Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia
This is the third part in a series of Posts to highlight omissions of fact and misinformation about hysterectomy currently being provided to women on hospital, doctor, and medical school websites.
In Part I of this series we investigated some of the errors, omissions, and contradictions on the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s (UPMC) website. To read Part I (and comments from women around the country) click here. And in Part II we highlighted the seriously deficient online patient education product known as “X-Plain” at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. To read Part II click here.
Part III of this series highlights Emory University Hospital’s website. As you will see, Emory provides little of the basic information that women need in order to make informed decisions about hysterectomy, while directing them to visit other websites that contain gross misinformation that is potentially damaging to women.
This is a frightening trend in hospital websites all over the country. Hospitals and doctors point their patients to some other source of hysterectomy misinformation (such as the Patient Education Institute’s product X-Plain, obgyn.net, or acog.org), thereby washing their hands of accountability for omitting the requisite information for hysterectomy informed consent on their own websites. The stated purpose of these sites is to provide information to women who’ve been told they need the surgery, but they don’t inform them of the consequences that women need to know. Instead of providing correct information, they potentially put women into harm’s way.
“The Emory Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics,” they tell visitors, “is dedicated to providing health information and education to women in the Atlanta community, the region and the nation.” But we couldn’t find any hysterectomy patient education materials on their website that educate women about the consequences of hysterectomy—the most common non-obstetric surgery performed in the United States. The “.edu” suffix on their website URL indicates that Emory is in fact an educational institution, so what better place for them to do so than right on their own hospital website where they make the claim?
The reason we selected Emory, Gundersen, and UPMC as the three hospital websites to be investigated isn’t because they’re the only hospitals providing misinformation and omissions of fact. On the contrary, they were chosen because these three websites are typical of patient education information published on hospital websites throughout the country.
In the top right corner of the Emory University Hospital home page (http://www.emoryhealthcare.org/departments/), click on “SEARCH.” Type in the search term “hysterectomy” and then click on “search now.” You’re taken to a page with a long list of press releases and articles.
The first press release we came to on the list was dated June 2, 2004. It goes into great detail about how “vaginal hysterectomies are more advantageous” than abdominal hysterectomies without any reference to the consequences of removing the female organs. What they don’t mention is that many of the most devastating adverse effects are the same no matter how the uterus is removed. Click here to watch “Female Anatomy: the Functions of the Female Organs” for information that every doctor and hospital should provide to every woman who is told she needs a hysterectomy.
The next link on the list takes visitors to an online article titled Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE). Even the title of this article is misleading. First, it’s not the fibroid that’s occluded with embolic material, it’s the uterine artery. It’s convenient for doctors and hospitals to refer to it as UFE, because Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE) alerts and alarms women that something is being injected into the artery—their vascular system. The reason doctors began calling it UFE is to make it sound more benign than UAE. They don’t tell women that the embolic material injected into the uterine artery has been found to migrate to the ovaries, uterus, lungs, and other vital organs. For this reason UAE should be contraindicated for women who want to have children. When the embolic material and/or radiation causes the ovaries to cease to function, it results in a de facto castration.
Second, it’s odd that an article that seems to want to educate women about “What are uterine fibroids?” falls under the title of one of the most dangerous treatment options. Women might expect that the patient education materials of a teaching hospital would label this section “What are fibroids?” with UAE mentioned only as a treatment option with serious potential adverse effects, including death, loss of ovarian function, necrosis (death of the tissue) of the vagina, labia, bladder, bowel, and kidney.
Further obscuring the facts, Emory tells visitors, “Symptomatic uterine fibroids trigger approximately 150,000 hysterectomies each year.” In fact it’s the fear that doctors instill in women regarding benign conditions such as fibroids, along with misinformation about treatment options, that “triggers” hysterectomies. The number of hysterectomies performed for fibroids each year in this country is more like 400,000, but fibroids can’t pull the trigger on hysterectomies. Only doctors can pull that trigger.
Finally, the only reference to hysterectomy in the UAE article is one that uses language reminiscent of the U.S. Army’s recruitment theme—Emory claims that their “goal is to help you to live the best as you can be.” We would no more recommend that you search for all that you can be on an operating table than on a battlefield. The best that you can be is whole and intact, far away from anyone who wants to damage or remove your sex organs.
Emory offers other online articles that focus on endometriosis and gynecological services, but none of them discusses the well-documented consequences of hysterectomy.
Back on the home page, if you click on “Departments” and then scroll down to the bottom right and click on “Gynecology & Obstetrics” under the subheading “Women’s Health Services,” you’re taken to a page titled “Emory Women’s Care.” On this page you’ll find the following ad:
People don’t get paid to donate. It’s not a contribution, it’s a business transaction, and the product is women’s eggs. It’s objectionable to disguise it as such…especially when Emory fails to provide the one thing they claim to make available to women—patient education. Why not simply ask visitors, “Are your eggs for sale? If so, we’d like to buy them. And we’re willing to pay a handsome price because it’s a frightening, painful, and potentially fatal procedure for both you and the woman who your eggs will be later injected into.”
As we said, this investigation into Emory’s website is Part III of a series. What was remarkable about Part I was that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) website contained glaring contradictions. Although we informed them of numerous anatomical errors on their website, and although UPMC did drop one of their hysterectomy pages to eliminate the most glaring contradictions, they continue to provide potentially damaging information to women. What was remarkable in Part II of the series was the Gundersen-Lutheran Hospital’s patient education tutorial called X-Plain. X-Plain requires women to answer questions falsely in order to proceed through their error-riddled tutorial. They have ignored letters from HERS informing them of their misleading information, but they continue to misinform women with the same potentially damaging information. And now what stands out to us in Part III is that Emory claims to provide information about hysterectomy but actually provides almost none at all. What’s remarkable isn’t the startling misinformation we found on the other two hospital websites, but the extent to which Emory promotes invasive procedures while directing visitors to look elsewhere for facts that they obviously have no intention of providing to women on their own website that gushes with recommendations for surgery.
1. the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
2. the Universe of Women’s Health
3. a phone number at Emory
1. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ website (www.acog.org) sounds reliable enough, but what do visitors to Emory’s website find if they follow the link and are redirected there? Researching ACOG’s site for hysterectomy revealed a list of links to printed “educational” materials. The first one is “Understanding Hysterectomy.” It can be purchased from the ACOG website, but the minimum order is 50…with a discount for ACOG members. Click on the link and it takes you to this brief summary:
“Understanding Hysterectomy Description”
“Hysterectomy—removal of the uterus—is a way of treating problems that affect the uterus. Many conditions can be cured with hysterectomy. Because it is major surgery, your doctor may suggest trying other treatments first. For conditions that have not responded to other treatments, a hysterectomy may be the best choice. It depends on the effect of the condition and the surgery on your life. You should be fully informed of all options before you decide.”
“This pamphlet explains:
* Reasons for having a hysterectomy
* Ways hysterectomy is performed
* Risks of hysterectomy
* Recovery after surgery”
Although they may refer to women when saying “you decide,” ACOG offers almost no information to women about the lifelong consequences of hysterectomy on their website, which may leave you wondering why “college” is part of this organization’s name. In fact, their own website demonstrates that if ACOG is a college it’s a scalpel school with members who get rich by removing female organs.
2. The second option—the Universe of Women’s Health—takes visitors to www.obgyn.net. At the bottom of each page of this website you’ll find pro-hysterectomy Google ads. On the “Select a Topic” drop-down menu on OBGYN.net there are three hysterectomy topics. First is the Hysterectomy Resource Center. Here, the pelvic anatomy lesson offered says:
The “Indications” link invites visitors to a page with a video to learn about the different types of hysterectomy. At the bottom of the page visitors are reassured that they’ll be in good company if they have their sex organs removed. They seem determined to make a surgery that is very damaging sound like a walk in the park—nothing to it. There is sometimes safety in numbers, but to suggest that women can feel good about hysterectomy and castration because that’s what OB/GYNs have been promoting to countless other women for years is appalling:
Less invasive? No matter how it’s done, they’re removing female sex organs. There’s nothing non-invasive about it.
They then invite visitors to click on the link “What is a hysterectomy?” where they say:
“A hysterectomy is an operation to remove a woman’s uterus. Depending on the surgical approach and the woman��s symptoms, the ovaries, fallopian tubes and/or cervix may be removed as well. You should discuss with your physician what will be removed.”
Whether the ovaries are removed or not shouldn’t depend upon the surgical approach or symptoms. A symptom isn’t a disease. OBGYN.net is a potentially dangerous website that lures women in by holding themselves out as a reliable source, but then they don’t provide the information that women need to make a decision about their own bodies. And once again removal of the ovaries is made to sound as trivial as a doctor’s whim, when in fact the ovaries are the female gonads and their removal is castration, the same as removal of the testicles is castration. The ovaries produce hormones all of a woman’s life. There’s no age or time in any person’s life when the gonads aren’t needed. It’s unconscionable that this website doesn’t mention those vital facts.
There’s also a subheading called “Conditions that may require a hysterectomy.” They then provide a list of “conditions” that should never require a hysterectomy. In fact, a hysterectomy is never required. If it was required that would mean that you have no choice, that it will be done to you whether or not you agree to it. But even if you have cancer it’s your right to say no to surgery. You have the right to refuse consent.
The link to “Patients stories” directs visitors to a blank page. This may be the best link of all, because on OBGYN.net no news about hysterectomy is good news. And the link to “Patient Brochures” has one brochure, and it’s about Laparsocopic Supracervical Hysterectomy. No helpful information there either.
There was no information about the devastating, predictable, lifelong adverse effects of hysterectomy. Many of the links funneled visitors toward the MedlinePlus website. Visit https://hersfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/hers-medline-press-release.pdf to read the HERS Foundation’s press release titled “Medline Plus a Minus for Women.” MedlinePlus (a “service” of the National Library of Medicine) also points visitors to X-Plain which, as we have said, is rife with misinformation that is largely unsupported by anatomical fact.
3. The last option for visitors to Emory’s website who are looking for hysterectomy information is their suggestion to “please call” 404-778-7777. So HERS president, Nora W. Coffey did just that. In fact, Nora made three separate calls, during which she took detailed, verbatim notes.
The first call was made on March 20, 2008. A nurse answered the phone, but she seemed confused by simple questions like, “Can a woman have a uterine orgasm without a uterus?” The RN then put Nora on hold for several minutes so she could get some literature on the subject. When she returned, she read Nora the information that she had found on hysterectomy.
As the nurse read the hysterectomy information to Nora, it sounded oddly familiar. Some of the language she was using was uniquely HERS—it was coined at the HERS Foundation. For example, she referred to the uterus as “hormone-responsive” and referred to women who had undergone the surgery as “hysterectomized,” a verbalization of “hysterectomy” that was coined at HERS to describe the fact that women don’t get a hysterectomy the way that they get their nails done—they’re hysterectomized by doctors. Fortunately she spoke haltingly and slowly, so Nora was able to type up every word that the nurse said. This is verbatim from the nurse:
“The uterus is a hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ, and the ovaries produce the majority of estrogen and progesterone that is available in genetic females of reproductive age. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, of the 617,000 hysterectomies performed in 2004, 73% also involved the surgical removal of the ovaries. In the United States, 1/3 of genetic females can be expected to have a hysterectomy by age 60. There are currently an estimate of 22 million people in the United States who have undergone this procedure.”
Most of this information is actually correct, but it slowly began to dawn on Nora where the nurse was getting this information from—Wikipedia.
And then, in one of her concluding comments about the impact of hysterectomy on female sexual pleasure, the nurse told Nora verbatim, “But um, uh, it’s always like in a non-medical way that I’ve always heard it’s like taking away the baby carriage but leaving the playpen.”
It’s a common refrain that women have told HERS they’ve been hearing from gynecologists all over the country for more than 50 years—“Don’t worry, I’m going to take out the crib, but I’ll leave the playpen.” In other words, you won’t be able to have children, and you won’t be able to have uterine orgasms, but a pouch will still exist for your husband to insert his penis. Thanks, Emory.
When the nurse returned she said, “Thank you for being so patient. I was just talking with Paula my supervisor and there is a certain area that I can go into and mail you information about the hysterectomy.”
“Okay,” Nora said, “but you can’t give me any information?”
“Well, it’s just that there’s so much information on it we really don’t have the time to be talking all about it. You see what I mean? We’d be on the phone for the next hour.”
“Really?”
This was a curious comment for a “health professional” to make, considering the fact that the HERS Foundation developed an anatomy lesson that is the minimum information a woman needs to make an informed decision about hysterectomy…and that video lesson is only 11 minutes and 45 seconds. The nurse then took the mailing address, after which Nora said, “But I’m disappointed that Patient Education can’t give me any information on the phone.”
So Nora repeated her request: “I would like to know what the effects of hysterectomy are.”
Instead of Nora, the caller of course could’ve been any woman faced with the decision of whether or not to have surgery. The fact that the nurse asked Nora what she would like to know is baffling. After all, how does the patient know what they need to know? It’s like a woman asking a doctor, “Would you please tell me what the consequences of hysterectomy are?” and the doctor responding, “Okay, what would you like to know?” What’s obvious from these calls is that women need to know the answers to their questions before they ask them, which renders this Emory’s patient education meaningless at best…and potentially very harmful.
The nurse then repeated herself, saying, “There’s just so much information here,” but she never did talk about the consequences of hysterectomy. The best she could do was to define “abdominal hysterectomy” as a hysterectomy where the uterus is pulled out through the abdomen, and other self-evident information. She then said, “Okay?” as if that was all the information she had for Nora and she was prepared to end the conversation there.
As any woman seeking information from a teaching hospital might, Nora grew frustrated. She said to the nurse, “But we really didn’t talk about the consequences of the surgery!”
The nurse’s response? “Uh hm….”
Undaunted, Nora asked, “Are there any changes…are there any sexual changes…are there any other changes that are pretty common?”
Sure, but she’s a nurse taking calls on a number listed under patient education. So Nora said, “You know I didn’t get very many answers to my questions, which is why I looked on the website to see if you have patient education and this is the number on Emory’s gynecology website page.”
The nurse said only, “Yeah? Can you hold one second please?”
While Nora was on hold, she was subjected to ads for other treatments being advertised by Emory. Like most hospitals, Emory is about making people feel good about the drugs and treatments and surgeries they offer.
Finally the nurse returned. She explained to Nora that all women are unique, so she should talk with her doctor. Amazed that this final option on Emory’s website turned out to also be a dead end, Nora asked why, if they don’t have any information, Emory provides this number for Patient Education?
“Well,” the nurse said, “I do have information here that I’m going to mail off to you.”
About a week later Nora called the HealthcareConnection again.
The person who answered said, “Thanks for calling Emory HealthcareConnection, this is Helen, how may I help you?”
“Hi,” Nora said, “is this your patient education department?”
“Yeah…no…this is actually a doctor referral line?”
Now this was an interesting development—Nora had called twice before and was told that she had called the Patient Education number and that it was staffed by nurses. In each of those calls a nurse struggled to answer Nora’s questions, and now a week later this?
“Okay,” Nora said, “so are you aware that on the Gynecology and Obstetrics website for Emory they give this number for Patient Education?”
Nora was very soon placed on hold again. While on hold Nora listened to an ad for a free educational seminar on the effective non-surgical treatment of uterine fibroids. In other words, it’s a free opportunity for women to be told about the profitable treatment known as UAE, but none of the patient education options available to women would even mention the adverse effects of any of these treatments that have been well-documented in medical literature.
In the first two calls the nurses acknowledged that they knew that they were answering a Patient Education phone line, but now when this nurse returned to the phone she told Nora, “Well, see, we do a lot of the seminars as far as registering people who want to attend the seminars at Emory.” Then she said that health information isn’t really what they do, but, “We have information in our database where we can pull up the health library and under MedlinePlus…we can type in hysterectomies, but if women want printed information,” she said, “you know it would have to be printed off of there… Well, I mean that’s all we have to offer, apparently.” She then elaborated to say, “We’re actually under marketing… The department I’m with is the Emory HealthConnection.”
We are well aware of the fact that they heavily market their surgeries and procedures, but but Emory’s website says:
“Emory HealthConnection serves as your vehicle to access the world of knowledge and expert care encompassed within the many components of EMORY HEALTHCARE. The Emory HealthConnection staff includes registered nurses and consultation representatives who have a library of information at their fingertips and can provide you with the latest information on the services provided by EMORY HEALTHCARE.”
A “world of knowledge,” they claim? The worldwide web, maybe, but you don’t need Emory’s help to wander around that endless landmine of misinformation. “Library of information,” they say? Their nurses and patient education materials couldn’t answer one simple question from Nora.
If you have undergone a hysterectomy at Emory or their affiliated hospitals after relying on information from X-Plain, contact HERS at hersfdn@earthlink.net.
You and your website are disgusting, and of literally no help to people who need LIFESAVING hysterectomies. You’d rather have dead women than incomplete women, and that makes you more violently misogynistic than jack the ripper. Hope that helps.
You did not provide your name. Your title for post, like your email address, makes it clear what your approach is to issues you disagree with. The only time we delete posts is if they are abusive. Your post is borderline abusive so we will let it stand. Free speech is important and we want people to feel comfortable stating how they feel, whether it is supportive or opposing.
A small percentage of hysterectomies are life-saving. The vast majority are not. HERS believes that every woman has a right to make a fully informed decision about she will, and will not, allow to be done to her body. Women need to know female anatomy, the functions of the female organs and the consequences of their removal. When women are denied the facts about the consequences of hysterectomy they are not able to make an informed decision. Women should not be treated like children who are too young or immature to make a fully informed decision. Fully informed women who choose to undergo a hysterectomy that may be life-saving have made the choice that they feel is right for them. Regardless of their decision HERS supports a woman’s right to the information women need to make a fully informed decision. Women who have problems after hysterectomy and/or castration are provided with support to help them cope with the problems they experience.
Please be civil in your response and we will approve your comment. All communication, for or against any issue is productive, as long as it is not abusive.
And so many of the “facts” they state on this website are either unverified or just blatantly untrue…it feels like fearmongering, plain and simple. I am absolutely not a husk of a woman and neither are the other women in my life who have had hysterectomies. My life is much better than it used to be. My heart goes out to the women who have had their lives ruined by this surgery, truly, but to insinuate everyone else can and probably will experience that same outcome is just disingenuous.
Emika,
In your comment you stated “so many of the “facts” they state on this website are either unverified or just blatantly untrue…it feels like fearmongering, plain and simple”. Everything on HERS website is supported by research and data collected from women who underwent hysterectomy with removal of both ovaries, removal of one ovary or without removal of one or both ovaries. You did not provide any information to prove anything on HERS website is not accurate. If you have research from respected sources such as medical journal articles, gynecology text books, Professor’s of Gross Anatomy and the female organs, please provide the information to HERS and we will immediately correct any statement that is not accurate.
HERS goal is to provide complete information about the female organs and the damaging consequences of their removal. Every woman needs to know the truth before she is told to sign an Informed Consent form that says she was fully informed. We only know what we know, we do not know what we have not been told. When women are completely informed about the removal of the female organs and the damaging consequences of their removal, HERS supports their decision to do what they feel will be best for them.
In your comment you said your life is much better than it used to be. It is good to know that removal of your female organs and the loss of their functions improved whatever problems led you to believe hysterectomy was your only or best choice. If you watched the video on HERS website “Female Anatomy: the functions of the female organs, you were fully informed and made the decision that was right for you. If you were not provided with information about the consequences of removing the female organs and their functions, it is understandable that finding out after the surgery is extremely difficult. Removal of the female organs can only be done, it cannot be undone.
About twice a year HERS receives a call from a woman who starts the conversation with “I had a hysterectomy, and it”s the best thing I ever did in my whole life, and sex is better than ever. I listen, and when they are done, I tell them I am glad they are doing well, and ask “How can I help you?”. The response to that questions is usually similar: Well, I only have this one problem.” I ask them if they would like to tell more about it, and that one problem actually is many of the well known problems caused by removing the life long functions of the female organs.
It is extremely important to provide women with complete information before this surgery is done. There is no time in a woman’s life when their female organs are disposable, no longer needed. Please share the information you have about the damaging effects of hysterectomy. If you tell ten women and men what you have learned, you will be saving their lives as well as all of the women and men who pass the information on.
You went on to say “I am absolutely not a husk of a woman and neither are the other women in my life who have had hysterectomies.” You will not find your statement anywhere on HERS website or in any of our written material, including the book The H Word.
I love reading your posts. Keep up the great work! You understand, many people are hunting around for this information, you could aid them greatly.
Type "bmj hysterectomy sex" in google and you get some very interesting articles in this British medical journal. First there is a study published that states sex is better for "all" women after a hysterectomy.If you read the study it actually shows that this is not the case. So their conclusion from their own study is a lie! Then read all of the rapid responses and you see what a hornet's nest this topic stirs up. Then browse other articles like "will hysterectomy pay the bills in 2007"!!!!
I kid you not! What an outrage.
Nice collection of comments i must say that i am reading this much comments for the very first time.
To OPRAH
Surgically induced ‘menopause’ and natural menopause is not the same thing.
SURGICALLY INDUCED ‘menopause’: may be created through the surgical removal of the two ovaries, uterus and cervix. When this is done to teenagers or women still in their twenties, clearly, this can not be medically (or logically) compared to
NATURAL menopause: the natural process of aging when the female has all her sex organs intact, and her ovaries start the natural process of reducing estrogen and other hormonal output.
There is medical evidence to suggest the female ovaries may continue to function throughout a woman’s lifetime, with the expectation of diminished functions later in life.
Therefore the hormonal and other medical needs will be medically (and logically) different.
No pill (synthetic, natural, or compounded by a pharmacy) can equally replace the natural timing, natural type or natural quantity of hormones the body naturally produces, as and when it needs them.
Your TV show topic today, 1-22-09, did not make these distinctions clearly enough.
The doctor who castarated me is Mike Guiler at Central BAptist Hospital in Lexington, Ky. The national average per year for a gyn to perform hysterectomies is 10-15 while his yearly average is 145!!! Anyone see a pattern here?
I had seen this doctor for about 10 years. He delivered my two children. I TRUSTED him…..he told me that I had endometriosis and fibroids and required a full hysterectomy. I did some research-enough to find out that at the young age of 30, I should not have my ovaries removed b/c they are amazingly beneficial to a woman’s well being.
My husband and I discussed having only my uterus removed-while Guiler said that I would be risking ovarian cancer (okay, so do we just remove the ovaries of every female alive?). I would not back down, I was adament about my ovaries remaining intact.
Guiler (sorry, I feel that the title of doctor is a form of respect and I have zero respect for this monster), repeatedly informed me how much better I would feel after the hysterectomy. Not once was I informed of the total lack of libido I would suffer, the hot flashes, night sweats, severe migraines, vaginal dryness, dry skin, fatique, insomnia, lack of stamina, depression…..increased risk of heart disease and stroke and double the risk of breast cancer for those of us who must rely on HRT….
After the monster performed my surgery he came out to inform my husband that he had to remove BOTH ovaries b/c they were “too far diseased” and had to “come out”.
Later, at a visit with my primary practioner, I was presented with the information from the pathology report from my removed uterus, ovaries and cervix…not a trace of endometriosis…the uterus that he told me was the size of a 12 to 14 week pregnancy-normal size, shape and weight, that monster had surgically castrated my perfectly HEALTHY organs!!!! WHy? I have no idea, he would not respond to calls. All I know is that women HAVE to have proper consent…more than a small phamplet that gives absolutely NO vital information concerning the ramifications of female castration.
Think about it, our society considers it cruel and unusual punishment to surgically castrate rapists and child molestors, but not a second though is given to surgically castrating women!
I am a Christian, but God help me, I will NEVER forgive the monster who took my well being and my life away-NEVER!
Please add your comments to HERS new Post
“The Ovary Option” at http://hysterectomyinformation.blogspot.com/
Thank you.
