waiting to decide on hysterectomy based on next US.  I am only 33, but I know I can't have any more children, so I am definitely leaning towards the surgery.  Not an easy decision, though, because it seems like not everyone has had a good experience with the surgery.  My advice...do your homework and pray for guidance.  That is what I am trying to do :)  Thoughts and prayers to everyone dealing with this decision.

[xrayu2]

When I had the option, I chose hysterectomy keeping a resected prtion of my right ovary.  But as you all know, the circumstances were changed and I was no longer a hysterectomy candidate.  I have said this before but I do not think you were part of the thread.  A radiologist I know made the comment that he would hate to have female genitalia-they are either hurting, bleeding, or growing bad things.  When the female reproductive organs start failing, it is time to get rid of them.

[Lev]

If you have been told that you cannot have anymore children, then that puts into question whether the parts really do still have any purpose anymore anyway. If you have adhesions on other internal organs, then yes, pain could still be present after surgery. Exploratory laparoscopy is the only way to find that out.

[segway]

What if you were 75??  My mom just got diagnosed with a complex ovarian cyst <50mm.  Her oncologist says she is low risk for cancer based on family history and I'm betting also a normal CA125 (but I don't know for sure). He's so confident, he said he didn't even see the point of being present at the surgery.  I read that the guidelines for "moderate cancer risk" are oophorectomy only unless cancer is detected.  Yet, her gyn and a couple of med-type family friends say, "take it all or you'll be sorry".  How?  Why?  Won't the oophorectomy procedure be much easier for my mom to recover from, and probably safer overall, considering my mom's age?  I haven't found any sites contrasting recovery for one over the other, assuming an abdominal incision consistent with checking for cancer.  Have any of you factored recovery and surgical complications into your decision?  If so, would you clue me in?  Thanks. (P.S.  I had a TVH for prolapse last fall and my own not-very-pleasant recovery is fresh in my mind)

[lacjmc]

It just seems to make more sense to have everything out than possibly having to go back later and have more surgery.  

You will both be in my thoughts and prayers as we go through this.

Thanks

[Lev]

I'm 40 and also considering a hysterectomy, depending on labs results. I'm certainly being encouraged in that direction by my doc.

My take on it is this. Once you start to have gynae problems, it seems that will be the way it is going to be. So if, like me, you are done having children, having the hysterectomy and losing all those problems seems like a no brainer. I have to take meds anyway, so what's a few more HRT meds afterwards, but without the pain, excessive bleeding, etc etc (endless list).

[brel]

Hi, i am also looking into having a hysterectomy in the next month, waiting on one more ultrasound before making the decision. It is such a hard one at that.I myself am only 32 so this is not an easy decision to make even though i was told i could not have anymore children, i don,t want to give up parts that still have purpose.