Yes. After that “getting pregnant every time we had sex” period, I was uneasy if Bill even SMILED in my direction, because I no longer had faith in any method of birth control other than abstinence.
Fortunately for him, I had a tubal a couple of years later.
Hijack
Hysterectomy
Side effects and possible complications -
Premature menopause and all that entails (even if you leave the ovaries the chances are they will stop working sooner than they would have otherwise)
Blood clots
Wound infections
Urinary problems
Bowel and bladder dysfunction
Blood loss during surgery
Fistula formation
Loss of sexual function (including anorgasmia- really)
Chronic pelvic pain
Post op adhesions
Depression
Death
You’re talking about a 4-6 week post op recovery as well.
There are basically 3 types of hysterectomy approaches.
Abdominal
Traditional c-section-type scar, open surgery. Long recovery. Technically easiest type of surgery to perform and gives surgeon most options in terms of what to take and what to leave.
Vaginal
No abdominal scars, you go in from below, cut around the cervix to open the vagina, pull the uterus out, sew up the vagina again. shorter recovery, ideal for women with prolapse, often tubes and ovaries left behind with this approach. Technically more difficult because you’re working blind.
LAVH (Laparoscopically Assisted Vaginal Hysterectomy)
You go in from below the same as in a vaginal hysterectomy BUT you also make a couple of tiny incisions in the belly and use cameras and instruments to aid you from above. You need to know what you’re doing with this one- good for women who otherwise wouldn’t be suitable for vaginal hysterectomy, but want to avoid major abdominal surgery, but very fiddly.
Laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy
3 small abdominal incisions, the uterus is cut away from the cervix, cut into small pieces and pulled out through the incisions. Exactly as complicated as it sounds- i.e. very.
There are different options in terms of what is removed.
You can remove the entire uterus and cervix ( Whynot-closing the vagina to form a blind ending tube). This is what happens automatically in a vaginal hysterectomy and is known as a total hysterectomy.
You can remove the body of the uterus but leave the cervix behind (in which case you still need smears as you have a risk of cervical cancer). This is known as a subtotal hysterectomy. In theory this improves sexual function and pelvic floor tone compared to total hysterectomy.
You can take the uterus but not the fallopian tubes or ovaries.
You can take the uterus and fallopian tubes but not the ovaries.
You can take the uterus and tubes and ovaries.
You can take out one ovary or tube and leave the other.
No woman should agree to a hysterectomy without an in depth discussion with her doctor about the type of surgery that is planned, what exactly is being taken, how and why.
Hysterectomy rates vary wildly by country- e.g. traditionally very high in the USA, very low in France. This is obviously cultural in large part, with a culture of “you’re past childbearing, your womb is useless, let’s have it out in case it goes bad” on one side versus “your womb is the seat of your femininity- it must be preserved at all costs” on the other. Neither extreme is particularly helpful, IMO.
Just because you don’t want any more kids doesn’t mean to say your womb isn’t fulfilling an important function- physiologically, emotionally, sexually or spiritually.
I’ll get off my little soapbox now.
My husband just looks at me and I get pregnant. All jokes aside I am very very fertile. I had a tubal ligation over a year ago. I’m just terrified of it failing.
Thank you very much for your excursion up there! I appreciate the very thorough and well thought out answer. I have to admit, my mom had a hysterectomy for cysts (more than one ruptured, including the omnipresent “big as a grapefruit” one) when I was young. So it’s probably less of a big deal in my mind than in reality, due to her good luck with hers. Thanks for the list of potential side effects, they certainly are worth considering.
Laypeople in the US sometimes incorrectly refer to the removal of the uterus and ovaries as a total hysterectomy, FTR. I’ve had my uterus and both ovaries removed, and I refer to myself as “being spayed”. I was glad to have those troublesome organs removed, and even now, almost 10 years later, I sometimes dance a little jig in the feminine products aisle, because I no longer need tampons and pads.