scheduled for hyster on 10/19--or not?

Just looking for some advice here. I cannot make up my mind about whether or not to follow through with my surgery. I have three children. I am definietly done. Too many problems with carrying them. Feel very lucky that they are all healthy. Anyway, I am 34 y/o and I am very happily married. Just bought a home in March. Our dream home. Waited a long time to get here. My husband just lost his father two months ago. Very close to him and it is very hard. But we are doing well. My problem is this... I have been suffering for several years with this pulling, tugging, crawling type sensation in my groin and to the right of my belly button. Sometimes is causes pain going from one to the other. I have a lot of pressure, bleeding after intercourse but only pain when in certain positions. Just the hassle of bleeding quite often afterwards. Not just a little but then it stops. I have not had the long lasting periods that some of you have had. I have no pain with intercourse. My only pain is this groin pain that goes down my leg. I have had adhesions removed twice from my large bowel, tubes, and uterus. When I had my tubal ligation they had to open me up instead of laparoscopic surgery because they couldn't get through all of the scar tissue/adhesions. They were all lumped together and moved as one. The second time was, basically, the same thing. The doctors ( I have had three opinions) say that hysterectomy is the answer. However, of course they cannot guarantee that it will make my discomfort go away. I do have pretty severe cramping and PMS symptoms three out of the four weeks of the month and the groin/leg pain gets worse with my period. I have just recently developed swelling of my leg just above my knee and around my knee that the docs say could be adhesions pressing on veins and that is causing pooling of blood in my leg and could eventually cause clotting. But, again, they are not sure why my leg is 2" bigger than the left. I just don't know if hyster is the answer. I am scheduled and go for preop testing/h&p on Monday, 10/16/00. Still planning on going through with it. Just not confident and guess I am trying to justify this surgery. Anyone care to comment??? Thanks!

My problems were different than yours (large fibroid), but I can tell you how thrilled I am that I had the TAH. I'm 8 weeks post-op, and feel wonderful! Sex is great, no bleeding, no cramps, etc. I did not want children, so that wasn't a consideration. If the doctors really think that a hysterectomy will help with your problems, I hope you will seriously consider it. It made my quality of life so much better! Good luck!

Hi Lilsista :-)

Wow, I'm sorry to hear about all of the health problems you've been having. There is so much to weigh here.

First, it sounds like your personal life is running pretty smoothly right now. I think that is one reason why this may be good timing for the surgery believe it or not. I know you don't want to disrupt life when it's going well, but many sisters post messages about how this hyst. is coming at the worst time for them (lack of any support, many demands on them both financialy and emotionally, can't take enough time off of work, etc..) So, if you foresee that you will have the time and emotional support available to you, it may be good timing.

That said, have your doctors given you odds for the hyst. resolving your problems? I'm thinking if the odds of it helping are only 10%, I might not go through with a major surgery. But if the odds are 50/50, I would probably do it. Reason being that if I didn't and I continued to have these problems, Iwould always be asking myself "What if I had the hyst.?"

And last but not least, are there any alternatives to the hyst. as possible treatments? If all three doctors say the hyst. is your only chance, even if it's not a guarantee, then I imagine I woul ddo it, just because there's nothing else to try.

Sorry to ramble, I'm trying to put myself in your shoes, which of course no one really can know what you're going through but you... Also, you mayu want to check out the message board entitled, "Hysterectomy Alternatives" and perhaps someone there has had similar experiences as you.

Best wishes, and please let us know what you decide :-)

m2discover

Thanks for responding to my post. I am definitely going to tell him to leave my ovaries if possible. I am going to tell my doc that I don't want them removed unless there is cancer/disease that is life-threatening. However, he said that if everything is glued together with heavy, thick adhesions then he would probably have to go with TAH and might not be able to untangle my ovaries. Just won't know until he gets in there. I definitely believe that I have the adhesions again because I know what it felt like when I had them before. I have hx of previous hernia surgery x 3 and the biggest one was in the right groin where all of my pain and discomfort is. The surgeon took a look and there is no hernia. They are thinking that maybe there are adhesions covering the piece of mesh that is in there from my previous hernia surgery. To tell you the truth.. he, basically, told me that he won't know what to do until he gets in there and takes a look around. There is going to be a local surgeon sitting in to assist if it is a problem in my groin that the OB/GYN is not familiar with.. They think that it may even be something vascular that is causing it.. The fact remains that I do have a hx of bleeding/cramping/pressure after intercourse with hx of adhesions on cervix, too. I am so confused. I have pretty much decided that I am going to do it but have told him that I don't want anything done that isn't necessary once they get in there!! Confused enough yet??? I know I am... I just so worried that I will do through all of this to no avail. They can't tell me any % numbers on success. I do have trust in my doc. He has been very good so far and has been so good to dx and treat correctly in the past. I will let you know more after my preop appt. on 10/16/00. Thanks again!!

I had a blood clot last year. One of the symptoms is leg swelling, but I'm not saying that leg swelling necessarily means a blood clot. It's worth checking out, though, especially if you are having leg pain. I'm pretty sure the only way to determine if you have a clot is with a leg ultrasound. Have you seen a vascular surgeon? It might be wise to put off the surgery until you've ruled out a blood clot in your leg. I'm concerned because of the leg swelling you have. If they find that you may be prone to clots, extra precautions can be taken before surgery. You might mention the problem with your leg at your pre-op testing.