BTW,Don’t forget to watch the LifeTime TV movie, Transamerica staring Felicity Huffman.(Tomorrow night July 31st Lifetime TV, 9:00 PM, Pacific Time.) Check your local TV schedule for the time in your area. Her character is a man who is in the process of undergoing a Vaginoplasty. We rented this movie after it was released on DVD and I recall that there was a great deal of psychotherapy involved before her surgeons would actually consider doing this surgery. There are no orientations, no psychotherapy, absolutely no support when women are mentally convinced under duress, bullied, lied to and misconstrued into having a hysterectomy by their OB/GYN. Thank G-D for HERS education and support!
Hi CT,
Yes, my family and I watched Un Becoming. It is a very well written script and exhibits the typical arrogant, narcissistic and bullying behavior of many doctors on “power trips”! These awful doctors think they are G-D and make it difficult for me to trust any type of OB/GYN! I will attempt to convince my town’s Theaters, University and Junior college to show this to the community. Hopefully, they will support HERS and show UN Becoming so that many others in my community can be educated regarding hysterectomy!I will also write OPRAH.
Your recent posts are also very informative regarding the Louisiana Castration Bill and gender reassignment surgery.
Perhaps, our country one day will actually come to realize that Hysterectomy is actually CASTRATION and make it ILLEGAL! As a result, any OB/GYN who performs a hysterectomy should therefore be “punished by law” by being Castrated themselves under a similar Louisiana Castration Bill.
Why aren’t innocent women given an OPTION to not be castrated?
See this recent article from Fox News:
Louisiana Lawmakers Consider Castration for Sex Offenders
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
BATON ROUGE, La. — Castration could be a sentencing option for some sex offenders in Louisiana under a bill approved by a state Senate judiciary committee.
The bill by Senator Nick Gautreaux, an Abbeville Democrat, requires a judge to order treatment for certain second-offense sex criminals with a specific drug designed to diminish male sexual urges — if a medical expert agrees that the treatment would be effective.
An offender who doesn’t want the treatment could opt for physical castration. Gautreaux says some offenders may indeed want castration in hopes of avoiding the drug’s side effects or permanently ending the sexual urges that led to their crimes. His bill goes next to the full Senate.
I found this information reading about gender reassignment surgery. These are the side effects of removing the testes, also known as orchidectomy. It is interesting how well the damage and changes are described when this is done to a man, but gynecologists tell women they will feel better than ever!
Effects of Orchidectomy
The effects of Orchidectomy (some good, some bad!) include: Diminished libido (sexual desire) Erectile dysfunction (inability to achieve or maintain an erection adequate for intercourse)
Hot flashes similar to those experienced by women during menopause. They are characterised by a sudden spread of warmth to the face, neck, and upper torso, usually followed by profuse sweating. Their effects may be controlled with oestrogen and other HRT. Weight gain of 10 to 15 pounds (4 to 7kg) is a common occurrence. Mood swings are common. Depression may occur.
Fatigue, a feeling of extreme tiredness that may not be alleviated by rest or sleep. This is caused by decreased testosterone production and anemia, a deficiency of red blood cells in the bloodstream.
Loss of muscle mass with decreased strength or weakness.
It should be noted that overall there may be a change in temperament with docility, sluggishness and lethargy, as well as reduced energy, weight gain, and after several years reduced face and body hair. There is also a long-term danger of Osteoporosis, a loss of bone mineral density where the bones become thinner, more brittle, and at increased risk for breaking. It is the same condition experienced by women in menopause.
Alene, were you able to watch the DVD? What did you think? I thought the guy that played the arrogant doctor was perfectly cast. That is how the nicer doctor’s act. They are arrogant and lie without thinking twice about it. They don’t have any ethics or scruples. If you look up the definition for sociopath, it should say “gynecologist”. That’s great that you have connections in the entertainment field. Having met Oprah multiple times, would be a huge benefit in getting her to listen. Let us know if you can make any headway. This is really scary for every woman. This barbaric surgery that has been done to women is now pushing 50%. Nearly half the women in the United States have been hysterectomized and castrated. Why isn’t anyone listening?
Hi CT,
You should be commended for writing the celebrities. Maybe re write them again and again and again until some one will randomly take a step forward and support HERS. What a wonderful thing NORA has been doing. I owe her so much!!!.Rick too! I finally received the Un Becoming DVD in the mail yesterday. My husband, daughters and I plan on having a “family movie and popcorn” night tonight and we will watch this DVD. I will take your advice and write Oprah. I am from Chicagoland. I have been residing on the West Coast for the past 11 years. My father, grandfather and brothers are well known musicians out there and have performed many fundraisers for Mayor Daley and other politicians and celebrities. I met Oprah on many occasions over the past 20 years while she was the Master of Ceremony of many of these fundraisers. It is certainly worth a try writing her letters.
Alene, you are absolutely right. Patty Duke was very brave. Why doesn’t a celebrity speak out about this? They could save so many lives. I believe Oprah had a show about it a long time ago and Nora was on it, but it needs to be brought out again big time. Have you thought about writing Oprah about your experience with your gynecologist and HMO? How difficult it is to get any good care? Most women experience the very same thing, but don’t realize they are being deceived. Your experience is very telling in what is done to women every day unless they are lucky enough to find the truth out before it’s too late. It’s becoming more widely known that gynecologists are performing unnecessary hysterectomy and castration on women for profit, but it needs big media attention to stop it. I have written multiple celebrities about this issue but have not received any response.
Hi CT,
The history of hysterectomy you cited is very interesting and informative. Thanks!! My prior post: I stated celebrities because, I forgot to mention that many celebrities work for a cause that they or their family mamber was somehow inflicted with. For example, Eva Longoria/Downs Syndrome, her sister has Downs syndrome, Patty Duke/Mental Health, Courtney Cox and husband David Arquette/Breast Cancer, B.B.King/Diabetes, Betty White/Animal Rights Activist, and many others…
Why aren’t celebrity women who have had hysterectomy’s stepping forward to convince women not to have them? I admire Patty Duke because out of everyone I have mentioned, she is the bravest celebrity to actually come forward and talk about her bi-polar diagnosis by her Psychiatrist. Mental Health challenges have such a stigma and I admire Patty Duke for sharing her “emotional breakdowns”. Why can’t female celebrities who have had a hysterectomy talk to their fans against having a hysterectomy? Hysterectomy is still a stigma like mental illness is. Celebrities are very persuasive people.
The history of hysterectomy: Dr. Martin Charcot (1825-1893) was world-renowned, the most celebrated doctor of his time. He practiced in the Paris hospital La Salpetriere. He became an expert in hysteria, diagnosing an average of 10 hysterical women each day, transforming them into “iatrogenic monsters” and turning simple “neurosis” into hysteria.(96) The number of women diagnosed with hysteria and hospitalized rose from 1% in 1841 to 17% in 1883. Hysteria is derived from the Latin “hystera” meaning uterus. According to Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman, US medicine has a tradition of excessive medical and surgical interventions on women. Only 100 years ago, male doctors believed that female psychological imbalance originated in the uterus. When surgery to remove the uterus was perfected, it became the “cure” for mental instability, effecting a physical and psychological castration.
Dear Mattie and CT,
You both made valid points. I totally agree. Thanks CT for the information regarding the UFE/UAE. I did the research on HERS as you recommended. It is ridiculous that my OB/GYN pushes a complete hysterectomy without even telling me the consequences and not sending me for an orientation/consult regarding the hysterectomy. I just received a letter that I am scheduled for a four hour plus UFE/UAE orientation/consult (1 1/2 hour drive each direction). I will most likely do nothing and have no surgery whatsoever!
Thanks Mattie, your post was absolutely true. Power plus control equal abuse!
Next week, Thursday, July 31st on Lifetime TV is the movie Transamerica staring Felicity Huffman. Her character is a man who is in the process of undergoing a Vaginoplasty. There is a great deal of Psychotherapy when people have these sex change operations and virtually no guidance or psychotherapy when women have hysterectomy’s. Check your Lifetime TV schedule in your area. I recommend you see this movie.
I cannot understand people like Tyra Banks and Oprah. Tyra’s show applies to the younger viewer, her subjects are usually women in their 20’s. Occasionally she has “Token” middle aged women having complete makeovers. Big Deal! When her shows have to do with crisis, such as cheating, drugs, medical issues etc… her subjects are exclusively women in their 20’s. She has never had women in crisis within our “age group” with hysterectomy issues. This is to be expected from Tyra because she is young and the younger women “identify” with Tyra. Conversely, Oprah is in her early 50’s and I don’t recall her ever having women on her show with hysterectomy issues, however she did a show with Brooke Shields and Brooke’s severe depression regarding her “Post Partum Depression”. I wish that Oprah would have women of our age group on her show to show the viewers the HERS 12 minute video and elaborate that the OB/GYN’s who perform these surgery’s are castrating women for monetary gain. These shows are an indicator and contribute to society viewing the “middle aged woman” having no importance in society and we are not valid people and should be discarded the same way our sex organs are discarded when having a hysterectomy! No wonder why many middle aged women are paid lower salary’s than men and that it is a know fact that the married men who cheat on their middle aged wives do so with younger women. This is because shows like Oprah and Tyra portray us as “discarded women” and as a result of these shows… society also regards us as discarded women! Somebody needs to “go to bat for us” and change this logic and thinking.
Another point, four years ago, during our last presidential election Oprah made such a big deal about women who didn’t want to vote. She even had actress Cameron Diaz on her show to persuade the “non voting” women in the audience to vote or else they were actually forfeiting their “right to vote”. Cameron Diaz really used her celebrity status to persuade the audience and many viewers. Viewers who never used to vote, now vote because of this episode.
Oprah is within our age group and there are many of us “baby boomer” women out there who would benefit from watching an Oprah episode regarding hysterectomy/castration. She should also incorporate and compare the African tribal castrations to the U.S. monetary gain castrations. It would help so many women to decide against hysterectomy.. and…. Who knows…this may even boost her T.V. Ratings! Apparently, her Nielson ratings were reported to have fallen nearly 7 percent in the New York Times on May 26, 2008.
Alene, and CT,
Answer: Doctors castrating women for monetary gain! and all of the above are heinous legally criminal acts.
Alene said: Oprah continues to help the women of Africa escape this abuse and torture. She is such a “powerful” voice within the female community, why can’t she help stop Female Castration in our own country? I cannot understand this, please elaborate and explain this to me!
Answer: Perhaps it is that so many millions of American women have been lied to that it would be difficult not to lose viewers if the “best kept secret in the medical community” was exposed. But there must be an end to hysterectomy and or castration using false information in America. It is imminent and standing at the doorstep and staring the deceitful predators in the eye. This is not the “Emperors New Clothes” the end is now, on this website.
Perhaps Oprah should take a poll in America. Choice number one: American women and men deserve the correct medical information regarding a hysterectomy and or castration. Choice number two: Please keep the correct medical information concerning a hysterectomy and or castration a secret so women who have had the surgery don’t get embarrassed about being harmed so heinously by deceit.
Again, it could be that a woman of such stature would not want to discredit the conglomerate medical community advertisers.
Also to CT;
You said:
Obviously the medical profession wants to keep the facts hidden so they can keep the money rolling in. If there was no money in it, it would not be happening.
Your post is excellent!
I would like to add that it is also a power issue concerning female genital mutilation. The African tribesmen are gaining control of the women they are mutilating and gynecologists in America are too, along with a warped sense of satisfaction. The American gynecologist takes pride in the trickery and deceit it takes to control a woman. African tribesmen take pride in mutilating and controling a woman. It is so similar it is frightening. Although I do believe it is mostly driven by monetary gain (power) in America, it is also control! Power and control equal abuse.
Mattie
Alene, all the points you make are right on. Yes, Oprah and the general public is horrified about the genital mutilation in other countries, but they fail to acknowledge the sexual mutilation going on in the United States every day! Sterilizing and mutilating women seems to be a theme all over the world, except that it’s done in the U.S. for profit. I also recall learning in school that your female organs are only for reproduction. What a scam! This deliberate misinformation is well ingrained in our society. Obviously the medical profession wants to keep the facts hidden so they can keep the money rolling in. If there was no money in it, it would not be happening. The fact that your HMO requires an orientation for the least invasive procedures is just more proof that the insurance companies are in on this butchery for profit. They make it difficult for you to get any reasonable good care, and make it easy to get mutilated in a major surgery that could result in death. Btw, UFE is another profitable procedure that damages women. See the HERS information about it at: uterinearteryembolization.com. There is no end to where these “healthcare” providers will go to make money off women. They couldn’t care less about a woman’s health when they offer damaging hysterectomy/castration and UFE/UAE. Who wants the blood supply cut off to their uterus? How sick. It can cause necrosis, and even death. We have the worst women’s healthcare in the world. This profit driven business is only harmful, not helpful. Why don’t insurance companies pay doctors to make women more healthy, not harm them? You made another great point about all the counseling that goes into a sex-change operation. It makes no sense to mutilate and sterilize women without the same counseling. These criminals would never want to use the HERS Foundation Female Anatomy Video. It would cut much too deeply into their profits.
To Anonymous:
Which is the “Worst of two Evils?”
Living in the U.S. (which is gradually becoming a third world country… Doctors castrating women for monetary gain!) or Living in Africa where women are castrated for tribal purposes? Neither should be happening! Oprah continues to help the women of Africa escape this abuse and torture. She is such a “powerful” voice within the female community, why can’t she help stop Female Castration in our own country? I cannot understand this, please elaborate and explain this to me!
We unfortunately live in a time when de-sexing women and torturing them for profit is legal and rampant.
Yes, I agree about listening to music now, I don’t comprehend it or feel it as I did before. I also become confused while trying to listen to the music I loved before and I still have one ovary.
While we are all suffering and have lost our sexual organ by deceit the ob/gyn predators are very busy selling more attacks and hiding the truth.
Get the truth out in every way you can think of to save women from this horrifying attack. Place photo copies of the Hers correct medical information and petitions every place you can think of.
I always deeply loved music. I would turn it up loud and it would take me to another world. I always felt that a world without music would not be worth living. After I was castrated, I immediately felt something lacking as I tried to listen and let it take me away. Within a year of my castration, the missing components are even more predominant. I would have never imagined that the lack of hormones could so directly affect so many aspects of one’s life. I rarely ever listen to music anymore. I can’t seem to feel the emotion anymore. I don’t get it the way I used to. Has anyone else noticed this?
Little Did I know!
As middle school children, we are taught sex education in the classroom (of course with the parent’s signed consent) and we are told implicitly that the female sex organs are exclusively used for child birth, then after wards they are not necessary, do not mean a thing and should be discarded at an older age. We are told that men are the only ones who are supposed to enjoy sex and not the women! I was always taught, (I will say brain washed! by society and the OB/GYN’s) that the Clitoris is the only part of the female anatomy with any type of sensitivity. I feel like such an idiot because I hold science degrees from a major University. We as women allow the OB/GYN’s to dictate to us that there is no longer a need for the Uterus, Fallopian Tubes, Ovaries, and Cervix after our child bearing years and after being diagnosed with endometriosis and fibroids. Sex Education instructors elaborate that the clitoris is responsible for orgasm exclusively! Little did I know! After watching Nora’s 12 minute Female Anatomy Video made me realize that all parts of the woman’s sexual anatomy are essential for emotional health, sexual health and physical health. The Public School System, which I teach at should also be required to show this video to middle school children so that the woman’s anatomy is taken seriously and not referred to as a “joke” by many! If female Anatomy and women are taken seriously at the middle school level, then women would be respected and not discarded in society particularly by many of their Medical Doctors. Abuse against women and other crimes… such as rape would be lower. This is learned behavior and begins during middle school years! Also, please note that the parents of middle school children need to be responsible parents and teach their children as well!
After I canceled my Hysterectomy scheduled for August and I asked my OB/GYN for other options such as the Uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) and the Myomectomy (He never mentioned these procedures to me as an option), I found out about these alternatives to the Hysterectomy from HERS, Anyway, yesterday I received a phone call from my OB/GYN’s Nurse since my OB/GYN is out of town on vacation. She stated that the criteria for me to have either of these two procedures is to drive more than
1 1/2 hours to the HMO specialty hospital within my insurance plan and attend a four hour plus orientation before they will consider doing any of the above two procedures. What is wrong with this SCENARIO? Shouldn’t these doctors require that women attend an orientation regarding Hysterectomy’s? And watch the Female Anatomy movie? They never offered or required me to attend an orientation before a Hysterectomy. They were just going to perform this un necessary surgery on me! What is wrong with these doctors and the HMO Insurance system? You guessed it, I have Kaiser Permanente. This is to be expected!
Dr. Phil, needs to see the Female Anatomy video and the accurate medical information on the Hers Foundation web site, to protect his wife and family.
I cannot understand when a person decides to have a sex change operation, it is required that he or she receive many hours of consultations and counseling before they can actually have this operation. Conversely, when women go to their OB/GYN’s for fibroid tumors and endometriosis.. right away without any consultations, counseling or without recommendations to watch the 12 minute Female Anatomy Video the OB/GYN’s decide immediately that the only procedure of choice is Castration!
I was given the MIRENA/hormone option to suppress my heavy bleeding and limit my monthly periods, however I am against the IUD for the following reason: When I was in college 20 something years ago, I had a Copper 7 Safety Coil (CU-7) IUD as a birth control method. I became pregnant during the end of the 3rd month. Ironically, I did not know that I was pregnant because I was still having monthly periods. The IUD perforated my Uterus and Fetus, causing an infection. I had to go into the hospital for an emergency abortion. I ended up on I.V. Antibiotics for one week as a result of the infection traveling to my blood causing Bacteremia and Septicemia.(this could have been fatal!) I was lucky that years later, I had two normal pregnancies which produced two healthy daughters now teenagers.
MIRENA IUD WARNING
Listed below are the complications caused by the Mirena IUD that FDA mandates that the manufacturer, Bayer, list as “side effects”.
Although Bayer says these are “uncommon”, women have reported experiencing serious adverse effects from the IUD and the hormones released by the device.
The following is from the Bayer website:
What are the possible side effects of using MIRENA?
The following are serious but uncommon side effects of MIRENA:
• Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Some IUD users get a serious
pelvic infection called pelvic inflammatory disease. PID is usually
sexually transmitted. You have a higher chance of getting PID if
you or your partner have sex with other partners. PID can cause
serious problems such as infertility, ectopic pregnancy or
constant pelvic pain.
• PID is usually treated with antibiotics. However, more serious
cases of PIDmay require surgery. A hysterectomy (removal of the
uterus) is sometimes needed. In rare cases, infections that start
as PID can even cause death.
Tell your health care provider right away if you have any of these
signs of PID: long-lasting or heavy bleeding, unusual vaginal
discharge, low abdominal (stomach area) pain, painful sex, chills,
or fever.
• Life-threatening infection. Life-threatening infection occurs rarely
within the first few days after MIRENA is inserted. Call your health
care provider if you develop severe pain within a few hours after
insertion.
• Embedment. MIRENA may adhere to the uterine wall. This is
called embedment. If embedment occurs,MIRENAmay no longer
prevent pregnancy and you may need surgery to have it removed.
• Perforation. MIRENA may go through the uterus. This is called
perforation. If your uterus is perforated, MIRENA may no longer
prevent pregnancy. Itmaymove outside the uterus and can cause
internal scarring, infection, or damage to other organs, and you
may need surgery to have MIRENA removed.
• Expulsion. MIRENA may come out by itself. This is called
expulsion. You may become pregnant if MIRENA comes out. Use
a backup birth control method like condoms and call your health
care provider if you notice that MIRENA has come out.
There are several more common side effects of MIRENA:
• Cramps, bleeding, dizziness, or faintness while MIRENA is being
inserted. This is common. Let your health care provider know if
the cramping is severe.
• Missed menstrual periods. About 2 out of 10 women stop having
periods after 1 year of MIRENA use. The periods come back when
MIRENA is removed. If you do not have a period for
6 weeks during MIRENA use, contact your health care provider.
• Changes in bleeding. You may have bleeding and spotting
between menstrual periods, especially during the first 3 to
6 months. Sometimes the bleeding is heavier than usual at first.
However, the bleeding usually becomes lighter than usual and
may be irregular. Call your health care provider if the bleeding
remains heavier than usual or if the bleeding becomes heavy after
it has been light for a while.
• Cyst on the ovary. Approximately 12% (12 out of 100) of women
using MIRENA develop a cyst on the ovary. These cysts usually
disappear on their own in a month or two. However, cysts can
cause pain and sometimes cysts will need surgery.
This is not a complete list of possible side effects. For more information,
ask your health care provider.
When should I call my health care provider?
Call your health care provider if you have any concerns about
MIRENA. Be sure to call if you
• think you are pregnant
• have pelvic pain or pain during sex
• have unusual vaginal discharge or genital sores
• have unexplained fever
• might be exposed to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
• cannot feel MIRENA’s threads
• develop very severe or migraine headaches
• have yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes. These may be
signs of liver problems.
• have a stroke or heart attack
• or your partner becomes HIV positive
• have severe or prolonged vaginal bleeding
• miss a menstrual period
Most of the adverse effects women experience from this and other devices is not reported to FDA. It is only required that they report deaths.
HERS knows from recent experience that even death caused by an FDA approved device is not always reported to FDA by doctors and hospitals. A woman who underwent uterine artery embolization (UAE) in November ’07 died two days after the procedure. The embolic material migrated to distant parts of her body. Death was caused by the embolic material that migrated to her lungs.
Just because it is not a hysterectomy does not mean it is safe or efficacious. Let the buyer beware.
To “pissed off”,
There are other options besides surgery for your fibroids and heavy bleeding. I know of several women who have had success with a holistic practitioner. It takes time and is not a quick fix but it is well worth the effort to become healthier and remain intact. Common problems such as anemia and heavy bleeding are well within the scope of holistic care.
Also, although it is considered a synthetic hormone, the mirena coil has been successfully used by a coworker of mine for four months. She has adenomyosis and had severe bleeding and cramps, and now her periods are very light and minimal cramping. Her doctor’s first line of treatment for her was going to be a hysterectomy and removal of ovaries (since she is 45 which is ridiculous). I told her about the aftermath of my hysterectomy and bilateral oopherectomy (translate castrated) and what I have learned, and she proceeded to find an alternate route to treat her problem. She is doing very well. I dont endorse synthetic hormones but it is the lesser of two evils and it can be stopped if need be. A hysterectomy is irreversable.
Finally, I work in a medical facility handling medical records and interestingly all of the female ob/gyns have from time to time referred patients with chronic reproductive issues/pain to a comprehensive pain management and physical therapy program. I myself have been through this program although for reasons resulting from being butchered. All of it was non drug therapy and was very helpful for me (I suffer from chronic pelvic pain, endometriosis scarring and adhesions, possible nerve and structural damage as well as fibromyalgia like pain). The program uses a mind, body, spirit approach and treats the whole person. Anyway, not one of the male ob/gyn’s at the practice where I work have referred their patients there. I find this interesting. when I was under the care of my ob/gyn at the same practice, I never even heard of the pain program. I would have given anything for that information to save me from the hell I face now.
As others have stated, UFE and hysterectomy are not your only options, although they are pushed and made more public because there is money to be made. Holistic care is just as effective (or more) but it involves natural approaches that cost far less but arent quick fixes.
It is good that you found the HERS site and are doing some research. It shows that you really are looking for all options available and that your health is important to you. Good for you! Dont give up! Keep asking questions!
Hi Anonymous,
Thanks for the input regarding Dr. Phil. I live on the West Coast and we get the Dr. Phil show during the evening out here. I look forward to watching it.
Oh, by the way, OB/GYN Dr. Lisa Masterson of Dr. Phil Show fame, mentioned on today’s Dr. Phil show, that she was concerned about having to re-educate her patients who come to her after self-diagnosing from internet sites and having to change their mindset.
