Hysterectomy and me...

A hysterectomy at age 36 was not in my plans.  In fact, we were vaguely thinking of more babies.

Then came endometriosis.  I guess it had been lurking in the background for years, a nagging feeling that “something” was wrong. 

Things started to go noticeably wrong in my early 30’s.  The first major sign was an ectopic pregnancy just after my 30^th birthday.  That sucked! 

From there things deteriorated quite quickly.  I will spare you the details but by far the worst symptom was the pain.  I have NEVER felt anything like it.  Debilitating to the point where the only painkillers which would work knocked me out for days...and this was every couple of weeks.

Eventually after rounds of truly evil hormone tablets, scans, tests and unsuccessful minor surgeries, my doctor told me how it was.  It wouldn’t kill me but would get WORSE; there were two choices, wait for menopause (yeah right) or have a hysterectomy.

I went back to the office and just cried, for about 5 minutes...then I called the doctor back to book myself in for the surgery.  I wanted my life back.  The doctor told me I would look back and see that it was the best thing I ever did.

The surgery and recovery were ghastly (well I was asleep for the surgery but you know what I mean); I wondered how I could be so stupid.  No keyhole surgery for me, oh no, laparotomy from hip to hip for this girl.  The doctor told me it was so bad he had to, and I quote “chisel it all away as the growths were like concrete”.

After the better part of 3 months off work (thank God for Income Protection insurance) I was back, better than ever.  Finally I was starting to see what he meant.

No periods, still get PMS though (sucks for hubby), no pap smears – ever again...hooray, and essentially no pain.  The condition is still there, I sometimes still feel pain, but it is rare and fleeting.

So five years on I can honestly say that yes, hysterectomy was the best thing I ever did for myself.