Hysterectomy//Purple Socks/Confirm MeetUps

[Guest guest]

HYSTERECTOMY:

Usually isn’t necessary and I think it should be a last resort treatment in

my opinion. – Why? – because while it definitely does get rid of the

uterine fibroids, it has risks of its own which in my mind are no less

problematic. AND, because there are other less drastic – less risky

alternatives – with fewer and less frequent side effects. -- Usually when

women are told they “need” a hysterectomy it’s because that’s all the doc

can or will offer – not because that’s all that’s available or possible.

There are several safer and less dramatic avenues of treatment available, so

why go with the hysterectomy?

Further, the “reasons” which women often give (usually parroting their docs)

for “choosing” hysterectomy are often more mythology than reality. For

instance, the thing about too much bleeding during surgery – which generally

indicates a lack of SKILL on the doc’s part. Or the thing about how they

“might” be cancer – when it seems that the risk of them being cancer is

actually less than the risk of dying in surgery – and when sarcoma CAN

usually be differentiated from fibroids on MRI. Or, how about the “so I

won’t risk needing more surgery later” story – well – you won’t risk needing

further fibroid surgery – but what about surgery for complications of the

hysterectomy 10 or 15 years later – perhaps for a pelvic prolapse or one

sort or another -- which are fairly common????

Then there’s the “you don’t need it any longer” stuff. WAIT a minute: just

because you’re not going to have any (more) babies doesn’t mean there’s no

benefit to having a uterus. – Hysterectomized women have a higher rate of

high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Heart attack is the number 1

killer of women. Sometimes I wonder whether this would be true if the

medical profession stopped madly hysterectomizing a huge proportion of the

female population. – Hysterectomized women are more likely to have

incontinence problems as they go along in life. I’m not real interested in

trading in my Kotex for Depends! - And, of course, they risk various

post-hysterectomy (often many many years post-hyst) problems like prolapses

of various sorts. Are you willing to risk having your bladder or rectum

falling into your vagina 6 or 8 or 10 or 20 years from now, etc., etc.? How

about the fact that there is an increase in DEPRESSION post hysterectomy?

-- I wanted to GET OVER being depressed about fibroids and get on with life

– not risk being just generally depressed. Then there’s the question of

sexual function – uterine orgasm – libido – pleasure – and all the women who

report a loss of interest in sex post hysterectomy – or loss of ability to

achieve satisfactory orgasm. That’s a big I’m not willing to risk it

issue!!

AND – the big problem for women making the choice is that there is NO WAY to

tell which women are going to have problems – or which problem they will

have – and if they have problems – there is NO WAY to reverse the

hysterectomy.

The question is, just exactly what is worth those risks? -- To me, unless

I’ve tried every possible alternative unsuccessfully – or unless I’ve got a

confirmed malignancy – it just isn’t worth it.

If I do something else first and it doesn’t work, hysterectomy is still

available to me should I really need it. If I do hysterectomy first, I’m

stuck – like it or not.

I would say, before you decide to choose hysterectomy – go to the Sans Uteri

list and see what ideas those women can offer you. It is NOT a " In support

of hysterectomy " group – but it is a group of women most of whom have

experienced hysterectomy and are supporting one another in dealing with the

results.

Quite frankly, it seems to me that there is a huge social push for

hysterectomy in our society and that one of the reasons for this list is to

support women who have the insight and the courage to go against the tide

and INSIST on change -- INSIST on something better for themselves and for

other women.

If you truly choose to have a hysterectomy – I won’t like YOU any less – but

I will not like your choice. My friends have always known that I will feel

free to openly disagree with them. Nonetheless, I will support them. I try

to be a friend without being an enabler. When I believe something is not in

a friend’s best interest, I let them know how I feel. If they go ahead, I

don’t say “I told you so,” I try to support them however I can – but I know

in my heart if it goes wrong that I did what I could to prevent it.

I can truly understand how an anemic woman who is bleeding like crazy might

be led to think that’s the way to go. As I’ve said before: “If they’d told

me the definitive cure was to take me out and shoot me, I think I might have

agreed to that.” If you are looking for others who understand your disease

and your misery – I think we are here. If you are looking for people who

will say that they think hysterectomy is the right choice – who will not

question your choosing hysterectomy, this is probably the wrong place to

look.

* * * * * * *

LAURA: You post about bleeding after bowel movements – are you talking

about vaginal bleeding – or rectal bleeding?

* * * * * * *

PURPLE SOCKS:

Roma can probably remind us better about the origin of the purple socks

thing – but it started with a lady on this list (name escapes me at the

moment) who was given a pair of pink socks to go to the hospital for

surgery. The reference was to the “Pink Socks of Courage” from the “Mutts”

comic strip. However, pink being a breast cancer color – and purple being a

NUFF (National Uterine Fibroids Fdtn) color – and Carla’s color besides –

we’ve sort of drifted over to the purple socks side – ‘though those who are

attached to the Mutts pink thing are allowed to have pink – or better yet

pink AND purple socks of courage. So, if you need a little shoring up to

get you through fibroids – or especially through surgery – why not a pair of

wonderful special purple socks? -- Your very own purple socks of courage!!

-- Apparently most docs/hospitals won’t let you wear your own purple socks

IN surgery (though some do) – but you can wear them before & after to help

you have that warm fuzzy feeling – AND (my take) you can have purple

TOENAILS in surgery (some docs/hospitals say no finger nail color in surgery

– but I haven’t heard of anyone objecting to TOE nail color). I had HOT

PINK toenails for my open breast biopsy last year – no one but me even knew

because my feet were covered.

* * * * * *

AND: We STILL need ladies to CONFIRM that you’re coming to the San

Francisco MeetUp this Saturday if it’s going to happen.

Best,

Pat

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