Gee, let’s hope no one tells her about this HERS Foundation website. She might REALLY have cause for her flippant ‘concerns’ then!
To Alene of 7-21-08, 1:22pm
I rejoice with you that you found the ‘truth’ on this HERS Foundation site before submitting to your cruel Gynecologist’s ploys for your ‘immediate’ hysterectomy surgery!
If you had watched the Dr. Phil show this morning where OB/GYN Dr. Lisa Masterson was a guest panelist along with 4 other doctors, you would have been further enlightened as to the shocking, flippant disregard for our uterus by these OB/GYNs. Dr. Masterson’s response demonstrates the mindset of the average OB/GYN.
Her response to Dr. Phill’s question to her about WHERE a healthy uterus could be located to transplant into the body of someone wanting to get pregnant, the show transcript reads something like this:
Dr. Masterson:
They can get a uterus from a live woman who’s had a hysterectomy or from cadeavers and I actually feel that this is a very good thing being an ob/gyn and seeing patients who really want to feel life inside of them even though adoption and surrogacy is great, they want to feel that life in them and I…..
Dr. Phil: Well you said they get them out of some other woman?
Dr. Masterson: They get them out of some other woman.
Dr. Phil: But you wouldn’t take it out unless it was broken?
Dr. Masterson: Not necessarily, if she was bleeding and uhhhh, cause there’s also the lining of the uterus
Dr. Phil: Well that’s broken?
Dr. Masterson: that, no, cause that’s hormonal, that’s outside forces acting on the uterus … …
So now you know! These OB/GYNs do not look to the ‘cause’ of the bleeding and other ‘outside effects’ to the woman’s uterus, and try to treat the cause. They are surgically removing the uterus to stop the EFFECTS of the bleeding!
COMPARE this mindset of Dr. Masterson with that of her antithesis, Dr. Lorraine Day.
Dr. Lorraine Day is an internationally acclaimed orthopedic trauma surgeon and best selling author. who found an ‘alternative’ cure for her own TERMINAL breast cancer, many years ago. She is alive and well today spreading the word of health and healing to all who will listen.
Visit her website and you will know that there are many alternatives to the cancer scare. Dr. Day’s approach is only one of them!
Hi Again CT,
Yes you are correct, FATE sure did step in for me regarding my not having a hysterectomy, however 5 years ago my L-4/L-5 spinal cord disk ruptured and I was told to have a Lamenectomy Fusion surgery by the Neurosurgeon. I have Degenerative Disk Arthritis and Stenosis of my spinal Cord (pre disposed gene) since my 66 year old parents have this. I had the surgery which incidentally could have made me paralyzed. As a result of this surgery, I now have many medical problems which is as follows: The surgery was like the DOMINO EFFECT! now all of my disks are rupturing! The residual effects of the surgery caused more sciatic nerve damage, sharp stinging and stabbing pain up and down my arms, shoulders, neck, hands, fingers, feet,toes horrific headaches, the list goes on and on and on. This is also another reason as to why I chose not to have the hysterectomy. After viewing the 12 minute Female Anatomy video which stated the residual effects of a hysterectomy (nerve damage in the pelvic area, vaginal area and all of the other medical problems that arise after this surgery) again prompted me not to have the hysterectomy. Had I left “well enough alone” and not had the spinal cord surgery, eventually with time my body would have healed on it’s own. The spinal cord surgery was a foreshadowing event and an indicator had I had a hysterectomy, my medical problems would have logarithmically been compounded. Thank G-D I have worked out my entire life and I have been on swim teams throughout high school and college. As a result of my spinal cord surgery, I am in pain 24/7, however to help suppress some of the pain, I swim at least one hour 5 days per week. I do not sleep properly as a result of the pain, therefore I am up all hours of the night taking baths and showers to also help suppress my spinal cord pain. I decided not to have the hysterectomy and just deal with endometrial/fibroid challenges: the intolerable pain, irritability, heavy clumpy bleeding, hot flashes, night sweats etc… I won’t make the same mistake twice by having surgery again! I’ll just let it “fold naturally and let nature take it’s course” and wait until I approach menopause and hopefully the endometriosis and fibroid tumors will shrink on their own. Also, sexual activity with my husband regarding my spinal cord pain releases endorphins and also supress my spine pain. If I had a hysterectomy, my body would have never again been capable of producing orgasims, thus release essential endorphins necessary to supress my spinal cord pain.
Thanks again CT,
If the right legal/attorney team would get it together, set a precedent and change the laws and statutes (state by state), I bet many of the women on this site could file and settle successful Mal practice law suits. Maybe somebody should contact California attorney Shari Karney. She actually changed the law in California regarding the statue of limitations to 20 years regarding rape. Lifetime TV showed this movie a few years ago called “Shattered Trust “The Shari Karney story” staring Melissa Glibert.You can purchase this movie on line or at a Borders Book store. As a result of attorney Shari Karney’s persistence, Women 20 years later are NOW suing step fathers, neighbors etc… who raped them when they were children. It was discovered in many cases utilizing psychotherapy via repressed memory syndrome they were raped as young, impressionable and vulnerable children. Aren’t the OB/GYN ‘s actually raping women when they are castrating them? These Men and Women OB/GYN’s may “change their tune” if they themselves were actually sued and then castrated!
Alene, I’m so glad fate stepped in for you! Now you can live your life without being castrated and butchered, whew! and whoo hooo! If you ever do go under the knife, you really need an attorney to draw up a consent form, because you are so right, they are hack happy because that’s where the $$$$$$$$$ is. It’s beyond sickening. Thanks for posting your experience with your ob/gyn. Unfortunately, that is the norm. It is abusive and also criminal. They are lying to you with the plan to de-sex you and cause you permanent health problems. The insurance companies are in on it too, you are right to not trust them. They take money from the people, and pay gynecologists to perform unnecessary and unwarranted surgery on women. This has to be the biggest secret and most damaging scam in history. Unfortunately most women cannot sue. These criminal predator gynecologists have it all set up so they can lie and mutilate women and it’s the “standard of care”. The medical boards are also a joke, they are in on it too. That is why it continues today. It has been the perfect crime, but I believe their days are numbered. Thanks to Nora and the HERS Foundation the word is getting out and more and more women are seeing the female anatomy video and learning the truth before it’s too late. I’m so happy that you were saved! Your creepy gynecologist will have to go on one less vacation this year, lol!
Dear CT from her post on July 18th,
Thank you so very much for your input. I am thankful that I did not have my hysterectomy. My teenage daughters saved me from having it the first time and NORA’s video saved me the second time! I canceled the first surgery date of June 19 after my daughters came home with Mononucleosis (sharing food and sodas at their high school and college cheer leading competition) I needed to take care of them, so I canceled my surgery which gave me time to sit home all day and research hysterectomy’s. I recently found the HERS Web site! NORA thank you so very much… the 12 minute Female Anatomy video was so effective that I immediately canceled my next scheduled hysterectomy which is supposed to be in August. What is wrong with my OB/GYN?? He never told me any of the options available for me, he just quickly told me I need a complete hysterectomy for my clustered fibroid tumors, he claims are the size of grapefruits and that I have endometriosis and should also remove both ovaries! HE NEVER told me about myomectomy. It was like “pulling teeth” from him to finally admit that I have options and that he cannot perform anything other than a hysterectomy, so I begged and pleaded with him to give me a referral to surgeons within my insurance that are authorized to do other procedures. I should not have had to “jump through hoops” for the past 8 (I had my ultrasound then and asked him about other options). I had to recently go through the bureaucratic red tape just to get these referrals for a surgeon within my health plan who does myomectomy. This is abusive, and he should have been honest and up front with me and he should have told me from day one, that I had other options rather than a hysterectomy. Now, I cannot trust my insurance provider, nor these doctors any longer because I fear that if I do decide to have a myomectomy that once I am under their arrogant control.. under the general anesthetic on an operating table, the surgeons will go “knife crazy” the same way some police officers go “trigger crazy” and I am afraid that these surgeons will just do whatever the hell they want and remove everything anyway because it’s easier, cheaper and more cost effective for them! Most likely, I will do nothing and let “nature take its course!” For all of the brave women who had hysterectomy’s, my heart goes out to you! If I were in your shoes I would most likely “bond together” and hire a responsible attorney” and sue the OB/GYN’s. Be strong! It seems like The only way to change these arrogant, control freak OB/GYN’s is to go through the proper legal channels to have their licenses revoked and make them pay you monetary settlements in substantial amounts from damages they intentionally and carelessly inflicted upon you! People are forced to change when it affects the money in their wallets!
To “pissed off”. I am pissed off (to say the least). I didn’t have any fibroids and my hemoglobin was 15, and I had light periods all my life. A doctor, without my consent, amputated my healthy uterus, ovaries, and cervix without any medical basis. Now I have constant abdominal pain and a whole list of problems. You still have a choice, the rest of us don’t. Be glad that you found the HERS Foundation because now you can get the correct information so that you can make an informed decision and get the proper help.
To anonymous with fibroids,
Your choices are not limited to either a damaging procedure like UAE or hysterectomy. Myomectomy, which is surgical removal of fibroids leaving the uterus intact, is the only constructive way to manage fibroids that are causing either a true medical problem or symptoms that are such a great inconvenience or nuisance that you feel a need to do something about them.
It may be helpful to you to read HERS previous post about fibroids, at the top of this page, on the right side under Previous Posts, click on the link to Fibroids.
Your pissing me off, because I have fibroids and they cause me heavy periods and i needed a blood transfusion because my hemaglobin was 6.9 and i read all thses horrible things about hysterectomy and UFE, well what am i supposed to do then, i can not live with the periods i am having, i have to wear a diaper for gods sake, so what am i supposed to do, which is safer, the UFE or the hysterectomy????
i had a full hysterectomy plus a bilateral salpingo oophorectomy.i have been miserable.you would not believe all the stuff I have been through.and nothing has changed as far as the pain I still have it and i think it has gotten worse.this surgery has ruined my life.and my stupid doctor told me last monday,”you know to be honest with you i don’t think you ever needed a hysterectomy. i need to know what i can do please help me.
Hello, I had a hysterectomy in February of 2005, since then I have developed tendonitis of the elbow and foot as well as have been losing my hair since 3 months after the surgery, the texture has changed and it is very thin. I am trying to get more information about the side effects after having a hysterectomy. I was not informed of any side effects and I am trying to find out if the tendonitis could be a side effect of the hysterectomy.
I had a full hysterectomy two years ago for fibroids and a family history of ovarian and cervical cancer. I was on lupron thing for six months before the surgery. I am very angry. I was never informed of all the serious consequences,etc. They slapped an estrogen patch on my body after surgery and just told me I would be in instant menopause, and would have hot flashes. Nothing else about hormones and how it affects everything. I am trying a holistic doctor who is working with me with natural hormone therapy. I AM SO ANGRY. HOW CAN DOCTORS DO THIS TO WOMEN? I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY DOESN’T SOMEONE STOP THEM?
I had a hysterectomy in March 2006. I was supposed to have a partial but my doctor discovered I had extensive endometriosis and scar tissue. I had an endometrial ablation and a birth control procedure of coils. Just a little less than a year later I had severe pelvic pain, and my gynecologist said I had an ovarian cyst, and he said I could have surgery or take pain killers to see if it will go away. The pain got to be unbearable. After the hysterectomy I had severe pain in my leg. Nerve studies show nerve damage. The neurologist said that this is a permanent injury, it’s never going to get better. Is there any info on nerve damage to the leg caused by hysterectomy? Thank you.
Where do you think the gynecologists will get a healthy uterus for a transplant?
From one of the 600,000.00 women they tricked with lies every year into stealing their organs for money and sick satisfaction.
How many uterine transplants have they performed with success?, none.
Stop them.
Mattie
I had a very bad experience with this thing called hysterectomy. I cannot even say it, it is still so devastating to me and my husband. The doctor said that i should not even mention it to him because he would never be able to tell. Big Lie. So, if you’re thinking about it, PLEASE DON’T. If I knew that i would not go to hell. I probably would have committed suicide. IT’S THAT AWFUL
Within weeks after I was attacked by the predator gynecologist he threw a, Masingill Towelette, for vaginal odor next to me. I was writhing in pain infected and already experiencing the consequences of the unnecessary hysterectomy removing my cervix and one ovary. I was in hyper-thyroid storm and cut in half and this sick perpetrator threw a, Masingill Towelette, at me and seemed to enjoy the toss. This was the same day that he said “you could have looked it up”.
Mattie
To Anonymous, July 19, 11:17 I am glad for the Lord also. My husband is a believer which I believe helps my marriage too. I will keep you in my prayers. I wish all the men who are involved with the women who are victims of this crime would understand what we go through. I am not sure how to go about this. My husband doesn’t care to listen to what I have to say. I think men need to talk with other men in the same circumstances to understand.
I am a victim of this awful and ungodly thing called castration. My marriage is on the verge of destruction. Please help! if it would not have been for the Lord, who was on my side, I would have lost my mind.
I had a hysterectomy when I was 25. I am 36 now and totally depressed and sick. I don’t know how to talk about whats going on. I have so many issues, constipation, petruding rectum in my anus, incontinence and urine problems. I am scared. My husband just divorsed me last year. I was not passionate enough? We are christians and this has killed me on top of this nightmare. I couldn’t kiss because there is a foul smell from my bowels? I have urine and bowel taste and body odor? Is this possible? I am so angry! I am a single mom now. I started a business but its not enough to get insurance. So I am stuck in my side effects. I know its from the hysterectomy because it all started since, I had it vaginal? I then surfaced with polyps in colon and bowel problems. I am so upset, the surgent moved away years ago. She also cut my bladder. Is this why I taste urine in my mouth? Its all gross. I can’t even make conversation because people gag! I have prayed and prayed. I am out of Prayers and answers. Just sick of being sick and hope for a
miracle. I think I am experiencing several prolapse. I have rectum and urine and vaginal symptoms.
About getting back sexual desires. There is no cure for castration. Some women have found some help with bioidentical hormones, but nothing will bring back the damage done by castration and there are major health risks associated with HRT. It is not natural for hormones to be administered outside the body by artificial means. You cannot replicate the hormones that your ovaries produced at the amount and time your body needs them. Ovaries are very intricate systems that work in concert with the rest of your endocrine system. This is a very cruel deliberate act that ob/gyn’s are doing to women.
does anyone have solutions to give me on what is needed to get back the sexual desires?
In May, 2006, I had a complete hysterectomy, uterus, both ovaries, and my appendix removed. I had a fibroid benign tumor on my left ovary the size of a cantalope. I was not told of any of these “after hysterectomy” problems…and I do have them. Almost all of them, and I feel so violated. I had no idea that this website even existed until I was researching sexual side effects because my doctor gave me anti-depressants. I know it says once the hysterectomy has taken place, the damage is done and there is nothing that can help me with the side effects of it. But I’m so glad I found you. Thank you.
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Thanks!
ob/gyns know that they are harming women for the rest of their life by hysterectomizing and castrating them, and they are doing it deliberately.
Good for you Alene! Congratulations for saving yourself! You should call the HERS Foundation for assistance in finding a doctor who will save your organs and give you the correct information. You are absolutey correct, U.S. doctors are sexually mutilating women for profit, after lying and deceiving them. It is criminal and they all should be in prison.
My OB/GYN decided that I need a hysterectomy. I am in my 40’s and have fibroid tumors and endometriosis. HE wants to remove everything. I don’t qualify for an endometrial ablation because my uterus is tipped A.K.A. retroverted and I refuse to subject my body to the IUD (with hormones) which is supposed to reduce the heavy clumping, bleeding and intolerable pain during my horrific periods. I am a research scientist and would like to earn my Ph.D in this area of research. There may be a predisposed gene in my family for the fibroids and endometriosis. My mother is 66 and had a complete hysterectomy at age 37 for the same issues as did my aunts and grandmothers on both sides of my family. All of these women had a bad experience with synthetic Hormone replacement therapy and drug interactions in conjunction with other medications. Which universities are doing female research so that I can apply for graduate work? Also, which hospitals out of or within my California network will remove the fibroids exclusively so that I do not have to have a hysterectomy?. I have teenage daughters and I would never want them to experience what I am going through. Hopefully, when they are my age, there will be a medical breakthrough in this area of Women’s Health which is also why I would to like to enter this area of research for my Doctorate Degree. I was a divorced single mother for many years and I am newly married to a wonderful man. We have been together for 8 years and have been married for a few months. We enjoy the intimacy, romance, passion etc… I refuse to allow a doctor to talk me into castration! Reminds me of the book MALe Practice by Robert S. Mendelsohn M.D. I think that I will re read this book.
Last night, my husband and I were researching the HERS website and I asked him the analogy as follows: “honey, if you had cysts and or non cancerous tumors on your penis would you have your penis removed and his reply was the obvious “no, I do not want to be castrated!” so why should this be any different for women? In the case of the Penis, yes the doctor will do everything to “save the male organ, whether it be chemotherapy, radiation, removing the cysts and tumors but never remove the penis! however in the case of the woman’s ovaries, uterus, cervix, the doctors will not spend the time to remove the obvious culprit…the tumors nor the endometrial tissue! Apparently, it is more cost efficient for the HMO’s and Doctors to just “castrate the women via butchered Hysterectomy’s which in essence in my opinion are the same type of castrations the women of Africa are forced into having. I feel that if an OB/GYN does not show a woman the HERS video is actually a violation of her civil rights. Indeed, this video should be mandated similar to when a women decides whether or not to have an abortion, they are given options by both the pro life and the pro choice groups via a video.
My teenagers actually saved me from having a complete hysterectomy last month. They went to Las Vegas with their college and high school cheer leading squads a few months ago. Unfortunately, they shared sodas and food with their cheer peers and came home with mononucleosis. They have been resting at home for the past 6 weeks and I have been taking care of them, so I canceled my “complete hysterectomy”.
G-D indeed works in mysterious ways!
In conclusion, I would rather tolerate the horrific monthly PMS pain, migraine headaches, intolerable heavy bleeding and clumping, irritability versus being “butchered and castrated irreversibly via a hysterectomy” that will in essence contribute to a life time..life long magnitude of various irreversible medical conditions! Who the heck needs this? Not me!
On the Dr. Phil show, Dr. Masterson (ob/gyn) stated that healthy uteruses are removed because of outside forces acting on the uterus. Why wouldn’t you correct the outside forces? Oh wait, there’s no money in that.
“Surgery For Men-Same As On Women-Result”
1.Men,= Testicles cut off. Women.= Ovaries removed. Both, = No sex drive
(no testosterone).
2.Men. = Penis cut in half and resewn.
Women = Vagina cut and resewn.
Both, = Loss of feeling
and control.
3 Men. = End of penis cut off Women= Cervix removal
Both.= Loss of pressure
Stimulation
4 Men = Half of penis cut off Women= Loss of uterus Both= Loss of engorgement Orgasmic contraction
After having these procedures, would these men then accept being told that there was no reason why they couldn’t enjoy sex the same as before? If they couldn’t enjoy sex, would they accept their doctor saying. “It must all be in your head, and you really should see a psychiatrist? I think not.” I believe hysterectomies are sexual abuse. These include violation of bodily boundaries, loss of control. Disruption of sexual identity, trauma. Victims are not able to protect them selves before the assault because the victims don’t see it coming.
If the man made testosterone pill actually works for some castrated and hysterectomized women then what would stop it from working for the predator child molestors and rapists being punished by American law to be castrated as punishment. Perhaps the F.B.I, President and Supreme Court of America should be allerted.
The healthy uterus’s and ovaries removed from all but 2% of hysterectomized and castrated American women must be seized and taken away from the predator doctors of this country, uterus’s are valuable, too valuable to throw away. So valuable that the doctors of America have perfected the perfect legal crime by deceit to amputate them and now they want to transplant them back to double their money, how sick, cruel and rampant. The medical community does not deserve to make money so heinously and by deceit. Internet savvy women are looking this up on the computer and finding the correct medical information about hysterectomy/castration on the Hers Foundation web site. Are the doctors in denial that the decades of deceit will be stopped by carring and concerned American citizens?
Doctors of America, end the deceit you all know about and the tremendous suffering you are causing. Yes, you the gynecologists of America and your accomplices, physicians, medical specialists, doctors of anesthesia and office managers who have heard the same cries for help, are causing one third of the female population in America to suffer a horrendous malady similar to a male sexual predator or child molester being punished by American law to castration.
Mattie
On a Dr. Phil show that aired on Monday, July 14th, they were discussing a story in the news about uterus transplants. What was even much more interesting was Dr. Phil’s questions about where would they get a healthy uterus to transplant? The ob/gyn, Dr. Masterson, said that they could get it from a live woman or a cadeaver. Dr. Phil kept questioning her asking how they could get a healthy uterus from a live woman because if it was healthy why would they remove it? Yes, why would they remove a healthy uterus? Below is the transcribed conversation between them. Dr. Masterson was obviously avoiding answering the question. We know that every ob/gyn knows that they are amputating women’s healthy uteruses every day. It’s even more disgusting that while they are amputating women’s healthy uteruses, that they would now want to transplant them back into other women. This crime against women for profit is reaching new sickening heights. Dr. Phil was asking a logical question. He really never got an answer and finally gave up. It’s unfortunate that he didn’t pursue it further, because clearly, the answer he received makes no sense. This is the text transcribed from the show:
Dr. Phil: First our doctors are going to weigh in on a medical story making big headlines. Should doctor’s perform uterus transplants so women can carry and give birth to their own babies. Now some doctors are saying it’s no different than a kidney or heart transplant.
Dr. Phil: Now, I’m sorry, the first question is where are they getting the uterus?
Dr. Masterson (ob/gyn): They can get a uterus from a live woman who’s had a hysterectomy or from cadeavers and I actually feel that this is a very good thing being an ob/gyn and seeing patients who really want to feel life inside of them even though adoption and surrogacy is great, they want to feel that life in them and I…..
Dr. Phil: But don’t you take the uterus out because there is something wrong with it?
Dr. Masterson: Usually you do, yes.
Dr. Phil: So why would you want to put it in somebody else?
Dr. Masterson: Because they can’t have a child, their uterus doesn’t work or maybe they had bleeding or ……
Dr. Phil: I mean if this uterus is broken, I don’t want it!
Dr. Ordon (plastic surgeon): The point is they are not going to transplant a broken uterus, hopefully.
Dr. Masterson: Right
Dr. Phil: Well you said they get them out of some other woman?
Dr. Masterson: They get them out of some other woman.
Dr. Phil: but you wouldn’t take it out unless it was broken?
Dr. Masterson: Not necessarily, if she was bleeding and uhhhh, cause there’s also the lining of the uterus
Dr. Phil: Well that’s broken?
Dr. Masterson: that, no cause that’s hormonal, that’s outside forces acting on the uterus
Dr. Phil: ok
To the woman asking if anyone has taken testosterone. I too have struggled with it. I have also tried both synthetic and bio identical (creams, troches, sublingual drop forms at different times from several compounding pharmacies) and have had more problems than relief. I get severe headaches, uncontrollable shakiness up to two hours after applying the cream, nausea, a drugged sort of fatigueish feeling, and terrible aggressiveness and mood swings. I too have had a sort of unnatural desire in my vagina, but having been scarred from my hysterectomy and episiotomy (that I didnt ask for but is appearently common for doctors to do with a hysterectomy) at the same time, it doesnt help much. It is really frustrating because I am only in my mid thirties and my body is severely deficient in testosterone according to hormone blood tests and symptoms. I have tried doses as small as .5mg to as much as 2mg and each I have given one to three months.
Some women claim it has made their lives so much better but I have yet to feel that. It just goes to show how unique each of our bodies are and how we play russian roulette with our lives when we have our sex organs removed for benign conditions. I totally understand your frustration.
