Cervix bleeding

I had my uterus and left ovarie removed in April this year. I have had a period every month since. At first the doctor thought it was blood just from the surgery. Then she said it was some tissue left there that she missed so she codorized it with one of those sticks. Then I still bled so she did another , more intense, proceedure.Then I still had bleeding so she went back and used the stick again. I think she called it a silver nitraite stick, I am not sure about the name of it. When she was doing that she said the spot was not healing from the last proceedure. She also put on somethig to stop the bleeding after she corized it. The bleeding slowed way down for 2 days. I then got sick and had violent vomiting. I think this may have undid what the dr. had done because now I am bleeding more. Dr. called me to see how I was doing and said she has reviewed my records on the hysterectomy. She had noted that during my hysterectomy I had a bleeder[blood vessel] that she stitched up. She thinks that may be the spot I am bleeding from now. She recomends taking out my cervix. I heard you can have sexual problems if you remove cervix. Also I had the hysterectomy because I had Endometriosis in the culdesack. The culdesack is the area between the cervix and the rectom. I read that endo.can still grow even after surgery. In order to protect my bladder from these possible endo sprouts we left my cervix to protect it. Also the cervix has to literally be peeled of of the bladder, therefore a risk to bladder damage.
I have also had mild displasia ,pre-cancer cells ,removed from cervix about a year ago. I am really scared about having to have cervix taken out. Can anyone give me any info on this? Does anyone know of another way to stop the bleeding if it is a blood vessel, without more surgery? Thanks so much,
B.K.

I don't know of any way to stop the bleeding, but then I am not a Dr.

I do know that Endo can take up residence in your cervix and cause bleeding.
I personally have suffered no loss of sex drive not having a cervix, yes it is different, but seeing as that was a bit that was causing me pain, I can live very happily without it.
Some of the sisters here will have a different opinion on that, I know, but I'm good in that regard.
I had some bad smear tests, this was another reason for me to loose it.

It is always scary going in for more surgery, ask as many questions of your Dr as it takes.

Talk to your Dr, ask them for other options, as for the possibility of a bleeding/leaking artery, I would take the advice of my Dr on that one.

Hi, B K...

Boy, what a confusing situation!

I also had trouble with my cervix bleeding after my hysterectomy. Were you told that this would be a possibility? Detaching the uterus from the cervix is an imprecise procedure--since it is all one organ. The cervix is the "neck" of the uterus. To know where one ends and the other begins, the surgeon would literally have to scrape off some of your cells during surgery and have a look at them under the microscope. If some of the tissue from the uterus is left and you have a least one ovary, you can end up having a "mini period." That little bit of tissue from the uterus is still responding to the hormones from the ovaries. Normally these periods last for just a day or two and are very light. Most women need just a pantiliner, or even can get away with wiping away the blood with toilet paper whenever they use the bathroom.

Well, I didn't get off that easily! And it sounds like you didn't either. My "mini" periods lasted for 12 days every month. They were fairly light and consisted of mostly old blood. As time went on, the bleeding became more heavy and painful. My new (actually old, but far away) doc and I tried to stop the bleeding first by using birth control pills without any breaks in between. This didn't work. As I had had severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ on my cervix just a year before the hyst, I opted to have my doctor remove my cervix (called a trachelectomy), 6 months later. Yes, another surgery was a big drag, but I was really glad to have it over with. During the surgery, my doc found 3 implants of endo, and one of them was right on top of my "cervical stump!" He said that the area where the remnant of the uterus would have been was discolored and entrapped with blood. It was actually bubbling up, which I guess is what accounted for the pain. So, even if your cul de sac is being protected by your cervix, what do you have to protect the cervix?

Regarding cauterizing the cervix and silver nitrate....
Sometimes docs try to stop these mini periods by cauterizing (burning to stop the bleeding) the bottom of the cervix. According to my doc, this is never successful because the bleeding is actually coming from the top of the cervix. But that is just one doc's opinion! Many would disagree. Silver nitrate is also used to treat areas of wounds that are not healing--these areas are called granulation. Does your doc think she created some wounds (granulation) by the prodedures she did to stop the bleeding? And then she applied the silver nitrate to stop the bleeding from that, which was successful until you got so sick with vomiting? You just can't win, can you?!

There *is* a theory that some women's sexual pleasure is decreased when they have their cervix removed. It has certainly happened to some of the sisters on this site. But, for most women this is not a problem. Many women are not given the choice of whether they can keep their cervix or not, and *most* of them will say that they don't miss it at all. Of course, there are no guarantees! I can say from my own experience that I did not notice a difference in sex after I had my cervix removed. If you are having sex now, is it painful? This would be something to keep in mind when deciding on whether you want to keep your cervix or not. If it's causing you pain now, getting rid of it would probably help after you're all healed. Sounds like this was the case for Tanis.

