30s or younger??

Just curious...how many of you who have had or who are planning to have hysterectomies are in your thirties or younger? Is/has your age making this decision more difficult for you? Also, for those of you who are/were that young, if you did not have biological children, was the decision even harder?

I am 30 and although I know that my problems cannot be solved any other way, this decision is hard and I am grieving it. I think that if I was older or if I had been able to conceive, the decision to have this surgery would be easier and more of a "no brainer"...but instead, this is HARD. Please pray for me.

I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts. God bless.

for me it was a easy for me to go through with it. But I have two sons, and although we thought we may try again, my dr adviced against it. Last night was the first night I dreamed that i was pregnant , it was weird and hard, but I tell myself I have to great kids already and not to be selfish. I can totally understand how not having chidren of your own would make this a very tough time for you , and thats natural. By the way Im 32. Good luck , I'm praying for you, to get through this and to be ok with it all in the end.

Ashley

Well, I had a TVH almost a year ago, and I was 31 at the time. It was an easy decision for me, but I have 2 children and my husband had already undergone a vasectomy. It wasn't an emotional decision at all, especially since I was in such pain and each month the pain grew worse. That said, had I not already conceived, that decision would have been extremely hard. At that point, it's not a surgery to remove a problem part, but it's grieving the loss of the ability to bear your own children. That is painstakingly hard, and only you are able to make that choice. One of my closest friends had a hysterectomy at age 30 (prior to having children), and adopted later. She has confessed that the first year after surgery was really hard, but has since adopted and has absolutely no regrets.

Aside from the emotional aspect of your decision, I have to tell you that this past year has been one of the best years of my life. I have been completely pain-free, and no longer have to plan every aspect of my life around "that time of the month." It was probably the best thing I've ever done for myself. I only tell you that because I know that there are lots of horror stories, and I wanted to share that I'm proof that it doesn't always have to be horrific.

Best wishes as you make your decision.

Kim

Hi sweettlc -

I'm so sorry you have to make a decision like this at your age. But for what it's worth, I chose to do everything I could before going the hysterectomy route. My dr's did too. I was never pressured to make that decision until this summer. For me & my situation, I looked at a hysterectomy as a last resort, because it is absolute - no going back, no looking back.
I had an exploratory laparoscopy at 24 due to excessive bleeding. I went through a box of super plus tampons each day during my period! Well, 2 weeks after the laparascopy, I was admitted for a laparatomy, due to cysts and severe endometriosis & adhesions. My right tube was 60% blocked, the left 100%. My tubes were twisted around my ovaries, and everything was stuck to my uterus, which was then adhered to my intestines. My liver is still adhered to my intestines to this day. My dr/surgeon was the best in Chicago (I was referred to him by my internist) and believe it or not, everything came out ok. I was supposed to stay on the pill until menopause because that would keep the cysts away. But I developed chronic migraines & has to go off the pill. Well, since then I've has 4 more laparscopies and 2 Leeps. I've been on the pill, Lupron, Depo Provera, you name it, I've tried it. 5 years ago, I had dye shot thru my tubes & the were clear! I truly believe that my orginal dr/surgeon saved my fertility & I will forever be grateful for his amazing surgical skills.
Unfortunately, it turns out my husband was unable to have children, so I ended up never being pregnant. Finally at 40, after 9 surgeries in 16 years, I had to face the inevitable - TAH-BSO. At almost 6 weeks post-op I'm finally able to say I made the right decision. For me I never have to wonder if I made the right decision. I know I tried everything I could, for as long as I could. My heart breaks for all these women with cancer or serious problems who had no choice. One day they go to the dr, & bam! they are told they need a hysterectomy. My mom is one of them - she has ovarian cancer. I had 16 years to come to terms with it and hopefully you will too. I'm not saying it will be easy, but if you really want to have children, personally, I would do the laparatomy & buy yourself some more time. Let me know what you decide.
Thinking of you -
Mb

Sweet,

I'm sorry that you have to make this decision at your age. I really can't reply to your questions. I had a tubal at age 21 because by that age I had already had 3 children. I would have liked to have probably had more children but I wasn't built for having them. I had to have them all c-section and I didn't want to have to go through the surgery again. I did desire to have more children over the past 17 years and often contemplated tubal reversal but it just didn't work out that way. I ended up having to have an SAH.

I can't even pretend to know how you feel. I will put you in my prayers!

Hugs

I will be 32 next month. When I get this surgery I know I will be able to reclaim my life and live it to the fullest again. Right now I struggle each day with the pain and not knowing when I will feel normal again.

I have 2 children already but I think even if I didn't I would still want this surgery because living in constant pain is not fun and there are so many other options out there for those that want kids but can't have them.

My husband supports me in the decision of this surgery because he also wants our life to return to being normal again. As it is now we plan our lives around how I feel and let me tell you, it is really getting old. We have no social life anymore. It is hard to make plans for something when you don't know if you are going to be in severe pain or bleeding really bad. I know that sounds terrible to say but that is how I feel.

I will say a prayer for you. This is a major decision. You should feel 100% comfortable with what you decide.

Thanks so much for the responses so far. It makes me feel not as alone. My husband and I have been married since our early 20s and we have tried every infertility treatment that we can afford...I have never once become pregnant. My hubby and I could not even try now if we wanted to because I have to be on the pill to try to control my periods and every other period control option that we can find does not allow for pregnancy. I'm probably going to choose a hysterectomy because it's a pain/quality of life issue. I have reoccuring cysts because of PCOS, I am averaging a surgery for them every 2 - 3 years. A few weeks ago my doc discovered a 7 cm cyst in my left ovary as well as other cysts and now I also have uterine fibroids...I can also tell that my adhesions are acting up because I'm having some painful bowel movements and gas pains that I can feel in my left ovary. From all of my surgeries I have adhesions that cause my insides to become a gummy mess...one of my ovaries is still stuck to my pelvic wall since my last surgery. My last surgery also revealed some endometriosis. I now have periods that no bcp can control and my energy is down due to anemia. I have to have monthly bedrest during my periods and I have missed vacations, family events and I cannot exercise because of my periods and DH even has to do most of the grocery shopping. I am definately not pro-hysterectomy...and I definately agree that you should exhaust what you know to do before you have one...so many conditions can be solved without one. Mine sadly cannot because of PCOS...I have a surgery and then everything is back to "business is usual" within no time and in a few more years, I have to go in for more surgery. I am just tired of trying to "manage" everything with surgery and meds. The "managing" is just not working and I can't help but think that the surgeries every few years are just making my adhesions worse by creating more scar tissue. It just can't be good for the body to go through so many surgeries. I so far have had one large incision surgery with a hospital stay and a long recovery time and three lap surgeries. My doc said that this time, because of the large cyst, etc. that I will have to have another surgery with a large incision and a long recovery time...YUCK!! So, either way, I will have major surgery.

It is just disturbing in general to have to even think of getting a hysterectomy at my age, you know? It helps so much to hear from other ladies who are as young as I am. Thanks again for these replies...they are so helpful and interesting. God bless

Best of luck with everything. I'm 6 weeks post-op on Tuesday and feel great. For the first time in a long time, no pain, no periods, no cysts, no nothing! I feel absolutely nothing which is a new concept for me. Hang in there, everything will be a million times better by the New Year! Think about how great 2005 will be for you!

Marybeth