Testosterone both so called Bio-Identical and Synthetic Testosterone did not feel welcome in my body it was very unnatural and made my heart beat faster, even when I took a smaller dose. Testosterone also made me feel uneasy and nervous. Testosterone did make me feel unnaturally aroused, but my crotch is not able to handle sexual intercourse now on a regular basis since my sex organs were amputated and caused a lot of physical damage.
Has anyone posting here tried to take testosterone yet, what was your reaction if you did?
Three months ago I had a hysterectomy after my gyn/oncologist was certain that the large ovarian mass I had was cancer. She had me was convinced that a hysterectomy was my only option. Thank goodness it turned out to be all benign cysts. However, she did a total hysterectomy took out both ovaries. Now I wish that I would have asked her to leave my uterus and ovaries if it was discovered to be benign. Doctors are quick to tell us that since we don’t want more children we no longer need these organs. I’m almost certain this is not true. I think I was more led to accept doctor’s advise to have a hysterrectomy for fear of possible cancer and my not knowing I should be seeking out more information. However, we are sometimes put in a spot. Can you tell me how frequent this happens. Women definitely need to be more educated about this and I’m glad this resource exist. I wish I would have known more about this. Thank you so much.
In May, 2006, I had a complete hysterectomy, uterus, both ovaries, and my appendix removed. I had a fibroid benign tumor the size of a basketball. I had nor was told of any of these “after hysterectomy” problems…and I do have them. Almost all of them, and I feel so violated. I had no idea that this website even existed until I was researching sexual side effects from anti-depressants. I would really like to hear from some one on this issue; if there is anything I can do? I know it says once the hysterectomy has taken place, the damage is done and there is nothing that can help me with the side effects
of it. Thank you for your help.
Many women gynecologists will trick you and amputate your sexual organs too!
Remember the loop-hole in the current consent form for all female surgeries in America. A female or male gynecologist can tell you they are doing a myomectomy or alternative surgery. The loop-hole in the current consent form allows the gynecologist surgeon to decide if they want more money and some warped satisfaction at the cost of your sexuality that day.
IMPORTANT: Have a lawyer draw up your Consent Form for any female surgery to make sure you leave the operating room with your sex organs intact.
PATTY,I learned that when you begin to speak with women around you they begin to tell you about their doctors. Since I decided to drop my doctor who was going to do a hysterectomy on me for a mere cyst (nothing wrong with my uterus whatsoever) I learned of two other gynocologist that are both women who are very good and do not take out your healthy organs at will. I chose to do nothing about my cyst as of yet because of financial reasons and the mere fact that it doesn’t bother me whatsoever. Good luck in your search, I’ll pray that God sends you to the right people, smart thinking about second guessing your current doc and do not give up! You will find the right doctor to help you. Susan Clement
I had a D and a tubal in Dec. 1996 after delivering my daughter in October 1996 at the age of 28. At that time the doctor had poked a hole in the still boggy uterus. He said it was fine, he stitched it up, but after that I had experienced sometimes severe pain with menstruation and unexplained weight gain after a steady loss after my daughter (no change in diet or exercise.) I went to a new doctor when I was 32. He performed a laparascopy and stated that he “believed” that I had adenomyosis (endometriosis in the muscle of the uterus) and recommended a hysterectomy. He said since I wanted no more children, then it wouldn’t make a difference. When I questioned what other treatments would be available, he said none and that there would be no reason to keep it. I asked about the sexual side effects and he said I would be better than before because of no pain. I was still hesitant since I knew that I experienced uterine contractions at orgasm, no uterus, no orgasm was my fear. After more questions, he even said that there is no definitive diagnosis until after a biopsy. So, there is a chance that this isn’t what I have wrong and I couldn’t change my mind after the surgery. After each yearly checkup he would state the same thing, basically saying I was stupid for not taking the surgery. I stopped going to him, and have been searching for a doctor that has the philosphy that a hysterectomy should be a last resort. Does anyone know of a great doctor like this in the Philadelphia/Trenton area? I thought a woman doctor would be more likely to lean against hysterectomy, but then again, some of the blogs here, don’t support that idea as some women doctors have pushed for hysterectomy also. I am glad to see that my fears are not as unfounded as the doctor was saying they are. Good Luck to all you that are still in pain due to your unfounded surgeries.
I receive a news letter on Nutrition and Healing and here is part of the letter. “What concerns the American Medical Association about this revelation is that only 4 percent of the placebo-prescribing doctors actually tell their patients about it. The AMA contends that this practice infringes on patients’ right to informed consent of any treatment being administered by a doctor.” So the doctors get away with this again. Where is the Accountability.
I was 48 when I had a partial hysterectomy in America – ovaries and uterus – but not the Cervix. I was not yet menopausal at the time. You can’t imgaine the trouble I had convincing my surgeon to let me keep the Cervix, but this was because my best friend in the UK, a Consultant Gynae, recommended it, saying the recovery is much faster and long-term effects less. I have been laughed at for this in America by doctors many times since then, but I believe it has helped me to maintain a better sex-life, athough my libido definitely dropped-off.Anyway, I have found my powers of thinking have been reduced considerably in the past 4 years since I had the surgery. I feel just mentally exhausted often and I go through periods when I have to really force myself to think. I also have much more tendency towards depression. This is particularly tough since I am the President of a company with a great deal of responsibility. What I wanted to say is the one thing that I have found does help is strenuous daily exercise. If I get up early and run or walk at least three miles and then lift some weights, and then stoke-up with a good breakfast, it does help me to think more clearly for several hours. I also find that a short cat-nap around lunchtime helps me to hang-in there for the afternoon. Getting enough sleep at night is also essential. I have had to make this a major priority in my life – or I would have been out of business! I try not to let it get to me too much. Many people have to make things priorities in their lives to be able to cope and this is my thing. I find that if I think about it like that, I don’t feel as resentful, because, to this day, I feel I was duped into the surgery. And I was finding it was the resentful feelings that were increasing my depression!The great offshoot of the exercise is all other vital signs such as blood pressure, pulse rate, oxygen in the blood etc. are very good and it is also helping me to control my weight and maintain better self-image.I take estrogen and testosterone and thanks to this website, I am not looking into DHEA.But the exercise is, in my opinion, the over-riding factor to be keeping on top of my mental abilities.
I receive a news letter on Nutrition and Healing and here is part of the letter.
“What concerns the American Medical Association about this revelation is
that only 4 percent of the placebo-prescribing doctors actually tell their
patients about it. The AMA contends that this practice infringes on patients’
right to informed consent of any treatment being administered by a doctor.” So the doctors get away with this again. Where is the Accountability.
To CT of 7-1-08, 7:12pm
I too want to congratulate you on finding and posting the article about the Judge’s ruling, regarding the convicted rapist.
I hope you won’t mind my copying the article from your blog posting above and repeating it here, as I feel we should all keep this article posted on this blog every week!
JUST IMAGINE, THE RAPIST’S VICTIMS ARE QUOTED AS SAYING:
“They agree that this sentence punishes him and would deter him and others from similar acts.”
SO, CASTRATING A MALE DETERS HIM FROM SEXUAL ACTS AND IS CONSIERED PUNISHMENT.
Will any Gynecologist please post on this blog and tell us all:
– Why do none of you Gynecologists tell your FEMALE patients that after their FEMALE castration surgery they will be deterred from sexual acts and the FEMALE castration surgery is a type of punishment?
– Please also tell us what it is exactly in your many years of medical training and Certification which allows you to claim otherwise, in the case of women?
COPY
PANAMA CITY, Fla. — A confessed rapist has agreed to be castrated in a plea deal that could save him from a life prison sentence.
Bobby James Allen pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of armed sexual battery and various other charges involving attacks that happened in 1998 and 1999. Allen filed a motion requesting castration in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet agreed to sentence Allen to 25 years’ prison on Sept. 20 if has the procedure in the next eight days. If Allen does not go through with the operation, he faces up to life in prison.
“You understand that this procedure is the removal of your testicles?” Overstreet asked Allen.
Allen said he wanted to be castrated.
“I have spoken with all the victims,” prosecutor Larry Basford told Overstreet. “They agree that this sentence punishes him and would deter him and others from similar acts.”
Allen would be classified as a dangerous sexual offender and must serve every day of his 25-year sentence, prosecutors said.
please help.me antidepressants and hormones have not helped. they just made me fatter. just feel depressed and bitchy all the time. can’t sleep. hate being on all different types of pills and none work. feel like i have multiple personalities. was not like this until had total hystperectomy. i have been messed up ever since.thank you
Dear Male In Michigan, Why did your wife have her thyroid removed? Not only is she dealing with all the after-effects of her hysterectomy, but now has to deal with losing her thyroid.
Ladies, BE AWARE after your hysterectomy and castration of other removal of organs. A lady doctor wanted to removed my parathyroids because I had too much iron in my blood. I looked at her and said NO! She then preceeded to tell me I would die if I didn’t have them removed. I said I know the side effects of removing your parathyroids. That was 15 years ago and I am still here.
Always know the side-effects of any surgery just like having a hysterectomy and castration. Then you decide, not the doctor.
The surgical abuse on women is barbaric and every woman and their family can help by signing the petition to stop unnecessary hysterectomy and castration on women. We are easily talked into having surgeries because we put too much trust in our doctor.
I feel like I cannot get out of bed! I had a complete hystorectory 2 yrs. ago and it is BAD!!! Please HelP!
i had a hysterectomy when i was 21 years old. now i would like to know what i can do to help myself. i don’t feel like a woman or care if i have sex. i’m just 29 years old and this is causing trouble in my marriage. is there something i can take to feel more like haveing sex. i get so depressed. with this.i never relized all this was normal with this now i don’t feel alone. but now i want to get better. please help me.
Dear Male in Mich,
It is not that your wife does not ‘want’ intimate or social interaction with you or with the public, respectively. It is that she is unable to do so due to the sex-organ surgeries you described earlier on this blog site.
Sorry, but I do not agree with you that she is possibly going through ‘menopause’.
Menopause is the natural process women go through when they are intact and still have all their sex organs. Your wife, from your earlier descriptions on this blog, has had sex-organ surgery. She is therefore suffering the devastating consequences of this, and not ‘menopause’, which is a natural process
What your wife is suffering from is the loss of vital organs amputated from her body, which is permanent.
I am 60 years old and had my ovaries, uterus, cervix amputated 36 years ago. I assume I have passed the age when women are considered to experience ‘menopause’ in the natural, intact, aging process.
I can tell you from my own experience that our post-surgery disabilities only worsen, and increase in every respect, with age.
In many respects, we are dependent on everyone and everything to survive, as young infants are, when these vital organs have been removed. We are unable to care for ourselves, as we have lost very essential body parts which makes us no longer able to be ‘normal’ in any respect.
Please do not expect your wife to change. It is out of her control since having this surgery.
I hope that the more you are able to convince and show her that you do love her in word and deed, that this will comfort her and aid her to get through this devastating ordeal, which is affecting the lives of everyone in her family.
You must be a very caring and loving person to be so concerned about your wife and family.
With every good wish to you.
Dear Wife Of the Male In Michigan, You have a wonderful husband that is willing to stick by your side. You really need to realize that if you don’t do something good for yourself, it will not only destroy you, but your whole family. I know how hard it is, but it has been six years and now it is time to get yourself healthy mentally and physically. We all know this isn’t easy and that you will never be the same as before your surgery, but there are things you can do that will help you.
Please get ahold of the Hers Foundation and see what they can do for you. There are many after-effects of a hysterectomy and castration and we all are dealing with them the best we know how.
Something tragic has happen to you just like the rest of the women writing on this blog, but please for the sake of you, your husband and the rest of your family, let us help you.
The Hers Foundation has phone numbers and emails of women that are willing to talk to you and help you deal with what has happen to you. Do not try to go through this by youself. It helps to talk with women who understands what you are going through. I am not sure I would still be here if it wasn’t for finding the Hers Foundation several years after my surgery. You definitely need someone to talk to other than your husband who is there for you and is very understanding, but doesn’t know the pain both physically and mentally you are going through.
male in mich.
My worst fear is unfolding in my life. My wife has given up on our marriage. While we may still remain legally married for the financial benefits she is devoid of caring about our relationship. I am beside myself trying to deal with this issue. She is over 6 years post op and it has changed her immensely. She dismisses intimate contact of any kind, all the other symtoms of hysterecomized women have surfaced and manifested her behavior. Mood swings, hot flashes, temper flare ups, TOTAL loss of libido, substantial weight gain, complete lack of desire for social interaction, you name it she has it. Her doctor refuses to provide additional help and she accepts it. I cannot convince her to seek other help, she just blames me for being cruel and not understanding. I know full well of what has happened but she ridicules me when I try to be understanding. She says I’m just placating her. Since her surgery she has had a complete removal of her thyroid, and I am living with a women who has been going through menopause for 6 years. How long does menopause usually last? As I’ve asked before I wonder what the statistics are showing about hysterectomy and divorce rates. I’ll stand by my wife even if she doesn’t care anymore, after all over 35 years together has a permenant effect on me.
Thank You for what you’re doing. I am a 42 year old that had a hystoryectomy due to endeometriosis, and the history of ovarian cancer is my family. If I knew then what I know now…I would rather face the cancer. I was not informed of the changes that would affect my life, and I DID ask!
I feel that my whole personna as a person has changed, and there is no one to give me the answers that I need. Is there something that I can do to make me “who I was before?”
after my hysterectomy six yrs ago it seems my sex drive has gone completely.I could always take it or leave it but now its nothing there.No feelings or desire to have sex.They say things change or you might go through a depression but i did neither.When i ask my reg. doctor about it,he would always say get a sexy nightgown and a bottle of wine and soft music.That wasn’t the answer I need.I’m 42 yrs old now and i want to know whats going on. I’m involved with someone and tired of the question,why don’t you ever want sex? Any help in the RIGHT DIRECTION would be appreciated.Thanks so much for your help.
post-supracervical hysterectomy and ovaries due to endometriosis and fibroids and adenomyosis 2 years ago. Surgery followed by nine months Lupron with estrogen therapy, then estrogen replacement therapy. After a year on ERT I had significant swelling in ankles so my doctor said don’t take it. However, SEVERE abdominal pressure and stomach problems persist,). Actually, the constipation, stomach issues and necessary diet restrictions have been relentless, before surgery and post – still, even now 2 years after my supracervical total hysterectomy. Had a colonoscopy a few months ago which was negative for any colon cancer. So, what is related to the hysterectomy? How safe is hormone therapy after hysterectomy to 37 year old?
THANK YOU for ANY info and direction.
To Anonymous of 07-08 at 9:39, you said it all so well! It’s ludicrous that anyone could think that such a major damaging surgery is no big deal, but these doctors have done an excellent job of fooling the American public. They make it sound like the uterus and ovaries are just floating around in your belly aimlessly and you just pop them out like a stem on an apple. These surgical predators are very clever at keeping the truth hidden. They are a bunch of very clever and intelligent criminals. They manipulate and coerce women to agree to it in the privacy of their office, and even though teenage girls have posted on this blog not knowing why they were hysterectomized, we never hear from the ACOG, or any gynecologist. They know what they are doing, and if they didn’t, they would be posting here to defend themselves. A normal human being with ethics and empathy would be horrified when reading this blog, but even though the ACOG has the nerve to say “doctors have devoted their life to women’s healthcare,” if they really believed it, they would have addressed this blog a long time ago. The ACOG remains silent because they have no defense.
To Anonymous of 7-8-08, 8:17am
I understand and fully agree with your comment that there is nothing else to be compared with the abuse these deceitful gynecologists are carrying out on their innocent, unsuspecting female patients.
The ‘confidential’ nature of their profession could be closely compared to that of a priest or pastor, someone who is supposed to be trustworthy and truthful.
Their abuse is then compounded by the fact that they try persuading you after this surgery that you are ‘fine’ and that all your post surgery problems are not real and not even related to your sex-organ surgery.
They even convince your family and the public that this surgery is no big deal and that you shouldn’t be having any problems!
So, you are left defenseless and helpless and everyone is blind to your plight. Everyone feels you are being unreasonable by claiming you have the health problems that you have, and which physical, mental, emotional, and financial devastation are all reasonably predictable after-effects from this surgery.
May God help us all.
This is far worse than a car accident. The only thing that’s similar is the shock. No no, this is like being abducted, tortured, mutilated and then freed, and the whole world telling you it’s okay. There is nothing to compare this to. Nothing.
Whoa! Remember gynecologists have removed the female sex organs from 1/3 of the Female American Population (our sisters in humanity) by deceit. If I would have read any of the information on this blog when I was intact, I would have run for my life, I would have never seen a gynecologist again. I would have seen an Internist, Homeopathic doctor or Naturopathic doctor. In my opinion seeing a gynecologist for a check-up is useless and dangerous if they can get you under anesthesia with their legal lies. This trickery by gynecologist surgeons is legal insanity.
Women are going to gynecologists every day for care, they are letting a serial mutilator (with legal clearance) deliver their child, a mentally unstable attacker is delivering their child and the women don’t even know it. A serial mutilator delivered my child and I didn’t know it, how gross.
Handle with care.
Mattie
To Gayle of July 7, 2008, 2:55pm
Re your comment: ‘My insurance plan doesn’t offer unlimited options.’
If the current medical industry was able to help its patients prevent cancer or help to control it or even cure it, (along with the other major diseases), then one could justify continuing to pay monthly health insurance premiums.
Current statistics reveal that cancer and other major illnesses are all on the rise and the death toll continues to rise from these diseases. So this means you are paying health insurance premiums to seek advice from medical professionals who claim to be able to help you with these diseases and the statistics do not prove this to be true.
What’s wrong with this picture?
If you are willing to take the time to read every blog on this site carefully, you will see where there are several alternatives to the routine medical industry suggestions. There are other good alternatives to what the average doctor will tell you.
Please take the time and effort to investigate some of the alternative websites mentioned here, and other suggested reading materials where you will find alternatives mentioned. These are only suggestions made by caring bloggers.
Congratulations on exercising your right to independent thought. Please continue your courageous path in doing so. Please do not let any blogger or doctor or anyone else choose your medical path for you. It is your life and you get to choose your own path. You may be ill at this time from your medical condition. However, you are also an intelligent human being, capable of reason and logical thought.
If I had not been so young at the time of my sex-organ surgery, and if my Mother had not been deceased at that time, and if I had had access to the internet and the ‘alternate’ health information, I would not be today wishing I were dead.
My health insurance paid for my sex-organ surgeries to the extent agreed to in their policy, no questions asked. The outcome of that decision I made, based on false information from my medical doctors at the time, does not change the permanent outcome for me. My decision can not be reversed now, nor can my poor health and acute misery be altered. My surgery was life altering and permanent. I was not forewarned of these miserable details by my doctors, who used cancer scare tactics to force a ‘quick’ decision from me, based on misinformation from them, to proceed that same week, with the surgery.
I lost my life in many respects due to my sex-organ surgeries. I hope and pray that you find a better outcome than I did. I hope you do not allow the ‘monetary’ considerations to guide you. It is a fools paradise to suggest that the cheapest is the best, when life-altering medical decisions are being considered. Just my opinion.
I’m glad to find this site because it’s given me the strength to stand up to doctors over the years and refuse surgery. Just last week I went in for an check-up ultrasound and the doctor told me my tumor was huge (wouldn’t say how huge) and that he would do an immediate surgery with another doctor in town who specializes in gyn cancer. When I tried to speak to him about why he felt I needed a cancer doctor and what alternatives existed and my concerns about the loss of my organs, he wouldn’t let me get a word in and kept saying “You don’t know what you’re talking about”, over and over. Needless to say, I left the office in tears and then anger set in and now I don’t know what to do. I have an appointment with my family doctor, but he’s told me over the years that I “don’t need that anymore” so why not get rid of it? The pressure is enormous (more than the pressure from my fibroid) and it’s really hard to take. You can research all you want over the internet about alternatives, but if your doctors won’t discuss them, what can be done? My insurance plan doesn’t offer unlimited options.
Your doctor/gynecologist is supposed to be someone whom you can confide in and trust.
If you were in an abusive family situation, you are supposed to be able to confide this to your doctor and they, as far as I know, are duty bound to try to help you or direct you where to seek help. You do not expect your doctor to be the one to abuse you by amputating your sex organs without your consent (as mentioned in some cases on this blog) or without fully informing you before seeking your consent for these surgeries.
This is why we women who post on this blog are so shocked, surprised and horrified. We want to warn other women that our doctors have lied to us. How can anyone view this as being judgmental? This is being truthful and caring about other women and their families.
We victims did not expect our doctors and gynecologists to lie to us because we TRUSTED them. We are telling our stories about their betrayal of our trust in them. We are being truthful and not judgmental, there is a big difference.
The innocent women seeking help on this blog, who have not yet had this surgery, also do not expect their doctor/gynecologist to lie to them.
All we ask for (by signing the HERS Petition) is for legislation that will mandate that every doctor/gynecologist fully and truthfully inform their patients before these sex-organ surgeries and that the doctors use the HERS DVD video to provide that information.
This is not being judgmental. This is being caring and compassionate toward our fellow man and woman.
I am only 26 years old and had a hysterectomy a year ago. I had a scare the other day with a possible small stroke. My neurologist and gynecologist is thinkning I should stay off of all hormones. I have lost sex, energy, and don’t ever feel like doing things. I just want to stay home and I don’t want to see any one. How can I cope with the side effects?
I have had a hysterectomy and was never told of the negative consequences. I have completely lost my sexual drive and it has destroyed my relatinship with my boyfriend and has caused both of us mental anguish to where we had to seek counseling…I would really like to file a lawsuit against the doctors and the hospital for not givng me full informed consent of what was going to happen but I talked to three lawyers who pretty much agree that women can’t win informed consent lawsuits. It’s so unbelievable that doctors get away with doing this to women. My life has been completely destroyed.
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WAY TO GO HERS FOUNDATION FOR INFORMING WOMEN ABOUT THE ALTERNATIVE SURGERIES AND THE AFTER-EFFECTS OF HAVING A HYSTERECTOMY/CASTRATION!
To the woman with ovarian cancer risks and fibroids. This site is women writing about their experiences after having a hysterectomy/castration.
I have not read anything on here that bashes women who have confirmed cancer and need to have the surgery. We are informing you and other women that removing their sex organs without being informed of alternative surgeries or the after-effects should be a crime, wouldn’t you agree? The majority of us, including myself, were only told we would be the same, our sex life would stay the same and life would be great! This is not true.
You can’t do research if you don’t know what you are researching for. When you find a blog site such as this, you can then proceed to do your researching on this surgery and know the alternative choices we have. I only wished I would have been so lucky as you to have found a blog site such as this before I was castrated.
20 years ago, I had a pea-sized fibroid and was told by my doctor that it would turn to cancer if not removed. Not knowing enough about my body and not having a computer to find anything on hysterectomy and relying on the one person you should be able to trust with your health and body, I was easily talked into having this surgery.
When you were once a vibrant, energetic and happy person full of life and now you are just trying to survive each day, wouldn’t you want to inform other women?
If after reading what women have written on here, you go ahead and have the surgery, then we are still here to help you deal with the after-effects that will happen to your body.
We all understand that if you have confirmed cancer and only then, you will need surgery. But, if you don’t have confirmed cancer like most of us writing on here, then we are saying please get informed and know the consequences of having your healthy organs removed.
THIS BLOG IS TO INFORM YOU WHAT OTHER WOMEN ARE EXPERIENCING. THE HERS FOUNDATION IS TO HELP YOU FIND THE CORRECT INFORMATION YOU NEED TO MAKE THE BEST DECISION WHETHER TO HAVE THE SURGERY OR NOT.
Please keep reading so you are informed to help other women. This is what we are trying to do. We will not deceive you, but your gynecologist will and they do it for money.
