My Doctor Told Me Something Interesting

I am happy you are doing so well. I wish I could have had Lap surgery,mine was switch mid procedure to a TAH due to complications. Funny thing about insurance my doctor requested to do a LAVH and the insurance company actually asked why she didn't want to do a TAH. Her explaination to them is would be easier on me in the long run to go LAVH over TAH. I was approved for the LAVH with the option of a TAH. So here I am 4 weeks out over all doing well with a few minor complications to deal with. Happy healing.

My dr. did three hysterectomies the day I had my TAH...and one was laproscopic, but it wasn't me. I trust my dr. and he didn't do abdominal because he "couldn't" as shown by an other patient, he and I talked about the differences and what he could and couldn't do "well" each way. I went with an abdominal because I got an extra graft to hold things up due to my prolapse. He could've done it a different way but research shows it isn't as effective that way. (And I'm the one who did the research.) I don't believe my dr. did my surgery abdominally because of money, he did it to do it RIGHT. Ten days post op and I go to ChuckECheese with my kids, make dinner, clean up, etc. Yes, I'm tired, and wish I had an "easier" recovery, but I'm only 34 and don't want to be prolapsing again any time soon or 20 or 30 years from now, so I'm glad my dr. chose abdominal. By the way - I was up moving around and walking at the hospital much more than the laproscopic patients. We all stayed the same amount of time but I was doing laps around the building Each recovery, no matter what the procedure, is different. I'm glad your recovery is going so well!

smkelmer,

My had a TLH also and my doctor told me the same thing your doctor told you. At my pre-op appointment and in the pre-admit paperwork, it was acknowledged that if once in surgery, circumstances warranted a TAH, that's what he would do.

Charlotte

I certainly understand your dr's point about the additional training. I had the daVinci, so my dr had to undergo more training for that procedure, as well. He has been practicing for a while, so I was impressed that he was willing to go through all of the additional training that he did in order to be able to do surgery this way.

My dr does about one daVinci a week, so obviously he has patients for whom the daVinci is not appropriate, for one reason or another. I was asked and did to consent to a TAH if the doctor felt it was necessary once he began the surgery.

I am delighted with the results from my daVinci and believe it did help me to have an easier recovery. I remember all too well what a difficult recovery my mother had from an abdominal hysterectomy, and I guess I was concerned, "like mother, like daughter."

I was concerned about my dr being able to see everything with the daVinci since I was diagnosed with cancer and he assured me he could see everything with a daVinci that he could with a TAH. Maybe that is the difference between the lap and the daVinci, too, now that I think of it - the daVinci is supposed to give the dr a broader field of vision. That may be why some drs do not want to do the lap if they are concerned about being able to see everything.

Grinding up the uterus was not an option for me, due to the cancer. So, my uterus was put in a "baggie" and taken out through my vagina.

Although my hysterectomy was precertified by my insurance company, my dr's charge for the surgery has been denied so far by my insurance, a major nationwise insurance company, and I am appealing the decision. The reason the insurance company is giving is that they do not consider it medically necessary - and hysterectomy is the proper treatment for my type of cancer. My only caveat is to make sure your insurance company is going to cover the procedure!

I saw the pictures from my lap surgery. I don't know how a doctor with that field of vision could miss anything. I was able to see clearly what he did, and what my uterus looked like, along with lots of other body parts!! It was amazing to see what could be done through five little holes less than 1/2 in length. I'm glad I had the surgeon I did (he was highly recommended by not only my own ob/gyn but a friend), and that he had the attitude he did. He said he's not done an abdominal in years; even for cancer, even for adhesions, even for endometriosis. He was adamant that no woman should have to recover from the old-fashioned hyst surgeries. And this doctor is not young, he was at least ten years older than me and I'm 47. I was, and still am, impressed at his attitude and effort to save many women many weeks of recovery. Who'd have thought that I could be going back to work three weeks after MAJOR surgery?

