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03-08-2004, 12:16 PM
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Guest
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Posts: 1,489
Hysterectomy:
Surgery Type: SAH
Ovaries: Kept 1 or both
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forfeit ovaries?
Until recently, the medical community routinely took the ovaries when doing a hysterectomy ("might as well while we're in there. You never know what could go wrong later on")
Today there is a concern about hormone replacement therapy so the advice is to keep them unless there is something wrong with them; or a strong maternal history of ovarian cancer; or you just can't sleep worrying that someday something will go wrong and you'll need another surgery.
I was a pioneer in the "keep the ovaries" mantra, having had a hyst 4 years ago; it was before the NIH study came out. My doctor had never had a patient who wanted to keep her ovaries. But I had done a lot of research on my own on the actual data (I'm a mathematician) and thought that the "benefits" of hormone replacement were a bit sketchy. I felt the pharmaceutical industry was pushing pills without any hard evidence.
So, I stand by my decision to keep the ovaries and let nature take its course. But everyone woman must decide for herself based on her own medical history and tolerence for risk.
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