To Gracie and all the honest women here,
thank you I just wish I had found this web site before, it’s too late for me now. your website is most the most educational website in terms of providing quantifiable information on the adverse effects of a hysterectomy. But it doesn’t say what women can and should do when experiencing these many adverse affects. It would be most helpful if you tell us how to remedy these side effects. Please help me. I so desperately want to restore some of what was lost after my hysterectomy. I am experiencing several of the adverse affects you have listed in your study.
thank god for your website and this blog because if help me to understand what and why I am having the problems that I am having, but also further validated the lack of education I was provided prior to my procedure that would have helped me to determine if the procedure was even necessary. I had a partial hysterectomy keeping ovaries and cervix for fibroids. It was very hard on my body. I need some help in coping with the severe memory loss both long and short term and the emotional issues and other issues. Please help. thanks
I had a complete hysterectomy in May 2003 and now am being treated for anxiety and depression, panic attacks, and I feel like a different person, now withdrawn, severe personality changes, no sexual desire, confusion, can’t sleep, etc…Doctors won’t acknowledge it’s surgically related, I’ve been referred to a psychiatrist and I’m furious! Your site confirms what I’ve thought all along! I am 42, professional, employed full-time used to be very competent and out-going, this is not me! How should I proceed? Thank you so much!
Every man and woman in the country needs to have this information and soon. I can’t even begin to know how the young women on the blog 21, 23 and even 33, are handling that they were lied to and de-sexed so heinously. They were then lied to after, and then the evil gets even worse, there is no cure and the so called doctor who cut her sex organs out with blatant lies tries to convince her she is mentally loosing it, calling it mourning the loss of her uterus and saying she is not coping, it is so cruel and so rampant.
This is how I see it, none of the gynecologist don’t know what sex organ amputation/hysterectomy causes, hysterectomy/castration abuse is a national emergency.
Mattie
I would like to know why hysterectomy is consistently recommended for fibroids when there are much safer alternatives which leave a woman intact? Why would any woman want to have all the damage of having their body parts amputated and losing their sex organs when it is clearly not necessary? Why would any woman want an increased risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, and dementia by having these body parts removed when it’s not necessary?
Li,
You can read more about fibroids by clicking on the link at the top right of this page “Fibroids, you never need a hysterectomy for fibroids”.
The fibroid Post tells you when fibroids grow, how large you can expect them to be at certain ages, and what to do if they cause symptoms that you feel you can’t live with.
To anonymous July 3, 1:40.
I have a question. If you are at risk for cancer wouldn’t an oncologist gynecologist be a better doctor to see? That kind of doctor specializes in cancer. Why would anyone who might have cancer go to a regular gynecologist? If you call Hers, at least you will get the truth and your options. You have nothing to loose by calling. Doctor are to quick to jump into surgery. The doctors lie to get you into surgery. They use the word cancer to scare patients into surgery. Cancer is a serious problem, but doctor use it to much as a scare tactic.
To Li
I have run across this also where the only thing doctor want is to have a hysterectomy. This is where they make the most money on you. It is hard to find a doctor who will do the right thing for a patient. Keep looking or call hers to see if there is a doctor in your area.
What I don’t understand is why hysterectory is still a worldwide treatment for fibroids if it is so terrible.I have fibroids,and all the doctors recommended hysterectomy. It seems that I am demanding something impossible if I say “No” to hysterectomy,since I was told that my fibroids are very large.
To anonymous with ovarian cancer risk and fibroids,
You have at two important issues that you mentioned in your first email.
1) You have fibroids “so large you can see it”. If you have a fibroid that is pedunculated, that is growing on a long stalk that is the blood supply from the fibroid to the uterus, if it is in front of the uterus you will be able to see the outline of the fibroid and feel it. Fibroids that are pedunculated are the easiest to remove, no matter what their size, because they just get snipped off the stalk, which is then cauterized. But fibroid of any size, of any number, and in any location can be removed by myomectomy, which is surgical removal of fibroids leaving the uterus intact. The only time fibroids can’t be removed is when the doctor doesn’t have the skill. If you would like to know how to find a gynecologist who has consistently good outcomes performing myomectomies contact HERS at 610.667.7757.
2) You said in your second email that you have an 80% risk of ovarian cancer. I’m sure that’s a scary statistic to live with, but it’s important to know that prophylactic removal of the ovaries in ovarian cancer prone families often does not confer protection from developing cancer in the pelvis that is indistinguishable from ovarian cancer. HERS would be glad to send you medical journal articles about conservative treatment of ovarian cancer, just call the number listed above.
HERS does not tell women what to do, we provide information to help women make a fully informed decision. We support women making the decision they feel is best for them after they have been fully informed.
I suggest that toward that goal of becoming fully informed that watch the short educational video “Female Anatomy: the Functions of the Female Organs” at http://www.hersfoundation.org/anatomy
I disagree with your characterization of women who post their post-hysterectomy experiences on this blog. They post their experiences not because they are angry or bitter, but because they want women like you who are faced with this important decision to have all of the information you need to make a fully informed decision. They have generously decided to share publicly how hysterectomy and castration has ruined their bodies, ruined their health, and ruined their lives. It is a generous and courageous act to tell the truth about what this has done to them, and they have nothing to gain except the knowledge that being absolutely open and truthful about their experiences will help other women understand that this is a permanently life-altering surgery. They should be applauded, not condemned as bitter or angry, for caring enough about the next generation of women to do everything within their power to stop this from being done to them.
People like Rick Schweikert are not telling you what to do, they are sounding the alarm to alert you to the permanency of a damaging surgery. None of us has “the answer” for anyone else, but we have factual information to offer that is helpful in making a difficult decision such as the one you are struggling with.
I am the woman that posted about the site and blog topic advising against hysterectomies, but not offering suggestions to alternatives… my comment is to Rick Schweikert… first, I didn’t say “fear” of ovarian cancer, I said “risk”… if were simply a fear, I’d deal with it. I have 2 siblings that have had ovarian cancer, I have had one ovary removed due to a cyst that showed signs of cancer. I have a CA125 blood test and internal utrasound every 3 months to examine the one ovary I have remaining, which has a cyst on it now. Currently, it does not look suspect, but when it does, it will have to go. Because of my family history, my risk of having ovarian cancer in my lifetime is up 80%. I also have a fibroid…which I see that you dismiss that it is nothing… I am 120lb woman, the fibroid is the size of a small grapefruit.. you can imagine the damage it is doing to my body with that weight on my organs. When I run/workout I have blood in my urine for days and am in constant pain from. It cannot be removed because of where it is located. So, before you brush off someone’s condition as not being informed or not having done research, you need to give consideration that perhaps they HAVE done research for alternative, or perhaps they HAVE ligitimate reasons to consider a hysterectomy.
It sickens me that women would come here for help, when all they get is bashing and assumptions that they are stupid. Think outside of your little box and see that there may be reasons where this horrible surgery is necesary. Let’s see… cancer or my uterus and ovaries… not a difficult decision to chose life. I see that you guys are miserable and not happy with the path that was chose for you, but I don’t see where it has made any of you sympathetic to anyone that may have no other choice. You’ve all become bitter and judgemental… say what you want… you don’t know until you live my life kinda story… well back at ya. In fact, you don’t know what people are going through when they come to this site for help… but you sure are quick to judge and criticize.
Please keep in mind that while it is sad that none of you are happy, there are some women who are faced with hysterecomy being a fact. Both my sisters had to have them due to cancer… I wouldn’t recommend this site to them for anything… talk about kicking people when they are down.
I’m sorry for all of you… but Good God, you could do a good service, but instead you use this forum to criticize others. This will be my last visit here…. this offered no help, only judgement. I have enough of that in my life already!
To all the women out there looking for help… I recommend getting off this blod. Misery loves company!
What I find even more disturbing than the predator lying surgeons, are the other people who stand by and watch this cruelty, from the hospital staff to our government and major media.
Do you have any information on the effects on the sex drive that hysterectomy’s have and what I can do about it??? My doctor says he never heard it before. He should read what the women write in here.
Regarding the comment a few days ago from “anonymous” about this blog only saying hysterectomy damages women without talking about alternatives, there are several reasons for this. First, anyone can make an appointment for a counseling call to HERS where alternatives are discussed. But most hysterectomies are performed on women who have no medical problem at all. Endometriosis, for example, is misdiagnosed 9 out of 10 times and hysterectomy is medically unwarranted 98 times out of 100, so before treatment should be discussed, the condition must be verified. For those women who do have a verified condition, the alternatives of course vary according to the condition. The only condition you mention is fibroids, while the fear cancer risk that you mentioned isn’t a condition, but a fear. I’ll address both.
To learn about fibroids and some treatment options, visit https://hersfoundation.org/anatomy/index.html and watch the anatomy video. If you have technical difficulties watching it, you can download the text to the right of the viewing screen. In short, fibroids are benign–by definition they can’t ever become cancerous, they shrink and calcify at menopause, and most women who have them never know it. The best treatment option is to do nothing, but if they are causing severe problems, then the options mentioned in the video (depending on how close you are to menopause and the size and location of the fibroids) are the least invasive.
Regarding the fear of cancer, if you want to start removing parts of your body because they might one day become cancerous, you’d first have to start with your breasts (the leading cause of cancer in women), then your colon, then your lungs, and you’d have to go a long ways down the list before you got to your sex organs. For example, the incidence of cancer in the male sex organs is nearly identical to the incidence of cancer in the female sex organs, but removal of male organs is statistically insignificant.
The HERS website–from the medical journal articles to the anatomy video–is a wonderful and vast library of factual information. It’s difficult to find any other source of reliable information. As this blog demonstrates, most hospital and government websites talk about the alleged benefits of hysterectomy and the latest medical moneymaker alternatives that are very damaging (such as embolization and ablation), while HERS provides information women need to make informed decisions.
“They agree that this sentence punishes him and would deter him and others from similar acts.”
Good to know that the gynecologist surgeon who mutilated me and de-sexed me for profit by deceit is punishing me too, it sure feels like a punishment to be hysterectomized/castrated?.
What are these gynecologist surgeons really getting out of harming a women so heinously? The only answer to this question is that the perpetrator of a hysterectomization is gaining some kind of warped satisfaction by harming a women and her loved ones, similar to a sexual predator. It is abuse at it’s most heinous level to amputate a women’s sexual organs by deceit with a doctor’s authority legally.
It is considered a severe punishment for a convicted male sexual predator when a man is castrated by American law. This is more evidence of the cruelty and perpetration of the many OB/GYN Predators legally abusing women by the millions.
All of HERS correct medical information, testimonies of hysterectomized women and examples of the deceit are not enough to make the hysterectomy abuse of women illegal in America. Oh no, it has been perpetuated for so long legally that the medical and legal communities of this country don’t know how to end it without discrediting their esteemed collegues.
How about this known fact, castration as punishment, is this enough?
Good work CT, you are doing a very good job helping to get to the bottom of the legal crime of hysterectomizing women in America.
CT so let me get this right from what you wrote. A rapist who is a criminal got caught at his crime and was informed, and consented to castration? But yet we are not informed of the castration and we are not criminals but yet it is a criminal act.
You have on here “They agree that this sentence punishes him and would deter him and others from similar acts.” So being castrated is a punishment? CT you have a very good point.
This convicted rapist has more rights to informed consent for castration than any of the millions of innocent women who have been castrated without being informed in any way.
PANAMA CITY, Fla. — A confessed rapist has agreed to be castrated in a plea deal that could save him from a life prison sentence.
Bobby James Allen pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of armed sexual battery and various other charges involving attacks that happened in 1998 and 1999. Allen filed a motion requesting castration in exchange for a reduced sentence.
Circuit Judge Michael Overstreet agreed to sentence Allen to 25 years’ prison on Sept. 20 if has the procedure in the next eight days. If Allen does not go through with the operation, he faces up to life in prison.
“You understand that this procedure is the removal of your testicles?” Overstreet asked Allen.
Allen said he wanted to be castrated.
“I have spoken with all the victims,” prosecutor Larry Basford told Overstreet. “They agree that this sentence punishes him and would deter him and others from similar acts.”
Allen would be classified as a dangerous sexual offender and must serve every day of his 25-year sentence, prosecutors said.
Dear Anonymous of 7-1-08, 2:59 pm
I sense your frustration. I feel your pain.
I do not think anyone on this blog has said ‘DO NOT GET A HYSTERECTOMY’. I have read every blog posting from the first day this blog started, and I have not read any that said that.
What I have read here, and indeed posted myself, is that I do not recommend it, speaking from my own personal experience of being castrated and hysterectomized 36 years ago. I have learnt enough from my suffering, to know that I would rather have died at the time of my surgery, than to have lived the existence I have had to endure since that time. I do not have a life now, I merely exist from day to day, creating more and more hardships for my family and loved ones who can’t figure out what is wrong with me. I try to explain. However, the medical profession has done a great job of hiding the facts, and therefore this only adds to the misery for everyone concerned.
The medical profession lied to me, deceived me into agreeing to the surgery using the usual cancer scare.
I strongly suggest you research the topics of the particular personal health issues you are dealing with and include some ‘alternate healing modalities’ in your research.
I have found answers and solutions which are available in books and online and through sharing information with others, but that information is too late for me now.
The research will take up a lot of your time. There are no ‘quick fixes’ to be found. The ‘surgery quick-fix’ solution is the sales pitch the doctors use in suggesting your problems will dissappear after the surgery.
If you will read all the postings on this blog, you will find leads and lots of helpful suggestions.
It is now up to YOU to take charge of YOUR life and not allow anyone, not even the bloggers or doctors to tell you what to do.
It is YOUR life and however much control you have over your life now, I give you one guarantee you will lose more control over your life, post hysterectomy as each day passes. That is what I can give you a guarantee on.
Also, I would definitely contact the HERS Foundation for their help, if you really want help, and you are genuine about your search.
HERS are in a position to help you (perhaps more than any doctor can) because you will be able to speak personally with people who can talk from personal experience.
Can your doctor do that?
Should you decide to proceed with your hysterectomy without the truth and reliable information upon which to base your ‘informed’ consent, you are likely to end up like the rest of us on this blog.
EVEN MORE FRUSTRATED THAN YOU ARE NOW.
Okay, I’ve read these posts over and over and all of them are of the same nature. I’m a woman facing a hysterectomy and you say don’t do it… but you don’t say what to do then. What do you do about ovarian cancer risk? What do you do about a fibroid tumor that is so large you can see it? You say what is bad to do, but do you have suggetions for these things then since you are telling women NOT to get a hysterectomy?
Is there any positive that can come out of a hysterectomy. It has ruined my life. I was 37 and was not properly informed or I would have NEVER let them take my ovaries if I knew how much I would suffer with fibrositis, chronic fatigue, dizziness and 5 years of going from doctor to doctor to find someone with a brain to help. Why can’t they get my hormones balanced? Is their any doctors that you know of that can help?
To TQ of June 29, 2008 6:35 PM
WOW! Thank you for your words of truth and wisdom.
As a castrated and hysterectomized woman, your words ring loud and clear, and so true with me.
There are many women who have posted with the same question, “where do I find help”. Unfortunately, no one can answer that question as the underlying answer would be one that restored your health.
From the blog, you can see that women have tried everything, denial, hormones, supplements, staying in a relationship, getting out of a relationship, anti-depressants, other doctor recommended treatments from a multitude of diagnosis that don’t include “results from hysterectomy”.
– you can not cry enough
– you can not scream enough
– you can not rage enough
– you can not take enough hormones, pills, potions, patches, etc. to reverse what was done and its consequences
Some things that you can do:
– contact HERS and purchase their past-issue newsletters and medical articles; this provides a foundation of research needed in order to have some understanding of what has happened
– try and attend HERS conference, so that you can benefit from the technical information presented and the shared experiences of other women, and for much needed validation
– support the current petitiion effort for the HAVE law, by adding your signature and any family, friends, co-workers, etc. you share this information with
– get a copy of the HERS Teleplay and view the Female Anatomy DVD
– surround yourself with the best nutritional, supplemental, probiotic and environmental support you can afford; while not a cure, goes a long way in providing you much needed resources
Facing the realities of hysterectomy consequences, talking to other women, and working to stop the unjust practices in place that deny women informed consent will go a long way in supporting your mental health.
You will need this support as your functional life hemorrhages out of your control. As love ones, seem to turn a blind eye. As the legal, medical, govenmental, etc. communities seem unable to assist in any effective manner.
The one thing that I’ve noticed is that anything that would be healthful, in general, will be helpful. But due to the damage from the surgery – it will not be as helpful as it is for an intact woman.
You will need to wrap your brain around the fact that it’s real easy for doctor’s to understand what’s been done. If the nervous system depressing and memory impairing drugs/anethesia isn’t enough, if the lost of pelvic integrity and female functional losses isn’t enough – there’s the before hormone profile and the after, there’s the before immune system status and the after, there’s the before physical structures and then there’s the after…..
There’s the woman before and the shell after…see, no mystery here.
I had a hysterectomy in 1998 and an oophorectomy in 2000. I have almost no sexual funtion left at all. I’m on no hormone therapy and I don’t want to feel this old and tired all the time. My Doctor put me on Prozac for the depression and Triazidon to help me sleep. Would anything help me get off some of the other drugs? Please, help. I’m desperate. I can’t live like this.
have been dealing with the effects of a total hystrectomy since 2004 i am 33 this year, and having some many dificulties unable to take
the replacemnt estrogen as it gave me migraines, so many problems since the loss of intimacy in my marriage is very bad, my husband even
thratening to leave me im very sad any help would be apreciated, thank you
i am 40 i have had a complete hysterectomy i am on hormone replacement estretest it is not working my husband is wanting a divorce i can no longer respond to intimite details in our relationship please give me some advice i don’t want to loose my family
Did you know that it is considered “cruel and unusual punishment” by the supreme court for a serial rapist to be castrated? Did you know that a law was just passed banning the execution of child rapists?
Yet every single day, thousands of women are legally castrated without their knowledge or FULLY INFORMED CONSENT of the consequences and risks. Healthy ovaries are being cut out of women for such idiotic reasons as… “at your age you dont need your ovaries any more”, “this way you will be cured of endometriosis”, “to prevent any possibility of ovarian cancer” (when many of these women have no family history of ovarian cancer and their chances of getting it are like 1% as compared to a much higher possibility of breast cancer due to needing hormone replacement to try to replace the loss of ovarian hormones).
Countless studies have proven that women who are castrated are at much higher risk for heart disease, osteoporosis, alzeimers, and generally have a shorter life span. Some women even die on the operating table. Legal execution of women, insideously carried out.
What is wrong with this picture…that a rapist has more rights than average law abiding women? Why is the sex organ of a male, even a rapist, so much more important than that of a female? Why is female castration accepted as standard medical practice? Think about it…
survivor (so far) of castration
In April ’04 I had a hysterectomy. Left ovaries in tact. Afterwords I felt great for about a month. I have steadily gained about 2 pounds per month. My bowels still aren’t right, no interest in sex. Always cold during day and hot flash at bedtime. Increasing getting depressed from weight gain etc. Frustrated because I faithfully drink 8-10 glasses water per day, exercise 5 days a week and eat fruit and veggies. This is more than I have done BEFORE surgery, if anything I should be losing weight. Could the surgery even with leaving my ovaries start kicking me in to menepause? I am 39years old. I’m at my wits end and need help/answers.
I am a 37-year old woman who had a total hysterectomy a year and a half ago. I went through it very badly and am still dealing with the effects of the hysterectomy. I don’t know what to do now.
In a book I am reading The Ultimate Rape; What Every Woman Should Know About Hysterectomies and Ovarian Removal by Elizabeth L. Plourde, C.L.S, M.A.
On page103 and 104 it reads
“Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) is a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland which controls the release of hormones from the thyroid gland. It is one of the hormones monitored to assess how the thyroid gland is functioning. Estrogen is known to enhance the response of TSH. By creating estrogen deprivation, hysterectomies could lead to a loss of this enhancement. Since a normal functioning thyroid is essential for maintaining optimal body weight, this may be one way hysterectomies disrupt the body’s basic metabolism.”
I thought this might help in understanding of some of the problems that are faced by a hysterectomy. Just a thought.
I had a complete hysterectomy 2 years ago for bleeding fibroids and since then I have gained 50lbs, it seems the less I eat with light excersing, the more weight I gain. I also have bladder problems when I cough or sneeze I leak pee a bit, what options are there for me? And yes, I don’t even have a sex drive, I feel tired and ugly at all times. Please help with any advice. Thank you!!!!
I am 27 and had a hysterectomy 1 1/2 years ago, I am radically different, personality, sexually, it is insane. I am glad there is a foundation like this. Is there a way to recover? I am in costant agony mentally, I just dont feel ok anywhere anymore. I am not the same woman I was.
I had a hysterectomy in June of 2003. I have gained over 32 pounds since having this surgery. Would the hormones that you take after this surgery play a big role in weight gain? I feel that my life has done nothing but go down hill since I had this surgery.
Finally I know I’m not crazy. I’m so sorry I had my hysterectomy and bilateral oophrectomy a year ago. I’m just starting to feel like my old self. I am not the person I was before my surgery. I have a vaginal discharge that I didn’t have before. I have severe tinnitus in my left ear that no one has been able to explain why I have it or how I can get rid of it. I have arthritis now. I gained 30 pounds. I have terrible hot flashes. My husband says he “misses me”. I never leave my house except to go to work. I’m a registered nurse. My friends also say they :miss me”. What can I do? Thanks for listening. I honestly thought for a while that I was losing my mind.
My big concern is that i gained so much weight after i had my hysterectomy . i went from 152 pounds to 221 pounds in 17 months and i can not stand myself .please help me with any idea’s
I’m 27 yrs old and was told that I had a possible ovarian cancer tumor on my ovary. I was told that if they had to they would only take one ovary but would take everything if they needed to. They gave me a full hysterectomy and later I found out they didn’t need to do that, there was no cancer. Now I can not get any help for my mood swings and I don’t like sex any more.
Theresa, thanks for signing the petition. If you know anyone else who will sign it, pass it on. A friend suggested also that it might help you to take Omega 3, 6, 9, and to try water exercises and get to a whirlpool if you can. It might alleviate some of your pain. It’s criminal that a doctor did that to you at such a young age. We are about the same age now. I was hysterectomized and castrated less than two years ago. Before that, I didn’t have any health problems to speak of. I was generally healthy and looked very young. I was strong able to do everything I had done all my life. Now I am weak, all my joints and bones hurt and my skin has lost it’s elasticity. I feel like I’ve aged 30 years in one year. I’ve had constant lower abdominal pain, skin problems, fatigue, insomnia, severe hot flashes, night sweats, short-term memory loss, etc. Every day is a struggle. I wouldn’t wish this torture on anyone. Let us know how you are doing. Your posts help other women understand what happens after this surgery so that they can avoid it. No one is telling the truth but the HERS Foundation and this blog. There is a link near the top of this blog titled “What you can do”. It has suggestions about what you can do to bring about awareness to help stop this from happening to other women. Hugs.
To CT,
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you said, it means so much to me. Thank you. I signed the petition and I want to help do anything I can.
Theresa
Theresa, your story is heartbreaking like many of the other posts on here. Thank you for posting the truth. I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through at such a young age. It is very difficult to live this way and there are a lot of women who have thought of suicide after this has been done to them. I have many times. If men were castrated at the same rate, no doubt our country would see a massive amount of suicides. There is no cure for being hysterectomized and castrated, but I’ve found a few things that have been helpful. I have been able to cut down the severe hot flashes and night sweats with natural menopause supplements with black cohosh in them. You can get them at any healthfood store. It doesn’t get rid of them, but it at least cut them in half. Also, I’ve found that going to holistic type doctors is helpful. While castration is very damaging to your body, the right nutrition and supplements can be beneficial. Try to avoid M.D.’s and their prescriptions. They do not help you, but only make you feel worse. This is such a miserable nightmare, but know that you are not alone. This is why everyone needs to sign the Petition to stop unconsented hysterectomy. Doctors are way out of control damaging women at astronomical rates every year. They are criminals with white coats attacking women. Soon everyone will know the truth. Hang in here with us. Hugs.
