What do I do??

Hi I am a 37 year old mom to 2 year old triplet girls and I have suffered severe abdominal pain since I was 19. I have had 4 surgeries for ruptured cycts and adhesions filling up with fluid. My tubes are now extremely enlarged and causing me alot of pain, and now have 2 large cysts on each ovary. My doctor says I have 2 options.

1. To have both tubes removed, clean up as much of the adhesions as possible, scrape the inside of my uterus, and possibly remove one of my ovaries if very dammaged.

2. Hysterectomy

Or I do nothing at all and live with the pain and hope it goes away once I go into natural menapause. I am so scared and confused. I don`t know what to do. I need to stay healthy for my girls, and I have heard terrible stories about the aftereffects of hysterectomy. Please if you can give me any advice, I would be so appreciative. Thanks for listening.



Cindy

If you are unsure you could always get a second opinion which I would recommend. I'm 27 and had endo and severe pain and I am extremely happy with having had my hyst. I had it done by da vinici which I would also recommend I was out of the hospital the next day! Good Luck with what ever you decide.

Definatly get a second opinion to be safe and see what they say. it is ahard deceion , make a list of pros and cons that will help you soo much as well. lots of luck to you
hugs
lisa

Hi Cindy,
First of all you're starting off doing the right thing...researching. Do your homework, get a second opinion, talk to women and most importantly ask your questions here. Take your time with your decision and in time your decision will come to you. Wishing you wisdom and peace with your decisions.

P.S. I am 4 weeks post-op from a TAH (total abdominal hysterectomy). It hasn't been terrible. Then again I don't need to run after 2 year old triplets!!

Thanks everyone for your replies. I really appreciate it. I am just so confused still... I have talked to some of my family and they say I should get it, but they don`t have to deal with it. I have heard that after a hystorectomy, that your sex life is nil, and I am still young and my husband and I enjoy that, when I am not in too much pain... I am afraid to lose that as well, as everything else. How did you all decide to have it done? What made you sure of your decision? Thanks so much for listening.

Cindy

onlysmith,
I have a few friends and we're all going through similar things and all have been told we need hysterectomies Each of us have gone through our decisions in different ways. For me it was a matter of "quality of life". For about a year the pain, bleeding and anemia was getting in the way of my daily life. I was missing time at work, not being able to exercise, was always tired and I had started having pain when having sex. I was blessed to have a wonderful uterus that gave me pain free periods and 2 beautiful children, but when my uterus started giving me troubles I knew it was time.

For a friend of mine who had a TAH 1 week after me she is not married, has not had children yet and is almost 10 years younger than me. She decided to have a TAH because she had pre-cancerous cells in her uterus. The decision was harder for her, but in the end she knew she needed to do it.

I have 2 other friends who have been told to get it done, but they are not ready. They also have fibroids pain and heavy bleeding, but either they are stronger than I am or their quality of life hasn't been disrupted enough. They have been told from their DRs that they will know when the time is right. For some people (like me) I like to take charge, research, make decisions and get things done and over with. Other people need to take time to absorb, think and rethink. This is a MAJOR life-changing decision. You will know when and if the time is right. Don't let anyone talk you into it, but at the same time if you are interested do your home work, GET A SECOND OPINION, and talk through your decisions.

Wishing you peace and wisdom!

P.S. I haven't been cleared for sex yet, but if you look at some of the threads in the post-op section you will see that for many, sex is not NIL but VERY GOOD!

Prior to my TAH, I was in pain , heavy periods, cramps , and in bed ALOT I too based mine on quality of life. My TAH was done as an emergency so I didn't have to really weigh out any decisions but if I did have to make the choice I would have gone for it! My periods, made it nearly impossible to get out of bed, I was always tired and witchy. I was 39 and have NO regrets at all, I really never had any side effects, my sex life never changed infact it was better, NO PAIN! Its a personal decision that you and your husband have to make, and you will know when the time is right. I agree that you need to get a second opinion before you make and decisions.

Would you go into menapause if they just took your tubes out? And I have also heard that women who have these surgeries and have their ovaries left in that they are more prone to get ovarian cancer? I am just being hit with all these problems that may happen and I just don`t know what the right answer is... My husband is so supportive, I don`t know what I would do with out him, but he is scared for me as well. Thanks for listening, this site is great, and all who have replied to my post, you have been so helpful.

From what I have learned if you keep your ovaries (I did ) you will not go into menopause. However, sometimes ovaries are sluggish after surgery and you can have menopausal symptoms; hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, problems sleeping. I haven't had any of these symptoms. My DR said when he looked at my ovaries they looked healthy and I might even go another 10 years before I hit natural menopause. Sometimes though natural menopause comes earlier than normal because of the surgery. I still have some PMS symptoms (but NO PERIOD! ) because I kept my ovaries.

My mother was also concerned that if I kept my ovaries I would get cancer. To be honest I don't understand this thought?! I was going to keep them before surgery so why would I be more prone to cancer now? My DR is not concerned about ovarian cancer especially since there isn't any history in the family.

I know you are concerned about problems after and you're right to research, think and plan. Something else to think about... and this is why I chose to keep my ovaries, is that it's important to me not to fool around with my hormones if I don't have to. I knew if I took out my ovaries I would need to do HRT (hormone replacement therapy). I would much rather keep my own hormones than try to take something to replace them.

Take your time with your decision. I know I drove my poor DR crazy flip flopping with all my decisions. But in the end I feel I made the best choice for me. Good luck, in time you will know what is best for you.

onlysmith,
for me, I had horrible abdominal pain for years and irregular heavy bleeding. I would bleed for 5 months heavily and then stop for a day or two and right back on it. I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome and uterine fibroids. I chose to have a total abdominal hyster with removal of tubes and ovaries, I am now in surgical menopause and take HRT. I feel awesome! I am 2 weeks out from surgery and feel fantastic!
as for my sex drive, I can't have sex yet but oh boy is it there, man it's all I think about, I feel 16 again lol.
I heard all the scary stories about hysters before my surgery and got really scared, but I am not a scary story. mine is great.
I have had one hot flash in two weeks, not to bad, it lasted like a minute and was over.
while there is a chance of ovarian cancer it is slim according to my doc. like 1% slim chance. talk to your doc about your fears and concerns. good luck sister and be at peace. chris