What was your hysterectomy like?

Methusala

at 38, I'm just not ready to have my ovaries plucked out, although it was strongly recommended.

I went through chemo pause and it was a nightmare.  

Being trip neg scares me.  Being brca 1 + scares me.  menopause scares me.

help.

smithlme

So...I'm not as young as you are, but I was 47 with my first diagnosis of triple negative IDC breast cancer and 48 with my second of diagnosis of DCIS. I went through chemo pause the first round and it was no picnic. When I found out I was BRCA 2+ in May, I chose to have a hysterectomy/oophorectomy and it's actually been a breeze compared to chemo pause. I had no problems with the surgery and have had very few hot flashes. Since my hormones were already pretty much fried by chemo, there were few to lose with my hyster/ooph...

Linda

cancerkicker

I am 36 and just had a complete hysterectomy in August of this year.  Initially, I was just going to have my ovaries taken out but after discussing the side effects of leaving the uterus in with my OB/GYN I decided to take everything out.

 I had them go through my c-section scar (I was able to have one biological baby) and I had a friend who did everything laproscopically - I would recommend doing it that way.  THe recovery is much shorter - she was up and running around immediately.

 As for being in menopause - it hasn't been bad.  The worst of it is hot flashes - and I was used to that from 5 years of tamoxifen.  YOu can take Effexor to help with the hot flashes and it can also help with the moodiness.  I did notice moodiness after the surgery but once I got on Effexor, things seemed to mellow out for me.

What scares you about menopause?  There are sexual side effects (lack of desire, dryness) but I looked at it this way - you would have that anyway when you hit menopause on your own and I think there are many people in this world who have gone through menopause and still have a healthy sex life.

Are you worried about not feeling feminine?  I haven't had that reaction yet.  The thing I was most upset about is that I wanted more babies.  However, being able to be around to watch my one baby grow up was more important to me than having more biological babies.

Obviously, it is a very personal decision.  And at times, I felt like it wasn't really my decision - I needed to do it to keep my cancer at bay.  But I haven't regretted it.  I feel almost completely like I did before menopause - just a little more sweaty! 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me - I am very open about my experience with it!  Good luck to you!

Anonymous

Hi...

  Over half the women who undergo hysterectomy but retain their ovaries will experience symptoms of hormonal imbalance, even though they still have ovarian function. This is because the ovaries and the uterus share their blood supply, and post-hysterectomy ovarian function is often negatively affected.

Women who have an oophorectomy (as in a TAH/BSO, in which the uterus and the ovaries are removed) enter menopause overnight. They are often put immediately on synthetic HRT, and in many cases still suffer symptoms of menopause.

stavmom

Hi. I'm 40 and after 4 months of VERY heavy bleeding, just got scheduled for a total hyster/ooph-ectomy this Feb. 4th.  I too am wondering what I am in for, but I think my biggest concern is if I have a gyno cancer now and the consequences of not taking it out early. 

My gyno said tamox thickens the endometrial lining very quickly, but it seems most of the women here do not have the heavy bleeding. My lining showed up thick on TV US after just 2 months on tamox. Actually, my heavy bleeding started a month before starting tamox, several months after chemo.

Anyway, you are not alone in the scared department. I'm always scared. I've always had unusual things happen to my body - if it's rare, it happens to me.   I will say though that doubling my Effexor dosage has really helped me function better though that anxiety. 

Good luck to you.

lisettemac

I didn't have a hyster, but I did have an ooph (BSO) in April 2008.  I had a large endometioma on one ovary anyway, so when my onc suggested Lupron to continue to suppress ovarian function while on Tamox, I figured it was time to have them out.  I am 41.

Was I concerned about "crashing" into menopause?  Yeah.  But, as my OB/GYN pointed out, some people flash in perimenopause for TEN years.  Ugh.  So, I did it laproscopically and the recovery was pretty easy.  I'd say it was tough getting in and out of bed, but I was definitely up and around within a few days.  Back to regular activity in 10 days or so.  The hot flashes started hot and heavey (ha, ha) within about 3 days.  I wasn't miserable, but it wasn't fun either.  Of course, no HRT for me since I'm ER+.

Just as the hot flashes were starting to subside, I switched to Arimidex and they were back in full force.  I can say that now (Dec) they are starting to subside again.  I've had mood swings (of course, I also switched jobs and moved across country in there, too, so who's to say) and some weight gain, but I'm not miserable.  As a pp said, it's gonna' happen eventually anyway.

Best of luck to you in your decision.

amsky

I am thirty eight and had a hysterectomy on Dec. 10.  It wasn't too bad.  The doctor was able to do it using the DaVincci method (he referred to it as a robot).  Now that I have healed a little, I feel pretty much normal.  I am having a few more hot flashes than normal, but not too bad.  I haven't noticed moodiness, but my family may disagree.  I think my surgery was too recent for me to have much.  Good of luck with whatever you decide.  I already feel better than I did for quite some time before my surgery. 

badbabe56

I had to have a full hyster at the age of 50, I had suffered since bad periods all my life, my mother had died of cancer of the uterus, I had all sorts of things happening at 50 that could of turned ugly, as my spec put it I was a walking time bomb, sooooooo a full hyster, no chance of it being a laproscopic one unfortunately, initially my arthritis flared up terribly and I really struggled with the flashes and night sweats, no hrt for me because I was ER+, so a bc friend mentioned Effexor and it truely was the saving for my family lol, now they all tease me have I taken my tablet. Weight gain has been my biggest problem, but I am still alive and dont have to worry in the regard to getting cancer there anymore. I had my bc when I was 33, hope this is helpful and good luck badbabe