Theresa, on June 18 7:02 blog, CT mentions about a holistic type doctor. You could try a doctor like this one. One friend of mine has been seeing one for a year now. She thinks her holistice doctor has help her. She has fibromyalgia and other problems. Hang in there.
This is my first time writing here. I hope to find help in knowing how to proceed in my search for pain relief if not a cure. I wished I had never had the vaginal hysterectomy 8 months ago. I have almost lost all my savings and I have suffered tremendously both physically and mentally. Thank you for any help or advice.
I’m 35 years old, and I had a partial hysterectomy 2 years ago. I have had problems with bladder control, and what I consider to be a tremendous weight gain in my stomach area. Is this effects from the hysterectomy? What can be done about it?
I had the procedure with both overies removed at the age of 38. I have since experiance severe joint pain. As well as some other symptoms. I am on the hormone replacement therapy the patch. I tried not to use the hormone replacement therapy and ended up in the cardiac unit at a local hospital after collasping at work with chest pains. Do I have any options to relieve the joint pain? Thank You for your time.
My name is Theresa and I am 46 yrs. old. I had a hystorectomy with fallopian tubes and ovaries removed bilaterally when I was 21 yrs. old. I suffer from most all the effects listed on your website and am screaming from within. I still suffer with hotflashes and night sweats along with irritation and agitation. My hair is so dry and brittle, it falls out, especially when washing it. My skin is wrinkly and very dry. I have vaginal atrophy and shocking pain, especially during intercourse. I have severe depression recurrent and have had thoughts of suicide with two attempts. I have osteoarthritis, scoliosis, bursitis, and possibly gout in my left elbow. I have had heart palpitations and anxiety attacks. I take wellbutrin for that now. I also have sciatica and take neurontin. I have arthritis down my spine from top to bottom. My surgery occurred in 25 years ago. I did not have any information on the subject or anyone to talk to over all those years, I have suffered irreparable damage to my body.
Thank you for reading this and I hope you have something encouraging to tell me in response. I am not willing to go on like this.
I had a hystorectomy four yrs ago and I am still having dabilitating symptoms. When I came across your facts info I was shocked. I also had both of my olvaries removed at the same time. I was only 23 at the time. I think that your web site is wonderful and very informative. Thank you.
CT’s comments above made on, June 23, 2008 6:35 PM sums it all up.
CT tells it like it is, for real.
All of us who don’t understand what is happening to us, after these surgeries, need to read that blog post above as it explains what is happening to us.
We lose our abilities on a physical, mental, emotional and many other levels after these surgeries.
It is not that we don’t want to be social, it is that we are unable to be social after these surgeries as our bodies are not able to function on the mental, physical, emotional levels to allow us to be. No amount of ‘trying’ alters this fact. We lose the ability to be social as only one of the many aspects of our lives that we find difficult to explain to others. Everyone says, ‘Oh, just keep trying’. It’s like telling a blind person who has lost both eyes, ‘Oh, just keep trying to see’. It just ain’t going to happen.
It is not that we don’t want to have sex, after these surgeries. Just read the blog posts here. We want sex in our lives, but our bodies just won’t co-operate on any level to allow it. Our mental, physical, emotional and other components necessary to make sex happen have been removed from our bodies. Then to top it all, we can not even be social on any other level, as we have become empty shells. We are bodies walking around with noting inside.
It is just for the medical profession to ‘fess up and admit what they are doing.
As this is not likely to happen because they love money so much, we need to have legislation passed to STOP them form continuing to ruin the lives of other women and their families by continuine to perform these surgeries for no reason at all or for very poor reasons indeed.
I wish I had found this three years ago!!!!!!!!!!
I had a Hysterectomy 7 months ago and now I am feeling some of the symtoms that you listed. It’s hard for me to go to work now. I have fatigue and exhaustion, reclusiveness unless I have to go out. If I don’t have to go out I sleep most of the day or get up for a little while and then go back to sleep. I am on a low dose of estrogen, I have told my Doctors, but their not sure what to do. I also suffer from depression. I have had this for years, but it has been under control. If you could give me some answers I would appreciate it. Thank you,
I am a 31 year old female I had my hysterectomy done when I was 28 years old with both ovaries removed I have absolutely nothing left. This had to be done and I have come to terms with that fact but since my surgery It is destroying my life with my husband of 5 years. I cry all the time because I see what it is doing and dont know how to change it. It has changed me inside, I dont want to have sex anymore it is no longer something that appeals to me It feels discusting, and it hurts, I cant sleep, Im very irritable, cry at the drop of a hat, I dont know what to do it is destroying my marrige my husband wants me to be intimate again and I am so withdrawn from that part of my life its like it was ripped out of me and I dont know how to get it back. My doctor has tried all doses of estrogen and Ive tried all kinds and just dont know what else to do if you have any solutions that might work please please please let me know.
HELP!! I know you hear this alot, but I had a full hysterectmy at age 22 , i have went on and off of HOMonal treatments scared my life is still falling apart i don’t want o take High risk pill all my life I am now 28 and not taking anything,,.I am always tired sleepy,,.can think all that good at work always jumping donw my husband throat or my kids,.. i have gained weight arounf the middle tummy and lets talk about aging I look like i should be 80,,.Please help.
I had a complete hysterectomy 1998, age then 31, now 41 years old. I’ve had a large range of problems, interested in what you know, and if I can learn from you anything I can do to help my problems. Doctor’s say it has nothing to do with my surgery, but that’s when these problems all began and they’ve gotten worse over time. Much appreciated
If doctors were being truthful, this is how their help wanted ad would read:
Help Wanted! Very lucrative business opportunity in the United States. Hiring gynecologists to perform over 600,000 surgeries per year.
Experience required:
● Proven ability to sell a woman a hysterectomy she does not need.
● Ability to steer a woman from less invasive alternatives, even if it requires deception.
● Experience in describing a major invasive damaging surgery as a simple procedure. You will get more business if you minimize the damage and risks associated with this surgery.
● Knowledge to order a large number of diagnostic tests prior to performing the hysterectomy that are totally unnecessary, but profitable.
● Proven ability to coerce and scare women into surgery using the “cancer” scare tactic. This has been proven very effective.
● Experience in using the right wording, such as “ovary removal” instead of “castration”. It is far easier to get business if a woman does not realize she will be castrated after the surgery.
● Ability to perform unnecessary surgery on thousands of women with no conscience. Remember, this is a business, it is not personal. We all have to make a living.
● Experience in using the psychiatric approach after hysterectomy/castration to make a woman believe all her new health problems are all in her head.
● Knowledge to prescribe psychiatric drugs to a woman when she complains of pain, loss of sexual response, loss of libido, depression, fatigue, insomnia, etc.
● Experience in keeping women’s complaints private and by no means ever admitting that you’ve heard any complaints about this surgery before.
I had an unnecessary hysterectomy done and I have talked to a few attorneys around here and they all claim that I don’t have a case. Why doesn’t anyone care???
I am 26years old and had my hysterctomy on April 22, ‘07. I have many questions and know to help answer them. Since my surgery I have experenced a number of changes in not only my body,but my pearsonailty,my relationships. I need some one to tell me that I am not going crazy that what I am feeling is real. I need to know will this get better or am I going to feel this way forever. I am one of those women who say if I knew then what I know now?! I can not believe the pain I STILL have. It is no longer in my uterius-but in my lowerback,bowels,musles,joints, and my heart.
All kinds of problems mood , sexual , sleeping. 38yrs old. Any info can help. Took pill, patch, shot no better. Estratest 1yr stopped was making me agressive.
so are you saying theres nothing I can do? i have a had a full hystersctomy 1 year ago. i need to know if it is possible to have ‘corrective surgery’ so i could have another child. thank you.
I had to have a hysterectomy 2 years ago. Now I have this anger along with crying and feeling hopeless. I feel like I’m losing it. I will be 39 soon. (they did leave my ovaries…) Am I mental? Please help me.
Since my total hystrectomy nine years ago, I have had constant and now rapidly escalating pain from damage to my femeral nerve impairing mobility and causing secondary joint and muscle conditions. Specialists have given me little hope for improvement and what little treatment has been prescribed has actually made it worse. Doyou know anyone that knows how to repair femeral nerve?
I have many of the side effects of a hysterectomy and can’t take any hormones due to a breast cancer (genetical positive). I’ts been almost 2 yeasr since, but I have gain weigth, lost tighness of skin, thin hair, depression, sleepy and very tired, no sexual appetite, osteoposis, starting with artirits….. I need help!!!!
In May ‘06 I had a vaginal hysterectomy. My uterus and cervix were removed. I’ve noticed that intercourse is still painful and I deeply regret getting the procedure done. Can you help me?Thanks
I am suffering from stiffness and painful joints since my hysterectomy, I cannot take harmones due to a cancer history. what can I do
I had a full hysterectomy two years ago. My sex drive has gone to the dogs, it’s gone and I really need to get it back! It has slowly disappeared. My husband and I use to have a wonderful sex life, now, he dose not understand why he has read things that a woman at 32 should be at her peak and I could not peak even if I wanted to. Please help me, ill do anything, just to get a little spark back in my sex life.
Today, three quarters of a million hysterectomies are performed annually in North America. Yet a huge majority are unnecessary. Sex. Lies and Secrecy: Dissecting Hysterectomy is the shocking and untold story of this devastating, needless surgery on women¹s reproductive organs, often with life-long physical, emotional and sexual consequences. After the surgery, almost half of the women suffer from digestive problems, incontinence, loss of maternal feelings, depression, memory loss and absence of sexual drive or pleasure. Nevertheless, it is estimated that one out of every two women in North America will have had a hysterectomy by the age of 65.
Dissecting Hysterectomy
A film by Carol Moore-Ede for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Hello everyone,
There is a website where you can rate a doctor. You can identify yourself or be anonymous, it’s up to you. This is a great opportunity to warn women about doctors who do not inform women about hysterectomy and female castration.
http://www.vitals.com/
Just below the orange banner at the top of the page is a blue bar. Click on “rate a doctor”. All you have to do is enter the name of the doctor, then rate them. You might want to see if there are already comments about the doctor you have mind first by clicking on “check up on your doctor”.
I was seeking information about a particular doctor when I came across this site. The comments about this doctor resonated with my experience: he’s rude, crude, arrogant, disrespectful of patients and their families, and seems to hate women.
1 in 150 children are diagnosed with, Autism, but 1 in 3 (or more) little girls in the United States will be hysterectomized and castrated during their lifetime.
To anonymous with hysterectomy in October of 2005. You shouldn’t be in pain. Something is wrong if you are. I would go see another doctor. You might have to see many before you get your answer. You can also see a gynecologist oncologist too. These doctor work on everything in the pelvic including the bowels. A urogynecologist can help with the bladder problems.
I felt like, Britney Spears, on, Ecstasy, when I took the, Testosterone, pills.
It did not make me have a natural sexual arousal and made my heart beat irregularly. Then the closed pocket of pain felt like it was a wound because I tried to have sex. There is no medicine or replacement to substitute our,
natural hormones.
When the, gynecologists, lie and cut out our sexual organs, they are gone and lost is our ability to function normally in sexual relations.
At the current rate hysterectomy/castration is being perpetrated on women, one-third to one-half of all baby girls born today in the United States will have the fate of being hysterectomized and castrated at some point in their life. From the posts on this blog, it appears that younger women in their 20’s and 30’s are becoming the main target of this barbaric surgery for profit. A statement by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in 2003, says in part: “The allegations in some news stories that ob-gyns are motivated to perform hysterectomies for financial gain are not only untrue claims against physicians devoting their lives to improving women’s health, but they are patently absurd in today’s medical liability climate.” Clearly this is an empty statement. You only need to read this blog to see that young women are being lied to and deceived into this barbaric surgery on a daily basis. Even though it is very clear that these women were hysterectomized and castrated without any medical necessity and without their informed consent, they cannot secure an attorney to sue or an expert to testify because of low caps on medical malpractice and the unavailability of an expert to testify. What is ABSURD is the ACOG’s statement. It was ABSURD in 2003 and is still ABSURD today. A truthful statement by the ACOG would be “The allegations in some news stories that ob-gyns are motivated to perform hysterectomies for financial gain are true. Physicians are devoting their lives to damaging women’s health for profit. Today’s medical liability climate is a perfect setting to continue to commit these crimes against the women in the United States, because these physicians are very well protected and it is difficult to bring suit.”
I had a hysterectomy in October of 2005, I have been having problems since. My OB-GYN who performed the hysterectomy told me to go to my primary doctor he could find nothing wrong. I have pain on the lower left side’s where the incisions were made, and in the lower middle part of my stomach my bladder hurts. No one can seem to find out what is wrong and I am very concerned since all of these problems has occured since I had the surgery. I know something is going on but I can’t seem to find a doctor that will take the time to find out exactly what is going on in my body. The doctor who did the hysterectomy keeps telling me there is nothing wrong. I am very concerned.
i am a 25 year old female who had a complete hysterectomy when i was 22 yrs old. i have gained alot of weight and other symptoms. i chose not to do the hrt because of high risk factorsof breast cancer in my family. i need help to find out what i should do to get my wieght under control and other issues i have. i am very concerned for my health. thank you for your time reading this.
Please help me. I am 29, has a complete hyst
December 2006 and have not been right since
It’s great to see that there’s support out there.
I had a full hysterectomy in 2003 at the age of 33 and it’s been an uphill
battle ever since.
Thank you all for speaking out I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t found you.
Before i found this web site and blog i though i was the only one. This is so sad and doctors are getting away with it. Im 23 years old, with 1 child and now i suffer from extreme abdominal pain all the time. i was diagnosed with adenomyosis and underwent a hysterectomy in May of 2006, wich the doctor said was my only option. The cramping and sharp pain i felt before my surgery is still present and my obgyn will no longer see me or talk to me about my surgery or other options. i got my medical records , and found that there was no adenomyosis found. My doctor told me that he had in fact found it, but its not recorded. Last year i had a laproscopy, to remove adhesions, but the pain has not subsided at all. After my laproscopy, i was in horrible pain. I got my records and he never mentioned that the hospital report stated that i had hemmoraged. my medical records have a lot of mistakes in them. they dont make sense to me. I talked to a lawyer who said what happened is common so there’s no malpractice. my pain is still here, ive had the chance to have any more children taken away , and im still at the same point i was since the surgery. ive done everything they have suggested, and i just want to get better. thank you so much for your time and your web site.
Valerie, that would be a good idea to try also. I read about a women who went to another gynecologist after she was given a hysterectomy after going into emergency with pain. It was about two years after the fact and she had gone to another state to take care of her sick father so she had to find a new doctor. Upon examination, the doctor asked her why she was given a hysterectomy. Long story short, he looked at her medical records and found that she only had an ovarian cyst and told her she should sue the doctor that did this to her and he would do anything to help. I’m sure that’s a rarity. Most doctors are afraid to speak out, but anything and everything is worth a try. All you need is one doctor willing to tell the truth. Just one.
Thanks CT. I didn’t know about contacting an attorney for a contingency fee so I wouldn’t have to pay for the expert. I was thinking about hireing a doctor to help me figer out why it hurts and can it be fixed. I was hoping if I hire a doctor he MIGHT tell me the truth.
I had a complete hysterectomy in April 2007. I have not returned to work yet. I have had a long list of problems that the Dr’s can’t explain. Real bad headaches,lots of joint pain, can’t think, can’t remember, ears ring, can’t talk right(stuttering), all over shaking, blurred vision, heart beats fast, face peeling and itching,dizzy all the time, ect. is this a side effect of the surgery or something gone wrong. Two different neurologist say nothing is wrong, I have since developed a thyroid problem that to my knowledge I have never had a problem with. Before surgery I was fine except for the monthly period. I was on it for a month straight and finally went to the Dr. She told me I needed to have a hysterectomy because of a mass behind the uterus. Now since the surgery I have developed these problems. I came across your blog and thought other women should know this is the worst thing in your life you could ever do.
Martha, I can totally relate to your anger. It’s truly a nightmare that these creeps are getting away with this. Women’s sex organs are a hot commodity for these corporate criminals. Don’t give up though. Have you called the HERS Foundation? Another option you might want to try is to find an out-of-state attorney who is licensed in your state and works by contingency fee only so you don’t have to pay for the expert. There are sites on the internet where you can find and contact attorneys that you may not find looking them up locally. You can send them an email of what happened and get to a lot of them that way. It’s horrible what that doctor did to you and it is unfortunately not uncommon. I read about a case in Kentucky where the same thing was done to a woman in her early twenties. She was deceived into the surgery, told she had endometriosis, and even though there was no sign of it, or anything else, the criminal amputated all her organs just because she complained of pain. These criminal predators love to hear someone’s in pain because then they can spin their web of lies to get you under anesthesia so they can attack you. That’s what it is, an attack while you cannot defend yourself. They should all be in prison. Hang in there, keep trying. Hugs.
About 7 years ago I had a complete hysterectomy. I recently got divorced. I have no sex drive..at all, and Im very moody, I want to cry alot.. Any suggestions?
My hysterectomy was 3 years ago. And since I’ve had constant pain during entercourse very painful. I have spoken to several Doctors about my pain including the doctor who performed the sergury.I havent seen said Doctor in a year. I have been to several other Doctors an no one can give me a straight answer as to why I’m in pain. I have endured pain for most of my life this is why I had the surgery in the first place for ovarian cyst and fibroids and I didnt think I would still be in pain.
CT, you’re right, it is a lot like Enron.
I was told by a dr that I had severe endometriosis and that the only cure for my pain was the removal of all my reproductive organs so I signed the consent. The dr did not even give me a physical exam. He did not tell me there was any other possible cause for my pain.
I read the post op report and learned that once he put the scope in my abdomen he saw there was no active endo. He could have left my healthy organs in place but he didn’t, he went ahead and removed everything anyway. I tried contacting several lawfirms but b/c of caps on med mal cases, this removal of my healthy reproductive organs was not considered egregrious enough to successfully sue. I finally found one lawyer who told me I might have a chance if I could get an out of state OB to say the dr breached the standard of care when he removed my healthy uterus and ovaries once he saw that he did not have to but I can’t find a doctor to testify in court even though they tell me what the dr did was wrong. I am separated from my husband and don’t have the money to hire an expert. Is there any way you can help me.
I just can’t believe that this man might get away with what he did to me. My life has been changed irrevocably. I will be on HRT for the rest of my life. I have gained 20lbs. I have been in therapy for over a year and still can’t stop crying about what he did. I am angry at myself for being stupid enough to trust him and I am angry at him for doing this to me and I am angry that there seem to be no consequences for him and I am angry that we as a society totally minimize the loss of female reproductive organs as if it were no big deal when in fact it is a huge deal–my body will never be the same, I haven’t felt the same since the day he did this to me. I AM ANGRY. EVERYONE SHOULD BE ANGRY ABOUT WHAT IS BEING DONE TO WOMEN IN THIS COUNTRY.
What is so disgusting is that doctors will tell the pre and post hysterectomy-surgery patients that there is no scientific evidence that hysterectomy causes … … … … (all the long list of ill effects that it does, as can be seen on this website, blog, from speaking to others who had the surgery etc.).
Yet, THESE SAME DOCTORS do not provide any scientific evidence to prove that these sex-organ surgeries DO NOT ruin our lives after they have removed vital organs from our bodies.
I strongly recommend anyone thinking of having these types of sex-organ surgeries insist on receiving the WRITTEN guarantees these doctors are so willing to give them verbally, before surgery.
Talk is cheap.
Doctors have nothing to lose from cheap talk. They have a legal licence which allows them to lie to patients without any consequences.
Get the WRITTEN proof, WRITTEN scientific facts, and WRITTEN guarantees of ‘better sex after surgery, etc.’ which so many doctors tell their patients will be the results of these sex-organ surgeries. No WRITTEN guarantees from your doctor, no consent!
These surgeries can not be reversed and the consequences are PERMANENT. Too many doctors are getting away with murder.
BUYER BEWARE!
I have feel as if there is nothing to me anymore. I am tired all the time no sex drive which is straining my marriage, back aches, headaches, weight gain along with depression. Please tell me something I can do, anything so I can get my life back.
This crime is similar to the Enron loophole which allows investors, such as hedge funds and investment bankers, to use loopholes in commodities law to manipulate the market and drive crude oil, heating oil, gasoline and diesel fuel prices to new heights so they can make huge profits all while raping the American public. That is why we see gasoline for $4.00 to $5.00 a gallon today. The hysterectomy/castration loophole allows the medical community to manipulate and deceive women into unnecessary surgery, raping them of their needed organs and health for huge profits. The hysterectomy/castration loophole creates huge long-term profits for the medical industry. The damage that is done to a woman extends into more surgeries (ureter, bladder, bowel, etc.), prescription painkillers, prescription hormones, psychiatric drugs (cause it must be all in your head), not to mention all the doctor’s visits that follow this damaging surgery.
i feel like im losing it i dont quite know what help i need .i have a dr, but not very helpful just tell me to see a shrink thy took me off of the premerin since my surgery trying a cream but it doesn’t help
a little scared help
i had total hysterctomy 4 years ago and have been ill for the last two years with symptons that the dr can find no reason for. i have been on meds and now i have gotten off and trying to accept that this all became about after my surgery. i would love to read anything that might help me learn to cope.
“…we know remarkably little about the purpose of the various opiates, chemicals, hormones, and hormone precursors that the uterus secretes with such vigor. We don’t know how important the output is to our overall health and well-being beyond considerations of reproduction, nor do we know whether the various secretory skills continue past menopause. … We should be humbled by the fact that scientists discovered the very dramatic concentrations of anandamide in the uterus as recently as the late 1990s. And that humbleness should in turn enhance our vigilance against removing the uterus in all but the most extreme circumstances.”
The above was written by, Natalie Angier, who wrote the book, Woman An Intimate Geography.
Now I ask why, why knowing this are the gynecologists of this country still lying for profit and perpetuating myths about how dynamic and necessary our female organs are. It is a travesty of justice to say the least to dispose of these organs in women who have been lied to by gynecologist surgeons and their accomplices…The medical profession does not even understand how many or what all of the hormones and chemicals housed and utilized by a women’s body are. So why are they hacking them off for profit and their sick pleasure legally?, because they can?
The amputation of the hormones and chemicals utilized by the female human being do not sound like something that can be replaced by an estrogen pill now do they?
Mattie
Six months ago I had a hysterectomy and my life has been is shambles ever since. All I do is fight with my husband over nothing, Im tired all the time. I was told I had to have the surgery because they found cancer in my uterine lining. Come to find out it was stage one, but the doctor took everything out. Im an empty shell so to speak. Im 33yrs old with no children.
I HAVE HAD A HYSTERECTOMY. IN MY EARLY TWENTYS. I”M HAVING PROBLEMS BEEING INTERMITTE WITH MY HUSBAND, IT HAS BE COME A PROBLEM IN ARE MARRIEGE, I LOVED HAVING INTERCOURSE, BUT THAT HAS CHANGED, NO INTEREST,LOW SEX INTEREST, I NEED INFORMATION ON HOW TO GET HELP WITH THIS PROBLEM.
I recently had a hysterectomy March 2004. Since then I have decreased sensation and my clitoris has lowered and become much smaller in size. I also am bothered by constant passing “Gas” regardless of what I eat, which was never a problem before. I seem to have decrease blood flow to that area of my body, shrinkage of the clitoris is not a normal response to a hysterectomy. Is it? Can you give me a clue if you’ve ever heard of this and in which direction to go for help? Thank you for being there.
Could you please send me information about after effect of hysterectomy. I am having severe trouble with painful feet after hysterectomy. I had a complete with ovary removal. I am 45 years old.
I had a complete hysterectomy 3 years ago at age 49. I was not yet menopausal, and had it for PID. Over the last few years i have been depressed, and gaining weight despite a flawless diet, A have a number of the other symptoms on HERS list. I tried a couple of different hormones for the unbearable hot flashes, but saw no significant difference, so gave up. I’m not on any meds, am vegetarian, and a woman’s health care provider. The hysterectomy ruined my life, it did me in.
