Hysterectomy or not?

I am 45 year old woman who lost her ovaries at age 33 due to severe polycystic ovarian disease. I still have my uterus and I am the fortunate mother of beautiful twins from a donor egg. I was just diagnosed with adneomyosis and a hysterecomy has been recommended. I am on HRT with the Vivelle patch and about every 8 weeks I do a course of Progesterone to induce a bleed. I have long, painful, clot filled periods from the progesterone and if I don’t take it, I get weeks of heavy bleeding as the lining sloughs off. I do not want a hysterectomy nor an ablation. While I do not want more children, psychologically I can not bear to part with my uterus. Several friends have had hysterectomy and even with the surgery sparing their ovaries they still complain of sexual dysfunction. Would I still need Progesterone therapy after the surgery and could my uterus ever be used again to carry a pregnancy??

Dear Mary-
We support your desire to keep uterus..it has many functions beyond childbirth.
Our FAS procedure will allow you to keep your uterus but would eliminate the symptoms associated with adenomyosis.There would be no need to take progesterone post surgery. Depending on the extent of your disease, we normally do not recommend pregnancy following our procedure.
Hope this has been helpful.

Hi, I am a 31 year old woman, and I have been having digestive problems for 8 years. I was told that it was my gall bladder, and I had it removed. I still had the same problem. I was told by several of the doctors that it could be a gynelogical problem, o I scheduled an appointment. I saw the gynecologist, and he scheduled me for a sonogram. During my exam, I was told that I had fibroids, but they were too small to be causing me pain or discomfort. My doctor called me a couple of days later, and told me that I have fibroids, and I needed a hysterectomy. The next time I saw him, I was scheduling my surgery after only sseeing him once. I did have periods that were painful, but not alarming. I did have irregular periods, but it wasn’t alarming. I figured that the fibroids were a major problem, and maybe that was what was causing my problems. Maybe it was the fibroids. I did not know, that there were alterntives to having a hysterectomy, I would have jumped at the chance. I was not ready to give up my womanhood, and was even considering another child. I trusted him, I thought that this was my only option, and I did it. It was a disaster!!! I am a small woman, 5’7, 119lbs, and my body was just abused. He cut mt ureter during surgery. I was lying there for hours waiting for a urologist to get there. I had a stent put in. I was sent home three days later, and went back to his office with a fever. He tells me that I have an infection in 1 of 5 places, and sends me home. A week later, I am admitted into the hospital with three severe infections. Was put under again to put the stent back in. I was put on five different medications which caused me to be sick all the time. Now, I feel no better. I am experiencing hot flashes. I am having severe night sweats. I have constant swelling in my feet,hands, and legs. I have back pain, stomach pain, and something sticking out and poking me from inside of my stomach. Im not sure if it is a staple or what. I just know that it is painful, and hurts just to wear pants. I did see a doctor about it, and they told me basically that it is all in my head. I am sometimes doubled over in pain. I just want to know, if I really needed a hysterectomy, and isn’t it my rights to know other alternatives. Also, why am I experiencing menopausel symptoms when I only had a partial hysterectomy. At least that is what I was told. It has been over three months since my surgery, and I would like to know if the pain is normal after three months, and what I should expect in changes in my body. I am afraid. I would never have agreed to a hysterectomy if I had known there were tother ways to treat my problem.

Dear Karmaengel-
Thank you for your posting..this is so important for women to read. Your experience, like many other post hysterectomy women, has ended up very negatively and accompanied by irreversible problems. This is why we continually recommend women do their research thoroughly before agreeing to hysterectomy. Many many women do not respond well after that surgery. We encourage patients to read the information posted in the HERS Foundation website in order to become fully informed.
Many women experience problems with hormone imbalance after hysterectomy and often have early onset of menopause due to ovarian dysfunction. You should probably get a complete hormone panel to see where you are. Pain this long after surgery is not the norm..we would recommend you go back to your surgeon and get some answers.
Good luck to you.

I am a 47 year old with very large fibroids. I don’t have heavy peiords, or pain with the fibroids. The only problems I’ve had are frequent urination, and I look like someone 8 months pregnant. I tried a procedure that was preformed by a radiologist to stop blood flow to the fibroids to see if the tumors would shrink. This procedure was unsuccessful. Now according to my physician the only other alternative is a hysterectomy. I really do not want a hysterectomy but I am uncomfortable because of the size of my stomach. Any suggestions?

Dear Elaine-
UAE does not work for tumors that large..we have treated many patients post that surgery.
Our FAS procedure is an alternative and will remove your tumors safely, without blood loss or hysterectomy. We have removed over 240 tumors from one patient, and removed a tumor the size of a watermelon.
I know we can help you and save your uterus..give my office a call.