Hysterectomy/Standing-Lying/Watch&Wait/Holistic/Wooly Womb/Jan 25 meeting

[Guest guest]

Hysterectomy.

As for the effects of hysterectomy – there is lots to know & consider before

you decide whether to do that or not. Especially important to know is that

some docs may recommend hyst because it’s easier for THEM and/or because it

keeps you in THEIR practice rather than someone else’s practice. In other

words, usually there are less-drastic alternatives available – but you’ve

got to find the right doc.

Further, there are potential serious side-effects & as with all procedures

you really should make a reasoned determination in ADVANCE as to what risks

you’re willing to take in return for what likely improvement. Also

different versions of hysterectomy have different potential long-term risks.

Do your homework before you merely agree to whatever your particular doc

happens to be offering you.

For info on risks of hysterectomy, I’d recommend you start out with reading

Plourde’s book: “Hysterectomy & Ovary Removal, What All Women

Need to Know” - For info on available means of treating fibroids – I

recommend Carla Dionne’s book “Sex, Lies & The Truth About Uterine Fibroids”

and the Drs. Goodwin & Broder’s book, “What Your Doctor May Not Tell You

About Fibroids.”-- -- See also some of my previous messages regarding

hysterectomy – in the archives of this group -- ##37716, 38858 – and maybe

42004.

It boggles my mind, for instance, that with heart disease/attack being far

and away the biggest cause of death for women, most doctors don’t mention

(possibly some don’t even know??) that hysterectomized women have a higher

risk of high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack.

Standing/Lying:

I think of this as when you’re body is in a straight line. Yes – when I’m

lying flat out on my back – or standing, I sometimes get pains – mine seem

to be rectal pressure. This is one of the things I carefully keep track of

– because it’s one of the bothersome things that I don’t want to let get out

of control. Most of the time I find that I can alleviate the pain by simply

sitting down for awhile – or lying on my side & pulling my legs up (fetal

position). Things seem to straighten themselves out in a five or ten

minutes & then all is well again when I stand or lie flat. It tends to

happen not more than a few times each month.

Watching & Waiting:

As I’ve mentioned before – I am a watcher & waiter (I did have vag myo for

the one real culprit ‘broid a little over 2 years ago). I do believe that

watching & waiting is an ACTIVE thing. It should not be confused with

avoiding & ignoring. I do keep track of symptoms – their intensity and

frequency – because I do not want to let these things slowly sneak up on me

and take over my life ever again. Don’t want to let them even get close to

that! --

Holistic Remedies:

I’m certainly not opposed to this. I do, however, try to look for the

EVIDENCE when I decide on treatments & unfortunately there is very little

scientific evidence for most holistic treatments. I feel that one has to

approach them knowing and accepting that.

There are undoubtedly some very effective holistic treatments.

Unfortunately the unregulated nature of that business results in a lot of

snake-oil scams as well & it’s often very difficult, if not impossible, to

sort them out from each other. So, unless you’re using a holistic health

professional, you risk having to sort through – often by trial and error.

Further, I think that just about anything which is potent enough to have

some effect on our bodies, is going to have more effects than just the one

we’re going for – side-effects in other words. The lack of research on

holistic treatments also means we often don’t know –– what those

side-effects might be for a given treatment. I’m not opposed to people

taking that sort of risk, PROVIDED they understand they are doing it.

Clearly, more research would go a long way to helping establish and

understand these treatments.

Everyone I’ve known who has SUCCESSFULLY treated anything serious by

holistic methods has NOT done it by dosing themselves – but has used a

holistic practitioner & even with that professional guidance there’s been a

lot of trying one thing and another until they finally hit on the right

individual combination for the specific person involved. Generally it is a

lengthy process requiring much time, effort and commitment on the part of

the patient.

One Pedunculated Fibroid

I had one submucosal pedunculated fibroid removed vaginally. Actually the

darn thing was totally prolapsed, sitting on the cervix & I was dilating &

bleeding away by the time I finally got to see the right doc. Surgery was

scheduled for the NEXT day! It was a piece of cake – practically no

recovery at all. I took off alone on a 1200 mile drive a few days later.

The Wooly Womb:

Thank you Roma – the picture was overwhelming!! If I had seen that thing

without the introduction, I would have never guessed what it was supposed to

be!! What more can I say???

January 25 -- Working on Locations

I hope to soon have a location for the January 25 - Sunday afternoon Fibroid

LOL's get-together in San Francisco. I'm thinking we'll meet about 2 p.m.

for late luncheon & hang out for a couple hours. If you're interested &

haven't let me know already -- please do tell -- email to: marypatb @

hotmail.com (without the spaces, of course). If you have suggested

locations, let me know that too. l

Pat

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