I had fibroid tumors that were bleeding and a cyst on my ovary, I had a hysterectomy in 1998, I finally got to where I could hardly walk due to the severe pain I was doubling over in pain. Yes I’m glad, its much better not to have that severe pain. My mom had one for fibroids and so did her sister, and just about everyone has had one in my family, for the same thing. Most everyone else, has already had kids, I didn’t have any, but that’s ok too. I have 2 puppies and they are my kids.
Kathleen, what I’ve noticed is any stress you have is far more extreme after the surgery. Basically, any problem you had before will be worse after. I have had severe hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia and anxiety too since this was done to me in 2006. I was prescribed synthetic estrogen and it gave me severe head and neck pain, and didn’t stop the hot flashes either. I went to the health food store and bought some natural menopause supplements with black cohosh. It’s helped a lot, but it doesn’t get rid of all of it. At least I am not dripping with sweat every minute now and don’t wake up every day in a pool of water. You might want to try that. I also went to a naturopath and the supplements I was given helped with fatigue and crying spells. I don’t feel good and can’t do half what I used to do, but what I’ve done has helped some. At least I don’t have to sleep every 3 hours now from severe fatigue. From what I’ve learned, M.D.’s have nothing to give you that will help, and you are much better off going to a holistic type doctor. Look at the charts on the HERS website http://www.hersfoundation.org, “After Effects Data” and you’ll see that you are not alone. Hang in there.
since my surgery in September 2003, I’ve been feeling really, really off….insomnia, hotflashes, chronic sweating, and massive anxiety attacks and all my doc. can do is throw hormones at me that don’t help. I can’t believe that I can’t get something to help me sleep, relax and not sweat so much! I don’t know how much is the hysterectomy and how much has to do with stress due to unemployment. I don’t know where to turn or who to turn to. Can anyone offer any suggestions??
please I need informations on loss of sexuality
I have noticed different things since my surgery two years ago. I am looking for answers about hormone suppliments, natural herbs, & answers to different physical /mental changes. HERS Chart #3 helped me know why alot of things are not just me but others are experiencing the smae things. THANK YOU…. You almost think you are going crazy at times.
Thank you for your web site It has helped me just reading chart 3 and learning a few things are noramal for more than just me.
I am a 28 yr old mother of two.
I am suffering every day and I don’t know why. After 5 months I thought I would be my old self again but that is not the case. But now I am afraid something may not be right. If you have any info that would be helpful please respond. I had a vaginal hysterectomy and I still have both ovaries. I am still not well. I have swelling and pressure in my vagina every day and I am unable to resume normal activities. I am upset to say the least and need info about the possible things that could have gone wrong or been caused from my surgery. My doctor keeps saying it takes time but how long? Six months? A year? It doesn’t seem right, something must be wrong. Can you please help me?
having personality problems feel like I don’t know who I am anymore please help me I feel like I am losing my mind
I had a hysterectomy 14 yrs ago today. I am only 36, I think I have a prolapsed bladder and rectum. Is this a commom problem with women who have had hysterectomy’s? (mine was total) I know I am young, but I think that is irrelevent, due to how long it has been and that I have no uterus to support my bladder any longer. Any info you can give me would be most helpful. Thank you.
I had a total hysterectomy in 2000 and I had never had any female problems, at all. I am now 60 years old and I have been off HRT for 2 years. All of my labia has disappeared and I can no longer have intercourse due to pain. It is as though my vagina is shrinking and will no longer accept penetration. I have tried bioidentical therapy for 2 years but it is not helping. My mind is not what it used to be. Do you have any information that might help me?
To all:
Please do not put website URL’s in your comments. All comments with url’s will be deleted.
Thank you!
I had a hysterectomy when I was 26, and my husband signed the consent form because I didn’t want the surgery. Just in case you don’t believe what these women are saying here I can tell you, it’s true, and more.
To Anonymous that posted at 12:58 p.m. What you said is very good advice. I cancelled my health insurance shortly after I was hysterectomized and castrated without my consent. I soon had realized they were all in it together. I could not reconcile the fact that I pay my health insurance company for healthcare, then a doctor performs a major unnecessary surgery on me, lies on all the records, and my insurance company pays for it no questions asked. It is clearly done for corporate profits. The insurance companies are the middle men. They take your money so they can give it to doctors to perform unnecessary surgeries on you. What a racket.
My experience with the lies, deceit, and general misinformation by doctors/gynecologists to me personally, and the false/misleading information on some of their websites, and to many other women gauging from this blog, has led me to the following conclusions and opinions.
We women need to wean ourselves from this one-sided medical, money-making industry which has proven their profit comes before our own health and welfare.
In my opinion we should start today to:
1)
Educate ourselves about our own health conditions. We are living in the age of the internet, and this same internet ‘tool’ is also used by medical students when they are in medical school and beyond, so why not us also? Books are very useful too.
2)
When we feel comfortable to do so, stop paying for ‘health insurance’ which has clearly proven to be private investment/corporate profit via ‘caring for diseases’, and nothing more.
Take a moment to look at the inter-relationships between the insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, medical schools and medical practitioners. When we begin to understand the large part we play by continuing to support their empire, we might then start to consider how we might change our own habits. We can benefit others and ourselves by thinking ‘outside the box’, and beginning to take more responsibility for our own health care.
3)
Use the money saved from ‘monthly health-insurance premiums’ to seek alternative care from genuinely concerned practitioners who want to help us to assist our bodies to heal itself, as it was created to do. Please take the time to get personal recommendations about the prospective practitioners you seek.
4)
This may take years to accomplish. No problem. Each journey begins with the first step. Good Luck.
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” Sir Walter Scott
Yes, CT, it is criminal given the information on the homones and chemicals not understood by the medical industry, many hormones and chemicals needed by a women to live a normal healthy life. The key word here is legal. They are legal criminals.
Isn’t it so cruel how doctors have tried to make these young women believe that their health problems following hysterectomy/castration are all in their head? It is heartbreaking that this is done to woman at any age, but even more despicable when it’s done to teenagers and women in their 20’s. I’ve come to believe that these criminal gynecologists really do hate women. They are sadistic and like to see women suffer while they spin their web of lies.
I’M 31 WITH PAST HYSTERECTOMY ABOUT 3 YEARS AGO AND I’VE BEEN THOU A LOT OF TEST AND PROCEDURES AND I REALLY NEED TO KNOW WHAT I NEED TO DO TO HELP MYSELF GET BETTER. I’VE HAD OVER 13 UT’S I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH I.BS
ALSO I RECENTLY I’VE BEEN DEVELOPEING BRUSING ON THE LEGS AND LOWER BACK PROBLEMS, I ALSO HAVE PROBLEMS SLEEPING . I’M VERY STRESSED CAUSE, I’M DOING EVERYTHING THE DR’S TELLING ME TO DO BUT I DON’T FEEL BETTER AND I KNOW IT’S NOT IN MY HEAD.OH, YEA I WAS ALSO TOLD ABOUT INTERSTITIAL CYISITIS BUT I WASN’T DIAGNOSED WITH IT. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME PLEASE ASAP
MY PROBLEMS ARE’NT GETTING ANY BETTER AND I’M SO TIRED,I JUST WANT TO GET BETTER.
I had a Hysterectomy at 28 and I am having promblems my Doc said are in my Head. Pain being one of them. I’m so glad I found this site! Now I have proof it’s not in my head!!! Thank you all for telling the truth.
I am 5 years post surgical, done when I was 21 years old, and my life is a mess. My doc has tried me on 2 different anti-depresants and just prescribed a 3rd. I was online researching this new drug, and found this site. They said I had cancer and I signed a release to have the surgery. I didnt have cancer. But now I cant function and I’m 26 years old. What’s going to happen to me? Will I get better? Thank you for your time.
I just read the “facts and myths” section of the link the above poster shared. LMAO! This gynecologist spends an entire page justifying (does a rather poor job of it too) the use of hysterectomy and how wonderul a woman will feel afterwards. He makes comments about how he will ask his patients a year after their hysterectomy how their sex life is and implies that they will tell him it is just the same or better. If he is still seeing them a year later makes you wonder why exactly. Surely he doesnt just call them on the phone out of the blue to ask about their sex life. And he says that he has nothing to gain when his patients have a hysterectomy because he sends them back to their referrring practitioner (yeah, let your colleages do the dirty work). Here is something he has to gain. POWER and DOMINANCE over women by ordering or agreeing with such a maiming and unnecessary surgery in the first place for her. Does one ever stop to wonder why men really become gynecologists in the first place? Lets not pretend it’s because of the miracle of delivering babies or the “prestige”. It’s about making money and having control over women.
Funny that at the beginning of the page he talks about how hysterectomy is “major” surgery and that he chooses alternatives wherever possible. Yet not once any time after that (or anywhere else in his website) does he explain WHY it is major surgery and exactly what the risks and long term possible complications are. Shame on you Obgynnet for rewarding such incompetence and deception!
Elaine
Sorry I forgot to give you the sight. http://WWW.gynalternatives.com/ablation.htm
After you get to the sight click on myths and realities.
Okay, I was doing some research this morning and came across this sight that just outraged me. The lies that are told are just unspeakable. This male gyno calls himself an expert in women sexuality, he should be ashamed of himself. It lists myths and facts regarding hysterectomies. All lies.
After reading this, I scrolled to the top of the page and surprise he has received an award of outstanding achievement from ob.gyn.net. What the hell is wrong with these people. They should poll every single woman over the last 50 years who have had hysterectomies and then publish a paper, and print myths and facts. Wouldn’t that be interesting? Atleast they would have some true data.
O.K. I am a 32 year old wemon, had surgery 4 years ago and I am misserable. What do I do now? I am on HRT but still have many side effects and am at my wits end. Is there anything I can do to get my life back?
Valerie, exactly. If the majority of the doctors are deceiving, lying and coercing women into unnecessary hysterectomy/castration for profit, then all the doctors in the same community can do the same thing and it would be the acceptable standard of care. What kind of sick insane country do we live in?
Matters of Life and Death: Risks vs. Benefits of Medical Care: By Eugene D. Robin M.D. Page 172 “This interesting principle implies that it is acceptable for a doctor to be wrong as long as all other doctors in the community are wrong in the same circumstance”.
To CT. you mentioned in the article by the AARP magazine that half of the women in the U.S. have been hysterectomized by age 65. This is a real tragedy. If we can get these women to speak out against this criminal act, it would be great. Maybe then it will stop.
AARP Magazine just came out with a new article, “Why Does Healthcare Cost So Much?” It states in part: “To this day…one in three women has had a hysterectomy by age 60, and one in two by age 65.” So half the women in the U.S. have been hysterectomized by age 65!!!! When will this insanity be stopped?
I had a Hysterectomy with Bilateral ovary and fallopian tube removal. The Dr. also removed my appendix. This was done October 2004. I am 28 years old and this has been the worst nightmare. I had Endometriosis and I already had 7 laparoscopys. My ovaries were necrotic and I had a septic mass. I can not find a HRT that works for me. Iam allergic to some of them and others leave me with rashes, acne,and I just don’t feel good. I was hoping you could please help me. Thank you.
I had a complete hysterectomy, uterus and ovaries, in November of 2003 and was told that I would not be any different than I was before and since I was 48 at the time and had all my children and was having menstrual problems that it would be better for me. Yeah right! I was reading through the adverse effects and can relate to so many of them! Especially loss of sex drive and hot flashes! The Dr. had me on Premarin, but I quit taking it as I was getting severe leg cramps at night! I also think it was effecting my memory because I have a hard time remembering things anymore! Could you please help me so Imay learn more about how to deal with this?
To the woman who gained 28 lbs since her hysterectomy, I totally understand how you feel! For years I weighed 116 lbs and was healthy and active. The first year after my hysterectomy I was so sick from being castrated at 33 years of age, even while on hrt, that I was chronically nauseated, in a lot of pain in my pelvic area, and lost so much weight I was down to 102 lbs at 5’6″. I was afraid to eat anything for fear of being sicker. I suffered with anorexia when I was a teenager and I felt like that was what was happening again. I had to have more surgery for the pelvic pain. Due to then being diagnosed with osteoporosis via dexa scan one year post hysterectomy, I began to eat again. Although I ate normally, I kept gaining weight despite working out. When I hit the 132 lb mark and could not fit into any of my clothes and was still gaining, I decided enough was enough. Even though I am still fatigued and have lost stamina since my hysterectomy and my muscles and joints hurt, not to mention my thyroid is forever messed up and my hormones too, I push myself to work out at a gym and at home five days a week for 1.5 hours per day doing cardio, weights, strenghening, and stretching. I eat less than 1400 calories a day and all of those calories come from fresh, unprocessed food. I only drink water or herbal tea or decaf coffee and very occasionally milk. No juice or soda. No caffeine. No breads or pastas or any junk, lots of vegetables and fruits, lean proteins, whole grains and supplements such as calcium, vitamin d, B complex, fish oil. I have managed to drop 14 lbs so far but it has been very hard work. I will probably never be able to eat the way I could before my hysterectomy when I didnt have to worry about gaining weight and my metabolism and thyroid werent shot. I could take it for granted then and had so much more energy and stamina to do things. It is sad that I have to spend the rest of my life worrying about my weight on top of everything else. I feel for those unable to lose weight no matter what they do. I had to lower my estrogen dose too for that reason. And I still cant get rid of the fat around my middle that literally showed up right after my hysterectomy and castration. I feel like I aged 30 years overnight.
Elaine
Valerie, that’s really interesting about Versed. From reading my medical records, that’s what was used to knock me out. In my medical records, it said I was speaking and responding to commands after the surgery, but I have no memory of it, so what you said makes sense now. I know Versed is a common drug they use but I didn’t know it caused amnesia. What I’ve unfortunately realized is that women have no rights in a hospital when it comes to their female organs. They have no protection or voice. I have seen several people go in the hospital for “needed” operations, and they were informed of the risks and the operation was described to them, and the anesthesiologist explained everything they were going to do in detail. However, when the doctor set out to amputate my sex organs, no one would answer my questions, nothing was explained to me, and even though I never consented to hysterectomy/castration, they falsified my consent form, and the anesthesiologist knew full well that I did not consent to that surgery and knocked me out without even telling me. It’s so beyond criminal and barbaric. These doctors and their staff know that they have total control. They know that once you are unconscious they can do anything they want and there is no one they have to answer to. So many women wake up surprised (shocked) that they have no female organs, but they are quickly told it was necessary. These criminal predator surgeons are literally attacking women, but since they have a white coat on, the general population just assumes it was a necessary surgery. It really has been the perfect crime. I remember when I was a kid hearing that they were removing tonsils from every kid in the U.S., but it quickly stopped, yet this barbaric surgery continues to be forced upon women by deception (convincing the woman she needs it), or in my case, by literally falsifying medical documents and carrying it out against my will. It’s unbelievable that all the nurses, anesthesiologists, and doctors involved just watch it happen and go along with it like brainless drones. It’s like the mob mentality. To say they have no ethics, is an understatement.
I HAD MY TOTAL ABDOMINAL HYSTERECTOMY January ’03. I WAS TOLD I WOULD NOT GAIN ANY WEIGHT DUE TO NO REMOAVAL OF OVARIES. I HAD JUST SPENT 2.5 YRS LOOSING 114 LBS AND I HAD MET MY GOAL WEIGHT AND WAS VERY HAPPYYYYYYYYYYYYY WELL SINCE THEN I HAVE GAINED28 LBS AND I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SAD WHAT CAN I DO????????????????
hysterectomy two years ago. depression, sexual loss, hot sweats, can not think straight or finish any thing
To anonymous using progesterone cream:
Both exogenous (a substance that is not produed by the body but is in another form such as a pill, patch or cream) progesterone and estrogen cause fibroids to grow rapidly.
For more detailed information about what fibroids are, when they grow, the average size of fibroids at a particular age, and when to expect natural but brief rapid growth spurts click on the “Fibroid” link at the top of the post on the right side of the page.
What symptoms are you trying to treat with progesterone?
I’m 40 years old and I’ve been diagnosed with a 8cm calcifed fibroid tumour. I just want to know whether using natural progestrone cream will have any effect on the fibroid?
CT, I know what you mean. I can open up another can of worms with what the anesthesiologist do. With the hysterectomy surgery I had, I found out they gave me a drug called Versed. It is an amnesia drug that blocks something in the brain so it won’t form memories. Versed is not a drug that sedates you. It only relaxes you. You don’t form memories, and you also performs commands. If someone asked you to raise your arm so they can put on a blood pressure cuff you will do it. Versed also works back words. When they give you Versed it can back up one to two hours after the first injection. 1mg which is the smallest amount they give you last 3 to 4 hours. So you wont remember what has happened to you. Some people don’t want to know much about there surgery itself, but I wanted to know as much about what was happening to me as possible. Then I found out they used Versed on me without telling me anything about this drug.
My next surgery I refused this medicine. I told the doctor, the anesthesiologist, and nurses, everyone. Well I didn’t put it in writing so they used it again my will. This doctor also violated my rights, buy using Versed on me when I told him I refused this drug which is my right to do, so I am now two for two. Two doctors who have lied to me and violated my rights. I found out it is a violation of ethics, because the doctor is miss representing what he is actually going to do to me before surgery. Funny; isn’t that what the doctor who performed my hysterectomy did, Violate my rights?
The anesthesiologists are perpetrators of this crime also. The anesthesiologist never told me he was putting me under anesthesia. One minute I was awake, the next I awoke with all my sex organs missing. They are all criminals.
To anonymous above,
Because the homeopathic doctor is an M.D., Medical Doctor, my insurance is paying for the treatments with him, I only pay a co-pay. It may be rare to find a homeopathic doctor who is also a medical doctor, but they do exist.
My insurance is through my husbands work and I have not worked outside of what I can manage around the house for almost two years. I consider myself disabled in many ways now too. I do not have the stamina and concentration to do the work I used to do, I am often in pain and was left in a state of physical and mental shock after I was legally attacked by a medical predator and his accomplices. As they were wheeling me out of the hospital I kept saying over and over, I don’t think I should be leaving the hospital, something is wrong, something is wrong. But they wheeled me out of the back door of that hospital and helped me into our car. They knew what was wrong, they didn’t care and the bizarre post hysterectomy syndrome began, I have been in shambles ever since.
There must be a way to find help with homeopathic care if you don’t have medical insurance. Churches and Assistance programs, could be helpful to those who don’t have medical insurance, but it may be very difficult. If I didn’t have insurance and my husband now, I would be living in a homeless shelter.
I hope it is ok for me to ask, but how does one afford a homeopathic doctor? I have been disabled by my hysterectomy and am unable to work. I have medical bills piling up and am barely surviving. I have to choose between food and paying rent. Does any kind of health insurance cover their services? Or do they take payment plans or expect one to pay up front? I suppose it varies from place to place, but any information would be helpful. I imagine a lot of us who have been hysterectomized and castrated are in financial constraints.
Thanks.
Thank you to all of you for your information. I will look into a homeopathic doctor and see if they can ease some of these awful effects from the surgery. Maybe they can atleast ease the mood swings, hot flashes and sexual difficulty.
To the women with whom her husband doesn’t understand try and get him to read all these blogs from women who are suffering. I can understand husbands frustations and anger will all of this also, it has in a sense happened to them also. I know from my experience that it has changed our marriage some for the better and some not. Thankfully, he is understanding and loving and patient. There are times when I feel he is not, but we always manage to talk it out and try and figure out what to do.
To the man who is so supportive to his wife God Bless You. She needs you more than you will ever know.
And to HERS I can’t begin to thank you enough for your kind words of encouragement and recommendations.
Somehow this blog is helpful to try and get rid of some of the anger. It helps to talk about it and lets face it sometimes your friends and family are really sick of hearing it,and they really have no clue as to what we go through every single day. They try and I thank them for being there for the last 4 years. Noone can ever begin to understand it except if you are experiencing it yourself.
Lastly, I would like to brighten some of your lives and let you know that a very dear friend of mine was told that she would need a hysterectomy to rectify her bleeding issue. She has not consented and will not consent to it because of everything that we have experienced. SO we did it we saved one women, I hope someday in the near future we can save them all from this barbaric surgery, but atleast we saved one that I know of.
To June 10 – 9:02 p.m.
After being so physically and mentally attacked and maimed by a hysterectomy removing one ovary and my cervix I was in a state of shock for almost two years. I was in such physical pain from the vaginal and labia damage and atrophy. The shock from the hormone damage to my small frame body was a torture. I saw 15 different doctors within a year and a half and was told everything from nerve damage to “get some counciling”. The strange thing is one male doctor in the same practice as the predator who attacked me, actually told me and my husband “the hysterectomy should have never been done”, and then wrote lies about the tissue appearing normal, etc. in my chart. I could tell by the expressions on the faces of these doctors that they were very aware of hysterectomy consequences and damage, they are just not able to admit it. It would ruin their career as a high paid physician to buck this well kept medical secret. I could see what I can describe as actual anger at what was done to me from some of the doctors I went to see begging for help.
I recently went to a Homeopathic M.D as a last resort before ending my life. I was not able to endure the pain and sexual loss, fatigue and personality change and not being able to sit down or wear clothes for long. I thought about not wanting to live anymore much of my waking hours and it was so unfamiliar to me to feel that way.
The Homeopathic M.D, who only practices homeopathy now said he could help me. He said he could not totally make me the same as I was, but that he could help me. We talked for almost two hours as I went through the list of serious problems I was having after the unnecessary hysterectomy surgery.
The homeopathic M.D, has prescribed two remedies for me so far. The homeopatic doctor has helped me so far. I do not feel the sense of unbearable despair and morose depression I was feeling. I have also noticed physical improvement with the horrible scar I have been left with. I will continue to see the homeopathic doctor to try to regain some sense of my former health. At least I know he doesn’t plan to attack me and cut me.
I can say from experience that the traditional medicine did not help me, but maimed me. I can say from experience that several of the traditional doctors insulted me beyond the limits of inhumanity and tricked me by deceit with no remorse.
I can say from experience that homeopathic medicine is worth a try for your condition. Let me know if you give it a try or can’t find a homeopathic doctor.
My Best To You,
Mattie
male in mich.
To the lady that posted indicating her husband doesn’t understand that her health is the result of the surgery. He needs to read some of the posts here and other materials that are available on this website as well as books available. I have the opposite problem. I know my wife’s health issues are the result of her surgery nearly 6 years ago. She denies it and attributes it to normal aging. I KNOW better. It isn’t part of aging when at mid 50’s age you have a complete lack of energy, no libido(NONE), complete avoidance of social interaction, no feelings for intimacy, short tempers, prolonged menopausal symtoms(lasting 4 yrs), other surgeries and medications trying to correct symtoms, etc. My wife used to be fit and trim, sexy, young looking and since the surgery has aged at a ratio of 10 to 1. She struggles with weight control, was never a problem, developed major endocrine system malfunction. I’d like to remove the sex organs from the surgeon butcher who did this to us. I have recommended this site to a number of people so the word can spread about the cruel, lasting, ruinous effects of the surgery. As I’ve posted prior, it destroys relationships, which disrupts lives and should be heavily regulated with consent education strictly required so the “unsuspecting victims” won’t fall prey to the deception.
Just wanted to tell you that I wish I had this information in 2003 when I had a hysterectomy. I don’t miss all of the pain I had before surgery but I can tell you there have been many times I have cried hope that I was going to live at one point. This went on for a couple of years. I went from doctor to doctor. Was told all kinds of things… one being that I was “crazy”. Although I am better than I was when I first had this surgery I am far from the person I once was. I use an estrogen patch 1mg a day … 3x a week. I wear one extra than normal. That patch is the only thing that could come close to helping me. Everything else was just a joke. I was given shots at first of Testosterone and was given it in large doses.
