Hysterectomy

[Pretz]

Hope this is posted in the right place area.

For those of you that has had a hysterectomy...

I'm 34 and have endometriosis and adenomyosis and also suffer from ovarian cysts and due to that I have suffered from heavy, painful periods every month. I am currently on the mirena and although it was perfect for the 9 months after my 3rd sons birth, it’s been horrible since I started getting my periods again. I’m bleeding heavily all the time, cramping heaps, even when not bleeding, am spotting inbetween and I’ve been getting heaps of headaches and migraines again too, which I know is hormone related.

I’m seeing my OB/Gyn in September for my one year check since getting the mirena and now that’s it’s nearly been a year since I have been on the mirena, I have come to the decision that I don’t want to put up with all this anymore and that I’m going to ask my OB/Gyn for a hysterectomy. I know that my little family is complete and that we aren't having more babies and I’m fine with that.
I have briefly talked about a hysterectomy with my OB/Gyn after my son’s birth, to which he said he was happy to go down that road if that’s what I wanted, but I said that I would try the mirena first and try it for a year before deciding for sure – I didn’t want to have a hysterectomy with a newborn/small baby.
So, a few questions for those that has had a hysterectomy -

* Did you have an abdominal hysterectomy, a laparoscopy hysterectomy or a vaginal hysterectomy and if they did it vaginally, did they do it with laparoscopy too?
* How long did you stay in hospital for after your surgery?
* What was your recovery like in the few weeks and months after? I have 3 small little boys. A nearly 5 yo, a 2.5yo and my youngest just turned 13 months. What were you not allowed to lift/do after and for how long?

I can probably get someone to come and help for a couple of weeks with lifting kids into the bath, into the car and drop off my nearly 5yo at kindy.

I will be asking some of these questions to my OB/Gyn but as it’s still a few weeks away before I see him, I was interested to hear what others’ experiences were.

Thank you.

[Trillian]

Check out the HERS Foundation for information - they are on the anti-side of hysterectomy, but they give a very detailed and thorough explanation of what you will go through, so don't let their stance put you off because it's still a valuable source of information and they give a lot of information that Dr's tend not to give, especially about what it could be like for you after the op. It's not an easy decision to make and I'm sure you've spent many, many hours thinking about this, so I only make the suggestion of this site to give you comprehensive information, not to put you off having it done Good luck and I hope it all goes well for you.

[Footsteps]

My cousin has literally had a hysterectomy last week, she has no children but has had issues for a long time x

[Pretz]

Check out the HERS Foundation for information - they are on the anti-side of hysterectomy, but they give a very detailed and thorough explanation of what you will go through, so don't let their stance put you off because it's still a valuable source of information and they give a lot of information that Dr's tend not to give, especially about what it could be like for you after the op. It's not an easy decision to make and I'm sure you've spent many, many hours thinking about this, so I only make the suggestion of this site to give you comprehensive information, not to put you off having it done Good luck and I hope it all goes well for you.

Thanks so much for that Trillian. Will definitely go check out that HERS foundation site.

Hope your cousin is doing ok Footsteps. That would have been hard having to go through a hysto without having have had kids. xx