# My Doctor Wants Me to Have a Hysterectomy **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 9, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628 "2016-02-09T17:47:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/41 "2016-02-11T00:10:32Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Her whole procedure was pretty much what you’ve described. She had robotic surgery, and while they initially said it would probably only going to be one night in hospital, they ended up keeping her for three. The cynic in me wonders whether it was because they had empty beds, and figured they could get a few more grand out of our insurance company. > > She was nice and sore, and pretty much housebound, for a couple of weeks. After that, she was able to go on short walks and stuff, but it was a good 6-8 weeks before she was back doing yoga and other strenuous physical activity. One longer-term consequence has been fatigue. she needs more sleep than she used to, and finds it harder to get out of bed. They said this could last for up to a year. > > After her surgery, they biopsied the ovaries and the big cyst they took out, and while they were not cancerous yet, they did find some signs of possible pre-cancerous cells. > > Anyway, she doesn’t regret doing it. Best of luck with whatever you decide. The hospital didn’t keep her there to charge more. They kept her there because she didn’t meet the criteria for discharge. Was she having any difficulty walking, eating, or going to the bathroom, or had other complications? Major surgery is VERY hard on the body, and its aftereffects can last much, much longer than anyone would ever expect. A common issue is non-insulin dependent Type 2 diabetics who have to go on insulin afterwards, sometimes for months. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/42 "2016-02-11T00:14:23Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > Unless there’s fibroids (which can make the uterus very large), the uterus can be freed from its moorings and delivered through the birth canal in a laparoscopic surgery - no need to cut it up. If the uterus needs to be removed whole, taking it out through the vagina is the preferred method. It’s technically easier than the abdominal route and there is no skin incision, which means you heal faster. If it doesn’t, the morcellator is fine. I remember when everyone and their brother, hospital-wise, was getting a Da Vinci robot. In the end, it’s not useful for much except pelvic surgery (i.e. hysterectomy or prostatectomy). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/43 "2016-02-11T00:18:26Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Please don’t pull a Laura Nyro. > > Her mother died of ovarian cancer at the age of 49. > Laura died of ovarian cancer at age 49. > > If my father had died of testicular cancer, my boys would have been gone years ago. > > The matter of self-identity can be helpful at times; other times it just gets in the way. I’m not aware of a genetic mutation that increases the risk for testicular cancer. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. The BRCA genes do increase a risk of ovarian and breast cancer, and I recently found out that a branch of my family tree probably carries it. ☹ I don’t appear to be on that branch, and I also do not know if BRCA increases the risk of male breast cancer, which strikes about 1,000 men a year in the United States. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/44 "2016-02-11T00:21:05Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Dr. T said I may be able to switch to something else, although Dr. K (the oncologist) may keep me on the Tamoxifen since I’ve tolerated it well so far. I’ve heard horror stories about Arimidex. Because I was pre-menopausal when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, Dr. K put me on Tamoxifen. One of those horror stories probably involves the price tag. If Tamoxifen is working, you might as well stay on it unless you need it. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/45 "2016-02-11T00:43:37Z")
I agree with others that you’re playing roulette with cancer at this point. Granted that you’re under close medical supervision and they’d likely catch it early, but why take chances? Best wishes. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/46 "2016-02-11T00:48:35Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m not aware of a genetic mutation that increases the risk for testicular cancer. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. [Duly corrected](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130512141208.htm) _Testicular cancer is relatively rare; however, incidence rates have doubled in the past 40 years. It is also highly heritable. If a man has a father or son with testicular cancer, he has a four-to six-fold higher risk of developing it compared to a man with no family history. That increases to an eight-to 10-fold higher risk if the man has a brother with testicular cancer._ ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/47 "2016-02-11T05:45:12Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > [Duly corrected](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130512141208.htm) > > _Testicular cancer is relatively rare; however, incidence rates have doubled in the past 40 years. It is also highly heritable. If a man has a father or son with testicular cancer, he has a four-to six-fold higher risk of developing it compared to a man with no family history. That increases to an eight-to 10-fold higher risk if the man has a brother with testicular cancer._ TYVM. It’s still not as dramatic as the BRCA gene. If you are a woman with that gene, count on getting breast and/or ovarian cancer unless they’re removed beforehand. I can understand why the incidence is rising, too. Not so many years ago, testicular cancer was a death sentence unless it was caught early, and the only treatment was castration. Nowadays, it’s one of the most curable cancers (although the chemo is probably the most brutal out of all the protocols) and sperm can be frozen beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/48 "2016-02-11T15:46:09Z")
I did get the BRCA gene test, and I’m negative, so WHEW on that account. ---
**Author:** ![ShotgunZen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@ShotgunZen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShotgunZen)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/49 "2016-02-11T19:38:33Z")
> [@cerberus](#): > > Tamoxifen is a selective estrogen receptor modulator - it binds to estrogen receptors in breast tissue, blocking the receptors to estrogen, and also not causing the cell to act as if it is being signaled by estrogen (estrogen antagonist). In other places, like the uterus, it binds to estrogen receptors, and the cells act as if estrogen is at the receptor ( estrogen agonists ). > > I’m endlessly surprised that things like Roxifene or even better Faslodex haven’t superseded Tamoxifen . > > A benefit of fully invasive hysterectomy is that the uterus is removed whole - if cancer is present in the uterus, then morcellating it, either by power tool or manually presents the possibility of spreading cancer cells within the abdominopelvic region. I also think you should consider having the uterus removed whole. “cancerous cells found in the fragments of removed uterus” is a risk you don’t want to take if you don’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/50 "2016-02-11T21:44:12Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I guess that’s why Dr. T is so concerned. She keeps mentioning my history, and she can keep doing the D&C procedures, but do I just want to pull the plug now? I mean, so far everything been’s benign. But I guess it’s just a matter of time. > > It’s just a big bunch of “But I Don’t Wanna!” going on, I think. DO IT. My mother is dying of cancer right now. She has anywhere from right now to a few weeks. And it all started with uterine cancer. Get it over with and get back to your life. It’s a terrible way to die. Why risk it? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/51 "2016-02-11T21:53:39Z")