I don't know that to say about that blood vessel! And I can certainly understand being afraid of having your bladder damaged, if it is adhered to the cervix. I think it might be time to get a second or third opinion. You may also want to consult with a urologist, since your bladder is an issue.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the surgery for removing the cervix. I'm so sorry this is happening to you!



Margot

Sadly I had to have emergency surgery to remove cervix as the bleeding got heavy. The Dr. accidentaly sliced in to my bladder and I had to wear a catheter for 2 weeks. I survived it with no permant damage. Bleeding has stopped. I have OO sex drive. Of course I cannot have it anyway for another 3 weeks. I am trying to get all my hormones regulated so hopefully it is that causing the lack of sex. Mabey too many surgeries in that area. Haar, Haar. But I am not rolli'n in the floor laughin!!

B K

I am so sorry you had to go through another surgery, and to smargie as well.

For me personally I went through months of agonising over I should have keep my cervix, when in actual fact it was a good thing to get rid of it as I had suffered endo since I was 13 years old (I was 34 at the time of my hyst). I put myself through hell with this and it become a psychological problem more than a physical problem.

Smargie has been a great support for me personally and an inspiration and I am sure you will find great strengh in smargie.

As smargie said some women do have problems sexually after the cervix is removed, but on the other hand women who keep their cervix also have sexual problems as well. There is no hard and fast rule for everyone. As you know too well from experience there are many women who face problems because of their cervix.

The only advice I can offer is to please be kind to yourself and don't think about the cervix, it only led me to heartbreak. It is completely understandable you would have 00 sex drive at the moment with what you have been through, and as you said hormones do play a huge part in that. For me personally I can say if my hormones are out I find it hard, if not impossible, to orgasm, that is the sure fire way of me knowing when I find the right mix. It took me about 2 years to finally realis this!

I wish you a fast recovery and nothing but the very best. Remember with or without a cervix you are still the same person.

I have to say I REALLY wanted to keep my cervix but now that it's over I really don't miss the little devil, not like it was a breast. I too had mild displasia removed a year ago.

B K

Sorry it ended up for you that way. And, as a bonus, you got your bladder sliced!

It is true that you don't have to worry about the dysplasia returning! And also, no more of those treatments to stop the bleeding. I remember my doc telling me in recovery, after I had my cervix removed, "Margot, I promise you won't bleed anymore." There was a big relief in that for me. No more visits for treatments that may or may not work, and deciding what I could live with (12 days of bleeding and constant cramps), and what I couldn't. The little bugger was gone!

I guess time will tell about the big O. As (((Aus Chick))) says, it's not too surprising that you aren't feeling too sexy right now! Nothing like a catheter for 2 weeks to make you feel attractive and feminine. And I'm still a bit sore from having surgeries so close together, even though the last one was over 6 months ago.

I'm sending you healing thoughts and hoping that you bounce back to your former self. It's gonna take time. I think Aus Chick is very wise in saying that you shouldn't focus everything on your cervix. If you do end up having a hard time finding your groove again, if you just assume it's because you have no cervix, you may miss out on finding other causes and solutions.



Margot

BK.. I am having some of the same things going on that you did. I had a hysterectomy 8 mos ago and he left my cervix .. now all of a sudden I started bleeding. He cauterized it w/silver nitrate.. and it hasn't worked at all. I'm still bleeding if not moreso. (boy that wasn't fun gettin that swabbed ugh!) He said I might end up having to get my cervix taken out. I just hate the thought of surgery .. but if I have to I have to. No one had told me this could happen to me.. and that makes me as angry as anything. I also unfortunatley am battling vulvodynia right now so sex was/is out of the question anyway. I'm so sorry your bladder got sliced.. that also scares me! I hope you are feeling better now. Don't you wonder if we're ever gonna be normal??

Did they do the trachelectomy laproscopically?? I went in for a cyst on my ovary removal last time and woke up with a hysterectomy.. then I had a hemoglobin drop... and a blood transfusion.. so I'm a bit surgery shy!

ohiogin...

Boy, that darn cervix can cause some problems sometimes, can't it?

My trachelectomy was done vaginally, but was laparoscopically assisted. So, I had 3 very small incisions in my belly, and then a vaginal cuff.

I'm not sure, but I don't think it can be done completely laparoscopically.

Good luck to you!



Margot