No Morcillator

Where I live the hospital doesn't have a morcillator, so I can't have a LSH. I want LSH because I want to retain my cervix.

Is there another way to have a hysterectomy and retain your cervix, other than the old style hyst with a big incision?

The doc said she might be able to do a vaginal hyst using a laparascope to assist and keep the cervix - but it doesn't sound like it's something she does routinely.

I'm worried about this - anyone have advice?

Honestly I had to google what a morcillator was. I had no idea. The device used to chop up the cervix into smaller pieces. Huh...

I don't have any advice but I thought I'd tell you that I'll be thinking about you. I hope someone comes up with something useful for you.

I think it chops uterus and leaves the cervix... at least that's what I was told. I want to keep my cervix.

Horrible sounding thing, though, the "morcillator" and what it does... sorry all.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by mahina I think it chops uterus and leaves the cervix... at least that's what I was told. I want to keep my cervix. Horrible sounding thing, though, the "morcillator" and what it does... sorry all.

Ooops you're right. I typed the wrong thing. I'm sorry. Again, I hope someone can give you some good insight.

Actually, a morcellator chops up and suctions out whatever happens to be in its path ... hopefully (in the hands of a very well-trained and experienced surgeon) only the part(s) desired to be removed - in your case, your uterus but not your cervix. It's a bit tricky, because there's no magic dotted line that shows the surgeon where to stop 'morcellating', since the cervix is part of the uterus. The morcellator looks like this:

http://www.jnjgateway.com/home.jhtml...equestid=77042

Very few surgeons are experienced at doing a vaginal hysterectomy and leaving the cervix. Unless your surgeon has done this procedure before, I would not recommend letting her try it on you. "Might be able to..." does not exactly inspire confidence.

That leaves the SAH (supracervical, or subtotal, abdominal hysterectomy) if you want to keep your cervix, so you will need to trade off whether you would rather have a scar (usually along the bikini line) or lose your cervix.

I had my hysterectomy vaginally, so I did not keep my cervix and I did not end up with a visible scar. I didn't have a choice (very severe prolapse), but if I had, I would have chosen the TVH. I don't miss my cervix at all, and I really didn't want to have a scar. The irony of that is that a year later, I had to have another surgery in which I ended up with a foot long vertical scar, breastbone to pubic bone. Oh well.

Really, imho you need to talk with your DR (or another DR you trust, if that's not your current DR) about which surgery technique he or she recommends given your particular circumstances. They tend to know best.

s,
-Linda

Thanks everyone I ended up finding a doc, and a hospital, that offer what I'm looking for. One of the kind ladies that posted here helped me with some links via a private post, and I was able to find a hospital that offers exactly what I want. Of course, what I want and what I need may be two different things, so I'll see how this all goes at the consult on Thursday. This hospital has a morcillator and also the daVinci.

Also, even though it's a plane ride away from me, the insurance company is paying for my flights too! Wow. I'm so relieved.

Since you are taking a plane ride, can I assume this doctor you have found is an endometriosis specialist and thus can excise as much endometriosis as possible? When endometriosis is involved, the most important thing is not a morcillator but a surgeon who is able to remove endometriosis safely from the body. A morcillator has not be used in any of my prior surgeries and not even when I just had surery with a world renowed endometriosis specialist though by then I was post hysterectomy so I didn't need my uterus chopped to pieces to be removed.

Also consider that with endometriosis, keeping the cervix is not always a wise choice as it can have endometrial lining which could become endometriosis in the future and/or the cervix could have microscopic endometriosis on the cervix (which is the neck of the uterus, not a seperate organ).

I wish you all the best and I hope you have found a specialist with a superb reputation who can help you.

Weiser - There are no endo specialists in nearly 3000 miles. As much as I'd like to go to CA for the specialist there, it would result in a financial hardship for us as my insurance has refused to cover it. I tried. I am going to go where the best technology is but I can't guarantee that's where the best doc is. I'm not in the greatest situation. I'm going to fly there tomorrow to meet with the doc.