Nothing to add other than well wishes, an agreement that losing 6 weeks or working out does suck, but it’s a lot better than canter, and a joke: We’ve gone this whole time listening to you talk about your hyst with “Dr. T” and NO one has shed light on the fact that, as long as there are other patients, we have a real-life Dr. T and the Women! ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/52 "2016-02-13T21:05:59Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I guess that’s why Dr. T is so concerned. She keeps mentioning my history, and she can keep doing the D&C procedures, but do I just want to pull the plug now? I mean, so far everything been’s benign. But I guess it’s just a matter of time. > > It’s just a big bunch of “But I Don’t Wanna!” going on, I think. **Ivylass** , you seem like such a nice person and I hate to do this to you, but as a cancer survivor I have to ask, _ **ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS??** _ You’re pissing and moaning about a relatively minor surgery that could save your life because you’re worried about your _workouts_? In the cancer center, I met a lot of people who will never eat normally again. Who will die within a few months of their diagnosis. Who on the same day have constipation and diarrhea that feels like a flamethrower shooting out their asses (it’s not fun, trust me on that one). Who have their poop running out of their bowel into a bag. Who have no hair. Who are now dead. What do you think their answer to your question would be? These people won’t lose their workouts for six weeks. They’ve lost them forever. Get that shit yanked. NOW. Your doctor isn’t fooling around here. For fuck’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/53 "2016-02-13T21:37:22Z")
**Helena330** , nothing but love. Please note, Dr. T (who is female, by the way, **Sir T-Cups** :D) hasn’t found anything wrong as far as cancer goes, just a disturbing propensity for my uterus to act up with cysts and a thickening of the lining. I will get the procedure, never fear. I just want to make sure I understand everything completely. Dr. K will most likely agree with Dr. T’s assessment when I see him on Monday. ---
**Author:** ![funky\_little\_lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@funky\_little\_lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funky_little_lee)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/54 "2016-02-14T01:26:39Z")
Maybe I misread this but: your life is on the line and you’re worried about missing some workouts? Have it done. I had mine in my midthirties and I’ll never be sorry I did. ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/55 "2016-02-14T01:42:21Z")
ivylass, I had a hysterectomy in late 2004 because of hyperplasia and they discovered that because I had a polyp they removed that turned out to be pre-cancerous. There was a concern that they would actually find cancer so they took out all the girl stuff like your doctor is suggesting (fortunately, no cancer). Don’t fool around if there’s a higher risk for cancer, especially if something pre-cancerous is found. You never know when it will decide to get cranky and turn into cancer. Go for the lapro and don’t worry about the time it will take to get back into shape. Plus, continuing to get the little stuff taken out could take its toll after awhile ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/56 "2016-02-14T02:00:45Z")
Sorry, the surgery was in 2014, not 2004 ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/57 "2016-02-14T04:00:51Z")
I had a hysterectomy back in May. It was started as a daVinci procedure but partway through the doctor had to convert to a vaginal surgery. If I was told why, I don’t remember. At any rate, I was supposed to be in and out overnight but ended up staying a few days. I wasn’t in much pain but I did have restrictions on lifting, pushing and pulling anything over 10 pounds. This site [HysterSisters](http://www.hystersisters.com/) was incredibly helpful to me and my husband. They have a great support community and lots of information available for just about any questions you can come up with. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/58 "2016-02-14T12:04:24Z")
A close friend had her female parts removed two years ago. She had early uterine cancer, so there wasn’t much choice. But in her case, they were able to do the whole procedure through the vagina, and drop the uterus out whole. Her reducer went faster than expected, and she was only really out of commission for a week or two. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to lift heavy objects, I don’t know. But she was able to do some major bike trips, and other energetic things. Talk to your gym and your trainer (if you have one) about what modifications you will need to make to your workouts. But I bet you can do some types of workout faster than 6 weeks. Also, do inquire if they can remove the uterus whole. Less risk of spreading an as-yet undiagnosed cancer. (Google morcellator). My friend said that they didn’t knew when they started the surgery if they would be able to just go in through the vagina, or if they would have to cut more. It was going to depend on what they found. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/59 "2016-02-14T15:37:03Z")
My hysterectomy was prompted by fibroids and excessive bleeding so not the same decision factors but I did have the robotic type removal with tiny incisions in the belly button and bikini line. Recovery wasn’t terrible, I didn’t miss that I couldn’t exercise during the process because I really didn’t want to until they released me to each stage. Basically what they were telling me I could do was also what my body was saying. I was pretty exhausted for the first couple weeks and walking was more than enough. Listen to your doctors, listen to your body and I bet you’ll find that by the end of your 6 weeks you’ve eased back into your routine. If you push it, you’re likely to set yourself back. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628/60 "2016-02-14T16:06:00Z")
> [@funky\_little\_lee](#): > > Maybe I misread this but: your life is on the line and you’re worried about missing some workouts? I’m not sick, there’s nothing wrong. It’s preventative. And anything that prevents cancer is good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-doctor-wants-me-to-have-a-hysterectomy/745628.md?page=4)