Hormonal Questions

Ladies:

This question would be a good one for my MD who has been non-communicative since we scheduled my surgery. I am a 43 year old single (no children) lady with an LAVH scheduled on 8/15/01. I wonder how my hormones will act / react to the surgery. I am currently bleeding 20 out of 30 days a month (multiple fibroids) and I wonder what will happen after surgery. Since I'll still have my ovaries, do I ovulate every month? If so, where do the eggs go? Will I experience the same menstrual cycle moods -- hormonally? Or will that all change -- will I feel next to nothing?
My OBGYN is not performing my surgery -- it's a specialist she sent me to who is well known and a world traveler & speaker. He is an "expert" and I have talked to his two surgical nurses on a number of occassions, but am now coming up with a huge list of questions -- which I will ask them pre-surgery.

Who can tell me -- what happens hormonally following a "partial" hysterectomy (uterus only).

Thanks, sister!

:Hugs: to all of you!

These are all good questions. Be sure to ask your doc.

I had TAH/BSO on 6/4 and elected to have my ovaries out at the age of 48. I was bleeding from 10-20 days of each month prior to surgery.

If you keep your ovaries, they will produce the normal monthly hormones and you will still ovulate each month. The eggs are resorbed into your body. Don't worry. Some ladies worry about where sperm goes, but the vagina - with or without the cervix remaining - is closed during the surgery. The sperm can't enter the abdomen and the eggs can't enter the vagina. Closed route.

The ovaries will still produce your hormones, so you WILL experience the same cyclical hormone changes that you have now, including PMS if you experience PMS now. When you get to your menopause, you'll have the same menopause symptoms that you would have had without a hyster.

I had hormone replacement therapy in the recovery room (a patch) and am very fortunate that it's working great. Haven't missed a beat since my surgery.

Good luck!

I had a TAH - Total Abdominal Hysterectomy. First, a brief comment on terminology:

Total Hysterectomy - TH/TAH/TLH/etc. - means the whole uterus is removed (including the cervix), but not the ovaries.

Sub-Total Hyst - SH/SAH... - means the cervix is not removed.

Bilateral Salpingo-Ooferectomy - BSO - means the ovaries and fallopian tubes on both sides are removed. Right or left only would be RSO/LSO, respectively.

So what you are contemplating is a Total Hysterectomy. If you were having your ovaries removed too, that would be a TAH/BSO.

Now, back to your question... I'm probably not the best example, because I was on the pill for 23 years before my hyst, and off the pill afterward - so I have no idea what "normal" is for me (pre-hyst, natural cycle). But... I can tell you that my hormones do fluctuate. In theory, you should go right on ovulating, and cycling just like normal. I really should keep a diary, so I can see how often I'm cycling, but it seems like about once a month. I get about 3 zits, and have one day where I feel like the world is going to ****, and my breasts get sore for several days. So something is going on. These things didn't happen to me before, but that was because I was on the pill - not because of the hyst (I'm assuming).

The eggs just wander off into your abdominal cavity, or maybe the fallopian tubes are closed at the end. In any case, they are miniscule (1 cell, of course), and just get resorbed by your body.

While you should go right on cycling as always, you might have less in the way of "symptoms". You won't have cramps, naturally. I've found I no longer have aching legs and an aching back every month. I don't get major digestive upsets anymore either. The lining of the uterus produces some hormones on its own (prostoglandins, I believe), so that could make a difference in how you feel.

Hope that helps...