The reason I posted the original post is that I want women to think long and hard about the abdominal surgery, and please please PLEASE get second and third opinions. Look for a laparoscopic specialist if you can, and ask your friends for recommendations, even if it is heresay ("I had a friend who had a friend"). This is your body, and you do have a choice on how they treat it and how you recover. I'm sooo glad I went with my instincts to get a specialist, I weigh 320 pounds and have had three children, three miscarriages, and bleeding problems since I was in my early 20's. I was by no means a "simple case," as I'd had multiple procedures and drugs trying anything and everything short of a hyst to solve my problems. When it came down to it, the hyst was the only way to go, and I'm glad my surgeon had the attitude that he did.

This does not mean I don't wish the best of luck to everyone here. Of course I do! I just wanted to offer a different perspective, as most of what I see here is about how long the recovery has been, the complications, the awfulness of it all. I wanted those visiting here to realize that there really ARE times when everything goes perfectly and the result is wonderful.

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Originally Posted by smkelmer My surgeon told me something interesting the day after my surgery. When he asked me how I was feeling and had checked my chart to see that I'd had minimal pain meds after recovery, he said that there is absolutely no reason for ANY woman to have anything other than laparoscopic hysterectomies. I said, "not even for severe cases of adhesions, or fibroids?" He said no, that there was no reason for any woman to have to go through the painful and massive recovery of an abdominal hysterectomy.

What an irresponsible thing for a surgeon to say. Surely, he wouldn't perform an LSH on a woman who has uterine cancer and possibly spill cancer cells into her abdominal cavity. I had a TAH and didn't consider my recovery 'painful and massive'.

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When he saw me at my two-week followup, he said "you know, if you'd had abdominal surgery, you'd just now be thinking about getting out of bed."

I was up and about the morning after my surgery. Once home I did not lie around in bed. By the time I had my visit at 10 days post op I was doing light housework and preparing meals. NO type of hysterectomy is suitable for ALL hysterectomy patients.

It's wonderful that those of you who had LSH are doing so well, but the type of surgery a patient has should be determined by their symptoms and condition.

My Dr said that in cases where there is a possibility of cancer they prefer to do abdominal surgery so that the uterus can be removed in one piece. In laproscopic, the uterus is cut into tiny pieces, which makes the pathology more difficult. I had a SAH/BSO on June 26, was released to drive yesterday, and feel great. At my 2 week checkup, the Dr said I look fabulous for someone who just had major surgery, and that I'm healing very well.

I went in on June 17th to hopefully have a LVAH, I ended up having two of the LAP incisions and 45 minutes into the operation, I started having trouble breathing (because of the tilt involved with LAP and I am a heart patient also).....so then I had to end up having abdominal incision.....I was in my recovery room by 3:30 that afternoon, had my cath out the next morning at 9:30 and I was up walking the halls by 10:30 and came home the next day! I think my recovery has gone exceptionally well. It would be great if LAP would work for all women, but I just don't see that as feasible or true.....though I am sure the doctor was stressing the point that alot of women have abdominal surgery that could get by with LAP.

Glad to hear you are doing well.
~~Pam

I can understand why you posted what you did because you want the ladies to know there is a chioce, but I think the reason you are getting the reaction that you are is because it makes it sound like there Dr's are making bad choices for them. It's not what you said that is getting you these kind of responses, but how it was said.

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Originally Posted by aware I can understand why you posted what you did because you want the ladies to know there is a chioce, but I think the reason you are getting the reaction that you are is because it makes it sound like there Dr's are making bad choices for them. It's not what you said that is getting you these kind of responses, but how it was said.

Maybe...but I am the same as everyone else. I'll defend to the death the choices I make, don't we all? I just wanted to encourage those who come by here reading that it is NOT all gloom and doom, it is NOT all "cut you wide open and mess with all your parts," that many times it can be done without that, regardless of the circumstances and presenting difficulties. Doctors who don't have the training don't know this, and neither will you if you don't hear it from someone, and do the research to find the alternatives, and find doctors that can perform those alternatives. I'm so glad I did that, and I'm also glad I didn't wait until things were worse to get treatment. If I'd waited, who knows what I'd have gone through in a year or two or three?

I know I will receive a lot of criticism from these posts; I expected that. And my posts weren't for the ladies on this board who've already gone through what they've gone through. This is for those ladies in the throes of making a decision who need to see that there ARE alternatives and there ARE positive outcomes beyond what they are seeing on this board.

In other words...I was trying to present some happy news. There isn't a whole lot of that here, or haven't you noticed?