Need to know what type to get so I can resume living my life soon

I am 40 years old and have always struggled with my periods since my mid to late 20's. I was told to wait until I married to make the decision with my husband to get the surgery done. I never married. Well my periods are very irregular. I miss periods on occasion, have heavy period after missing one, and this month had a period twice. First one was heavy for entire seven days and that was the longest period I had in a year. Last month I had cramping so severe that extra strength Tylenol hardly made a difference and I was forced to stay in bed. I have multiple growths in the uterus and vagina that I believe are from my genetic disease. My gynecologist recommended hysterectomy. I see him on the 5th of October to discuss it further and need to know what to expect and what I need to do. I cannot have children because of my conditions or take hormone replacement.

Hi- I'm sorry to hear of your great difficulties over the years with uterine problems. Please search around on this site, there is lots of good information about hysterectomies. You can see for yourself what to expect, from LOTS of women. Start with the Free Booklet. As for what you need to do... I'm not sure what you mean. Perhaps you are still struggling with making the decision to have major surgery? Not sure what would prevent you, given the symptoms and patterns you describe... but the issues of marriage and child bearing seem to be on your mind. Perhaps you should describe these anxieties to your gyn and then, if you still can't say 'yes' to the procedure, it might help to look for a therapist to help you with this. I've had counseling and I can say that having an objective point of view about a situation was wonderfully helpful to me.

But don't say 'yes' until you are calm about it. Your post does not mention any life threatening disease. Take your time. As my grandmother said, "When cooking, you can always add salt. You can't take it away again."

I can't have children. My genetic disease called Tuberous Sclerosis stops me from having children because if they inherited it from me theirs would be more severe. It causes multiple benign tumors to grow inside my vital organs and I have epilepsy because of it. I'm not involved in any relationship and have no plans to be. I'm very certain about my decision to undergo the surgery but I will talk with my therapist as well. Sometimes in women with Tuberous Sclerosis we develop a certain type of tumor called a pecoma which can cause complications and sometimes even death. I know of one lady whose friend who also has Tuberous Sclerosis had a hysterectomy because of a pecoma and she was told if she had waited any longer that it (the tumor)would have killed her. I'm not positive if that's something I have. If I do then I have a lot and the only cure in my case would be a hysterectomy. Because in Tuberous Sclerosis the gene that tells the body not to grow tumors isn't working. I periodically have to have tests run to see what my tumors are doing. This condition I have complicates some things. I appreciate your response by the way. For a while I was starting to wonder if anybody would. But I hope to continue to hear from you and other ladies. Thank you.

I don't remember where I saw your post, but you might try a pre-hysterectomy thread for more responses... Usually the conversations are monitored by "Angels"- volunteers with this community. I'm surprised you didn't hear from one of them. I will try to help with that...

Try requesting information- there is a tab at the top of the home page, where you can get a drop-down menu for information sent to your email. The Free booklet is also helpful.

You can also click on Pre-Op prepare for your hysterectomy for joining a conversation and finding info. When you have a date for the surgery you can join a community of women that will have theirs the same week. This website sends you check-points from that time on... and you have a cohort of ladies to communicate with... very encouraging, I found.

If you were trying to ask what procedure for the surgery would be right for you... that is between you and the surgeon! My surgeon told me I would require an abdominal surgery and, when I asked, explained why the minimally invasive approaches would not be appropriate. You don't really ask the doctor for a particular type of surgery.

Hope this helps- Meanwhile- blessings.