The following rules and guidelines are a basis for all activities (including the message boards, the guestbook, calendar, journals, etc.) found on the HysterSisters® website (http://www.hystersisters.com). Agreement to the following guidelines provides that you are female, over the age of 17 and posting for GYN medical/hysterectomy support as HysterSisters Hysterectomy Recovery website is created to be "Woman-to-woman" online support community for your own hysterectomy decisions and issues.

You agree your username will not contain reference to children or words that are "mom" synonymous out of courtesy for members grieving the loss of their womb. You agree to select a username that is not offensive or inappropriate for our community.

You agree you will register only ONE account. If you have trouble with your log-in or password, contact the HELPDESK rather than registering again. Posts may be merged at the discretion of the administration of Hyster Sisters of any member with two or more user accounts.

You agree your signature will not include mention of: babies, children, pregnancies (including ectopic), hot topics, urls, image tags and may contain only one smilie.

You agree your avatar will not include photos of other people which includes: babies, children, men. You agree your avatar will be appropriate for the HysterSisters community.

You agree that you will upload only photos that are deemed appropriate for public viewing. The decision of the administration will be final. Photos are also limited in size and disk space per user.

You agree that you will refrain from posting "medical advice". Please offer support and "my experience" only not medical advice.

You agree to keep support offers within the public confines of the posts and threads. You may not ask the members to email you for support issues. Public message boards provide that many will receive support even when lurking.

You agree you will not list insurance companies, doctor names, addresses, phone numbers/websites/urls in the public forums. Recommendations for specific doctors/insurance should to be kept in personal email.

You agree you will not advocate for or against hysterectomy surgery or recommend one particular kind of hysterectomy surgery over another. Only your personal doctors can make this determination.

You agree to keep discussions on topic understanding that discussions off topic and out of the bounds of hysterectomy issues may be removed or closed in keeping with the intent of Hystersisters.com.

You agree not to post messages or links that are obscene, profane, sexually explicit or descriptively graphic. Posts with sexual content should have a tone of maturity and appropriate vocabulary. The community of HysterSisters.com is based upon "kind support, woman to woman".

You agree you will not attempt to bypass the website's censor by misspelling inappropriate words. You agree not to refer to a hysterectomy as a procedure done at a vet's office.

You agree you will be cautious and sensitive to others when referring to your children/babies/pregnancy in your posts out of courtesy to the members who do not have children and are grieving the loss of this ability.

You agree not to start a thread for the purpose of dropping a link to a website or article. We allow you to add informational/educational links in reply to a support request thread only if the link goes to a non-commercial site. Submit resource links to our RESOURCE directory instead.

You agree to provide reputable, verifiable sources for statements of medical fact that are not common knowledge, especially as regards discussions about hysterectomy type, hormone therapy, treatments for medical conditions and similar topics. This ensures visitors receive up-to-date, accurate information on these topics.

You agree you will keep chatter posts within the chatter forum of the message boards. Threads that begin with the purpose of finding members whose surgery is on a certain date or month will be moved to "Friends Without Faces" forum. Discussions on the public boards that begin to reflect personal conversations between a few members will be removed.

You agree that you will not use any of HysterSisters website features to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, threatening,invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law.

You agree that you will not make derogatory comments about any person based on religion, race, gender, etc. You agree to refrain from posting messages that contain potential hot topics known as polarizing arguments. Examples: alternative lifestyles, sexual preferences, animal rights. A tone of "kindness" is appreciated for all discussions.

You agree that the staff of Hystersisters.com may move your post from one forum category to another for the sole purpose of providing you with the best possible support for your needs. You agree you will not post duplicate content or cross-post (posting the same message in more than one forum).

You agree that the staff of Hystersisters.com may remove your post or close any thread containing a mention or a threat of suicide. If you are feeling suicidal you are encouraged to call 911 or go to your nearest hospital emergency room.

You agree that the staff of Hystersisters.com may edit thread titles for the purpose of content clarity, adding to the navigational help of visitors looking for specific information.

You agree that the staff of Hystersisters.com may edit/remove the posts and/or disable the account of any member who does not comply with these community guidelines or any reason deemed appropriate by the administration for the good of the community and its safety. Requests for removal will entail removing personal data, location, avatar, etc,. to protect the privacy of the person but the member account will remain intact because of the nature of the threading of posts within the database.

You agree that if you disagree with Hyster Sisters website policy or action of a staff member, you will not post public arguments or disagreements nor attempt to petition the owner/administration to change policy through posts, polls, email, PM or any other service found within the Hyster Sisters Website. If you disagree, you may respectfully email the owner of Hyster Sisters.

You agree that "freedom of speech" does not apply to Hystersisters.com as an individualy owned website. Although the constitution of the US guarantees that “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech”, Hyster Sisters is not Congress. The TOS/Guidelines of this website governs the behaviors and activities of the members. If you choose not to follow the guidelines agreed to during registration, the result is a disabling of your account.

You agree not to invite, solicit or coerce others to join other community websites through posts, email, PM, use of hystersisters membership list or any other resource within the hystersisters website. Advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are inappropriate to post, send through PM, email or any other feature of the hystersisters.com website.

You agree not to advertise your website address in your signature, posts, PMs, journal. You may add your website address to your profile in the appropriate place. To advertise on the HysterSisters website please contact: kathy@hystersisters.com. Crown Jewels may advertise in the "Advertisers Forum" following guidelines of that forum.

You agree not to use the message boards, membership list, PM, guestbook as a way to gather data, research, request interviews without permission of the owner of HysterSisters. Email kathy@hystersisters.com for permission and additional information.

You agree to not discuss suing hospital personnel, medical professionals, medical facilities, employers, etc. You also agree not to use this website as a place to recruit others to help you in any legal action or data gathering for legal action.

You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by the Hyster Sisters®.

You agree that content created by this website through the use of posts/threads and FAQ and/or polls remains the property of this website and may be published by HysterSisters in other media forms. The name of Hyster Sisters® is protected by law through registration of the name at the USPTO.

You agree that your identity and account details may be provided to authorities in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you or any other activity on the HysterSisters.com website.

You agree that you will assume all responsibility for postings under your username/IP. Although this website tries to remove posts that are not appropriate or are medically inaccurate, HysterSisters will not be held liable for posts that are inaccurate, unsound.

You agree you have read and understand the HysterSisters Privacy Policy.