It has been a real long few years with all that I had to endure. Today I feel as though my life has been cut short. I went from young, strong, and full of life to some aged person I don’t even know anymore. I can’t even get the work around the house done anymore. The worst part is my husband doesn’t understand and doesn’t support the idea that it is the result of the surgery. He thinks I just don’t do enough or that I don’t want to do it. Which is far from the truth. He still doesn’t understand and it has been five years. I don’t kno what the answer is really but it has played a real trick on me and my marriage. Nice to see that there is information out there and maybe will save someone from this nightmare that I have lived.
I’m 51 years old and I had a hysterectomy in 1996 and now I’m experiencing dryness and lack of sexual desires.My husband is very sexual. He want sex often. What can I do to enhance my sex drive? Is there any vitamin that I can take?
To Anonymous with the ureter damage. I am so truly sorry for you. What a nightmare! I can’t even imagine having that kind of damage along with the “regular” damage. On top of this sex organ surgery being so barbaric and cruel, your hack doctor did even more damage. It’s hideous and criminal. I have had some leaking, but nothing comparable to what you’re going through. I only needed a minor surgery, yet the criminal doctor amputated my ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix in 2006. He lied, lied and lied some more. I not only refused “hysterectomy” surgery, I didn’t consent to it, but it was done to me anyway. It’s just completely insane what these criminals are getting away with. I have many problems because of it. My lower abdominal area hurts most of the time. I have to hold my belly when I go down stairs or it hurts really bad. To say I’m moody is an understatement. I’ve had really severe hot flashes that make me soaking wet. I often wake up in a pool of water not to mention being soaked a lot of the day. I started taking some natural menopause supplements and it knocked the hot flashes down, but it’s something I have to take every day and it does not get rid of them. I take other supplements that have helped with the crying spells and fatigue, but there’s nothing to take for the anger. I am so devastated and beyond angry that I can hardly stand it. It doesn’t surprise me that many women contemplate suicide after they are mutilated this way. It’s so hard to live like this. I was a very healthy person, and now I’m a mess. Within a year of being castrated and hysterectomized, my skin lost its elasticity. I can’t believe how old my skin looks in just a year and a half. It makes me sick. I cannot get aroused, and on the rare occasion that I can have an orgasm, it only lasts about 3 seconds. I only have sensitivity on one spot on one side of my clitoris. Before I was raped of my sex organs, I used to have multiple long and intense orgasms. It’s unbelievably cruel. Yes, they just go on their merry way after they do this to women. la la la This is the worst crime ever committed on anyone. I am still in shock that this is now my life. I wake up every day in the same nightmare having a hard time believing it’s true. How did this happen, and worse, how can this be allowed to go on in the United States to millions of women? It’s nothing short of a horror movie. I feel like an erupting volcano about every 10 minutes of every day. I feel like jumping right out of my skin. My anger and devastation is really hard to describe. It’s nothing I have ever experienced before. Who would ever imagine being castrated and hacked up inside for no reason? It’s mind boggling. It’s a living nightmare.
First I too would like to thank the HERS Foundation, for validating for me that I am not crazy after this devastating surgery almost 4 years ago.
I am reaching out to those who have had this barbaric surgery to see if anyone has had permanent urinary retention after a hysterectomy. My ovaries and tubes remain intact. My other question is about the mood swings, night sweats and total loss of libido and the inability to become aroused and have an orgasm. My uterus and cervix were removed apparently for no reason. My ureter was damaged and then I wasn’t able to pee on my own ever since. I have had surgery to have bladder pacemakers inserted to help and they have reduced the number of times I have to self cath, but they come with other problems. But I have learned to take accept the lesser of two evils.
Is there anything that can be done about the loss of sexual drive? Has anyone out there lost the ability to pee on their own? Has anyone had there ureter crushed and had stents placed and after having them removed 4 years later still experience flank pain. Some doctors have said the flank pain is chronic ureterectasis, some have said it is nerve damage, some have said it is from the bladder issue, and some have said it is muscle damage. Any ideas?
This blog has helped tremendously knowing that I am not crazy and that these symptoms are real helps, but what do you do with the anger you have everyday because you are reminded what was done to you for no apparent reason every single day of your life.
It really angers me that women are being taken advantage of every single day for the love of money and they just keep getting away with it and get to go on with their merry lives and could care less about the ramifications it has on their patients. They don’t want to know you once they’ve been paid and just like to push you off on to someone else, and if your lucky you may find someone to clean up a little bit of the mess they made, but never the whole thing. I looked on the OBGYN website and what a bunch of lies. Emory also is full of deceit. I wonder sometimes if we should all make up our own flyers about the effects of hysterectomies and put them in every single doctors office in the US, maybe then it could stop some women from being lead to believe that their life will be better, sex will be better, and that you don’t need the organs anyway if your done having kids. What a bunch of crap. I was lead to believe that also, and shame on me for believing it. I got to keep my ovaries and tubes, but I wonder what use they are in there. Are they just floating in there? Whether your tubes and ovaries are removed or not you still experience, in my experience, hot flashes, mood swings, loss of sexual drive, bone loss and the list goes on and on. Do you still experience loss of collagen also? IF anyone out there has any answers please let me know and if I can help anyone out there I would be more than happy to.
Thanks
To Mattie of 6-9-08, 11:34pm
I can relate to what you are going through because I too have suffered from severe migraine headaches for many years. In recent years, they have become less frequent and less severe as I have redoubled my efforts at finding some relief to my downward spiraling sex-organ surgery after effects. I think the Five-Element Acupuncture treatments have helped lessen my migraine headaches also.
After finding this HERS Foundation website, and acknowledging to myself what the real, truthful, obvious CAUSE of my severe discomforts were, I was then better able to BEGIN to look for finding some relief from the after-effects CAUSED and CREATED by these surgeries. What a difference this has made for me!!
My doctors kept telling me for decades there was no relationship between my surgery and my devastating health issues, after my surgery. So I kept looking elsewhere for relief, and found none. This website has made a world of difference in my life. I would rather face the honest truth, as devastating as it is, than to keep chasing the elusive ‘no name’ cause of my health issues, which my doctors were always unable to name or help me find relief. Most doctors appear woefully uninformed about nutritional matters. In my opinion, accurate, nutritional information is one of the keys to finding some small measure of relief from this human catastrophe, after sex-organ surgery.
Thank you Nora Coffey and the HERS Foundation. You have made a difference in my life, and I appreciate all the time and effort you have taken to reach out to people like me, who are suffering greatly due to the greed and the ‘love of money’ by too many in the medical profession. These disgusting, licensed, amateurs can no longer hide behind their white coats, thanks to your efforts at getting the truth out, and exposing them for what they really are.
I am NOT suggesting I have found all the answers in nutritional supplements or Acupuncture, or that those answers I have found have changed any of my devastating after-effects. ALL MY AFTER EFFECTS STILL REMAIN.
What I have found, is some small measure of relief, and I also acknowledge that this relief is only temporary and most are only transient. Any relief is better than none at all and this still does not change the fact that these sex-organ surgeries are PERMANENT and can not be REVERSED and are completely DEVASTATING to any woman. There is no CURE, post surgery.
I have sometimes wondered if the apparent, gradual worsening effects on our vascular system – including those delicate capillaries etc. in the brain and surrounding areas – could be a contributing cause to our migrane headaches, post sex-organ surgery. Remember, without the body’s naturally produced estrogens the body’s production of collagen appears to be severely affected also, and collagen is essential to maintain a healthy vascular system.
I suspect there is a co-relation here, and feel this warrants further scientific research, from HONEST researchers.
To June 9th on Vitamins and Acupuncture.
Thanks, I will look into the Acupuncture.
I am taking a good multi-vitamin and a good B-complex with Riboflaven for Migraine Headaches, it has nearly stopped the Migraines. It also seems after taking it regularly it has calmed my post hysterectomy nerves slightly. I am starting to believe that post hysterectomy syndrome is something I will have to some degree for the rest of my life, what an assault on the female body, mind, spirit and sexuality.
It is so very sad what was done to you at such a young age. It is hard to accept that this is done to any women at any age for no medical reason, just greed.
I have retreated into myself since this was done to me. I don’t trust easily now, and never will again. I sure hope this disaster ends soon for the women of this country.
Mattie
I have read everyone post hysterocomy symptoms and have so many. I have been going to doctor after doctor and no one can help. Why all the problems after the surgery. Still have my ovaries. I am having horrible moods, thinking, remembering. Developed hypothyroidism after hystercomy….I need help I feel like I’m losing my mind….
Regarding the B-6 and Premarin. I too have read that taking Premarin, or any hrt or even birth control (some younger women who have been castrated take birth control for hrt) for that matter, tends to deplete B-6 levels and increases the need for B complex vitamins. This also holds true for vitamin C, zinc, selenium, and magnesium. I researched and discovered this on my own but my naturopathic doc also shared this info with me. I have also learned that without the vital hormones many of us who have been castrated have lost, especially estradiol, we can not absorb calcium properly. Estrogen and progesterone have an effect on stomach acid and lack of them depletes this important acid needed to absorb and digest nutrients. This increases our need for calcium, and many other vitamins and minerals.
There is a ton of information out there regarding the effects of hysterectomy and castration. A lot of it you wont find on the bookstore shelves or even the local library (except from those who have experienced it firsthand). Doctors either dont want you to know or they dont have a clue themselves. Our reproductive organs are expendable to them. You need to dig deep and go to a medical library and also search for specific journal studies. You’d be surprised at what you find there.
Elaine
Post hysterectomy 5 years have my ovaries never been right sicne. Doctor would rather leave them in since I was 28 years old. Nite seweats, face hairs, NO libido, irrtitable so waht is left and I have the ovaries.
GOING MAD
I’ll bet there are few, if any, women taking Premarin who were informed by their doctor that taking additional Vit B 6 is recommended due to possible nutrient depletion, by the Premarin.
Anyone care to say if their doctor told them?
To Anonymous of 6-9-08, 3:39pm
To answer your questions:
1)
The Five-Element Acupuncture has helped with making me feel more balanced in every respect, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. There is no spiritual overtone to the treatments I receive, however, because there is an overall slight improvement in my feelings of well-being, I am encouraged in my own spiritual path.
2)
Some insurance coverage may provide for some treatments. Depends on the insurance company.
3)
Yes, there is a little improvement with cognitive function on 300mg Choline. Not huge, but helpful. I started with a lower dose and noticed an almost immediate, slight, benefit. I take it first thing in the morning to avoid it interfering with sleep. Important to use a lower dose so it does not interfere with sleep pattern. Also, ingesting Coffee, along with the Choline was also suggested in the online article I read. I have found that a little bit of caffenated coffee, with or without the Choline capsule, can help with cognitive function. I ingest a maximum of half-cup to one-cup coffee most days, early in the morning and never after 11am.
Read the Life Extension, May 2000, online Cover-Story article by Ivy Greenwell, Titled:
‘Enhancing Cognitive Function’ Keeping Your Memory in Tip Top Shape.
Be sure to click at the bottom of that first online page to go to the 2nd portion of the same article. Long article with lots of very helpful information.
4)
Additional Vit B6 supplementation (along with other supplements) is recommended for anyone taking Premarin, according to the Second Edition Handbook titled:
‘Drug Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook’
By Pelton, Ross, RPh, PhD, CCN; LaValle, James B., RPh, DHM, NMD, CCN; Hawkins, Ernest B., RPh, MS; Krinsky, Daniel L., RPh, MS
ISBN 1-930598-45-9
I have found Vitamin B6 supplementation helps quite a bit with cognitive improvement. When low on this vitamin, one can really feel awful.
This Handbook book is expensive to purchase so you might want to request it at your bookstore, take a look at it before purchasing. They recommend lots of other nutritional supplementation due to possible nutrient depletion from taking different kinds of prescription medications.
I notice when they castrate a man, they don’t call it “testicle removal”, i.e. ovary removal. Coincidence?
How does the 5 element acupuncture treatment help with your feeling better, very curious. Does insurance pay for acupuncture?
And is the cognitive function noticably better for you with the 300mg. Choline? Does Choline effect your sleep?
How do you take the DHEA after you separate it into smaller amounts, and can you feel a difference when taking it?
And Thanks for making suggestions, I can say from experience that the, Omega 3,6,9, is very helpful with skin dryness and regular bowel movements as another women suggested it once before and I took her suggestion.
Below is a list of my current daily nutritional supplements. I am age 60 and my castration and hysterectomy surgeries were done to me at age 24.
Five-Element Acupuncture treatments continue to be a part of my healing aids, which I started one year ago.
No prescription is necessary for DHEA if you buy the 25mg capsules and break open the capsules dispensing the smaller daily doses. US law requires a prescription when purchasing the smaller dose capsules. (Illogical, I agree, and similar to the US laws that allow medical doctors to continue to castrate and hysterectomize women and destroy their lives, and lie about it all, legally).
I highly recommend researching each of the items below, on the internet. You will soon discover that some supplements (or website references, books etc. ) suggest some of these products may possibly assist with cancer prevention etc. I have put some of these claims mentioned from these sources, below, next to a few of the products. I make no personal claims regarding these products. Keep in mind I am prevented by US laws from being able to recommend the use of any of these items or suggest their claims are true. I merely state, in my opinion, perhaps these products have helped me. I do not know their-long term effects. I strongly suggest everyone gets reliable professional information (there are many other professionals than the Medical Doctors) and then study YOUR OWN BODY’S NEEDS before attempting to take any nutritional supplements. Every body is different and has different needs, which keep changing with age, in my opinion.
Sometimes it is important to take a supplement early in the morning as it may boost energy levels or aid cognitive function and therefore may possibly keep you awake at night if taken later in the day. Conversely, supplements like certain types of calcium may be taken later in the day as they MIGHT aid sleep patterns, perhaps. Studying each item carefully is very important.
I have just stopped the Ester-C and Bioflavinoids supplements as I felt my body was not tolerating them well, after several months/years of them being beneficial. I suspect this may be due to my body’s recent improvement in absorbing and using Vit C. I guess. Perhaps contributed in part to my just adding the two items at the bottom of the list, to my daily nutritional regime, not sure.
Weather/Seasons of the year and other external factors can sometimes also create the need for adjustments to any daily nutritional regime. My personal opinion and experience has taught me to try each supplement starting with a VERY low dose, most often much less than the daily recommended dose and adjusting upward or downward, as needed. Also, I try each supplement several months apart from introducing any other new supplement. This gives me a better cause/effect basis on which to assess and judge the results of the newly introduced nutritional supplement. Adding several supplements suddenly (at the same time) may cause the body to have a negative reaction which it might not do if supplements are added very gradually. Some brand names are reliable, others produce inferior products, so I list the brands I use. I don’t recommend these brands, I merely suggest they have helped me, in my opinion.
(BRAND/PRODUCTnames)
0.625mg Premarin (Premarin)
is Conjugated Estrogens
1 tablet Multi-Vitamin (Multi Dartrate)
by Dartell Laboratories
1 or 2 capsules daily Omega 3,6,9 oils (Sundown)
Each capsule contains: Flax, Fish
and Borage Oil
Omega 3 total 420mg
Omega 6 total 268mg
Omega 9 total 152mg
1000mg to 1,500mg CAL-MAG (2:1 Ratio) (Solaray)
Calcium and Magnesium
Citrate with Vit D(200IU)
99m Potassium Citrate (The Vitamin Shoppe)
500mg to 1000mg Ester C – Plus (Solgar)
Vitamin C with Rose Hips
1,000mg Citrus Bioflavinoids Complex (Solgar)
400mcg Folic Acid (Solgar)
250mg Vitamin B-5 (Twin Labs)
Pantothenic Acid
100mg Vit B-6 (Solgar)
100mg Vitamin B-1 (Twin Labs)
200 mcg Selenium (Solgar)
30mg Zinc (Twin Labs)
3mg to 5mg DHEA Apothecure Pharmacy
approx 1-800-969-6601
Press Ext 109 to
order over-the-counter
300MG Choline (Source Naturals) –
Glyceryl-phosphorylcholine Alpha GPC
assists cognitive function
50mg Pregnenolone (Life Extension)
1830mcg Iodine (IOSOL
One drop Formula 11)
purchased through
Hallelujah Acres
200mg Chlorophyll (Prime/Pure) Chlorella)
Blue/Green
Algae
500MG L-Lysine (Sundown)
essential amino-acid
to promote production
of collagen for health
and protection of internal
and external skin, skeletal
structure, teeth, venous
system etc.
50mg Alpha Lipoic Acid (Sundown)
(Antioxidant, liver cleanse
aids in cancer recovery etc)
I had a complete hysterectomy six years ago.It is amazing how HERS study reflects what has been happening to me since. from the change in personality right on down the list. I know family and friends have noticed this change in me and it hasn’t been for the best. I never suffered from depression until now. It has been six years and two more serious bouts with cancer since my hysterectomy and I’m trying to cope with the new me. Thank you for this taking this study I knew it wasn’t all my imagination.
If you signed a consent form for female surgery, it is legal for a greedy mentally unstable gynecologist surgeon to remove your healthy sex organs.
Why, because there is a loop-hole in the current consent form for all female sex organ surgery in America. If the greedy surgeon wants more money that day, or is mentally unstable and has issues with the female gender or both, you are in trouble.
Have a lawyer draw up your consent form for any female surgery to come out of the operating room with your sex organs. One in three American women do not have a uterus/sex organ, how absurd and sick is this?.
Mattie
It takes 2 to 3 years for a woman to begin to adjust to the severe damage a hysterectomy/castration causes.
Hysterectomy and castration are an assault on our physical and mental health because of the damage to our endocrine system and hormone balance of our bodies. Hysterectomy/castration also affects our mental health because of the damage to our sexual health due to the removal of our uterus, our main sexual organ.
The ovaries are part of the endocrine system of the female human being. When the functions of the ovaries are disrupted it will effect the natural endocrine hormone balance of the body including enzymes, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, etc., also affecting endorphins and oxytocin the hormone of love and bonding.
I am still researching the endocrine system and female hormones of the female human being to try to understand what happened to my body after an unnecessary hysterectomy with removal of one ovary.
I was an extremely happy content women before I was attacked by a greedy gynecologist surgeon.
It is not your fault that you were lied to either and it is the cause of the body chaos you are experiencing now. It is a shock to a woman’s body and mind to have needed organs removed from her body so suddenly.
It has been very beneficial to me to place the blame where it belongs, on the surgeon and accomplices responsible for harming me by deceit.
CT you hit the nail on the head with the last comment you made about removal of the sexual organs and loss of sexual response. It is logic that is missing from the false information provided to women by a greedy mentally unstable field of gynecologist surgeons to the citizens of this country. It is the responsibility of all of the medical doctors of this country to end this decades long circle of abuse perpetrated on the women and men of this country.
I have been told “off the record” by several gynecologists and two pharmacologists that the effects of hysterectomy/castration are devastating to a woman’s health and wellbeing, “off the record”. It is past time for the silent shame of the false misleading medical information concerning the female sexual organs and their functions to be provided to women and men, doctors must stop attacking us for profit, it is heinous, and not logical for them to continue to veil the truth.
Mattie
I just found out that the information I was provided by my GYN wasn’t accurate. This misinformation lead me to decide to have a total hysterectomy, when one was not needed. When in fact all I need removed was an ovary and a tube. I need some guidance in regards to an unnecessary hysterectomy. Has anyone sued their doctor? What should I do?
I feel terrible since my hysterectomy 2 yrs ago. I live with my three sons and husband who don’t understand me and think I’m going crazy. I feel crazy too. I cry all the time, sometimes I scream and pace back and forth wall to wall like a caged animal and bang my head on the wall. Feels like I can’t talk to anyone and I don’t know what is going on with me. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t found this web site it means more than you will ever know.
I had a hysterectomy and a tummy tuck a little more than a year ago. I am still really swollen, can not wear anything but sweat pants (with a loose elastic band). I feel pretty good, still moving slowly, insides feel like I am full of air, and oftens feels like it shifts from side to side especially when laying on my side. I dont drink or smoke, work out at the gym 4-5 times a week and have done so for 4 years now. I consider myself in very good health and shape. I was reading testimonies on here about the recovery of hysterectomy but has anyone had a tummy tuck at the same time? Wonder why I am not feeling at least 90% yet. Am I rushing it? Are my symptoms normal and relate to the hysterectomy more than the tummy tuck? Please advise…anxious to get back to normal!
My hysterectomy was a year ago and now I have depression worse than before, massive weight gain that my doctor does not recognize, fatique, thoughts of suicide, my body smell is different, etc. What can I do to help my situation???
When a man is castrated he loses all or part of his sexual response. When a woman is castrated she loses all or part of her sexual response. Duh! Yet when a woman tells her doctor she has lost sexual response after he castrated her, her doctor tells her that it is “unusual” or “rare”. ha ha ha ha! It’s so unbelievably stupid and without reason that it would be funny if it wasn’t so torturous and devastating. There are posts on message boards all over the internet from women devastated about the sexual loss, yet no doctor has ever heard of it. Yeah, right. Ladies do not go back to your M.D.’s. They cannot help you and will only harm you more. Go to holistic type doctors. While there’s no way to fix the permanent damage, I’ve found that the right supplements can help somewhat with severe fatigue and the stress and emotional rollercoaster ride that this butchery causes. Nothing gets rid of it, but it has taken the edge off.
I am experiencing several personality changes and partial loss of maternal instincts since my hysterectomy. Is there something I can do? Also we have lost income, and that has not helped.
My hysterectomy was at age 44. Thanks for the information. It is clear there is nothing anyone can do but I find myself still trying anything and everything. Thank you.
Me too, I had a hysterectomy 10 years ago when I was 31 years old. My sexual desire has dwindled to almost non existant. I stopped taking premarin after the first year. I’ve had two doctors put me on their hormone replacement but after a few weeks, I stopped both types of pills. Both times I saw doctors regarding my problem, I was told that it was an unusual side effect and if I took the hormone pills, I would be fine. I took everything they told me but I’m not fine! It didn’t help at all. I used to love sex but now theirs no feeling, I gave up almost 3 years ago. My husband has been very patient but our frustration is starting to take an effect on our relationship. Do you have any information that you can send me that may help my problem?
I had a hysterectomy almost two years ago, and am unable to deal with the physical and emotional consequences. How do you live with it? How do you cope with it? I would appreciate any help. I need to get back to the way I was before. Thank you for being there it means so much to me.
Since I was hysterectomized and castrated in 2006 I have had multiple urinary problems. My urethra continually becomes swollen and urine smells really strong. I’ve had severe hot flashes up to a dozen or more a day. I think most of the women posting here realize that there is no cure for this barbaric surgery. I am sexless. I have no sex drive, I do not become aroused anymore. I was spayed like a cat. I never consented to this surgery, yet woke up with no sex organs. Surprise! I never had a menstrual problem in my whole life, yet a doctor was legally able to alter my consent form and perform an unnecessary surgery on me and no one blinked an eye. What kind of horror show are we living in the United States of America where doctors are allowed to attack women this way? I am no longer fooled by their white coats. I now understand that female sex organ removal is a big corporate business and I am just another victim. I am even more horrified to see posts on here from young women in their teens and early 20’s. It is clear that these criminal doctors have no conscious and have no sense of right/wrong, and all their corporate bosses are just as despicable. I am shocked and traumatized that this was done to me, and even more horrified that this is continually allowed to go on in the United States.
I had to have a complete hysterictamy when I was 25 from having endometriosis now i will be 37 and my life has been hell ever since I suffer insomnia,hot flashes,mood swings,no interest in sex at all, i forget things all of the time,deperssion,well the list goes on and on and I do have to say that I am glad that i ran across this sight to see that I am not alone I didn`t know if I was going crazy or what i do not take any hormone replacements and the weight gain all my God it is so bad i went from 110 to over 200 pds. please anyone if you know anything please help me out
HOW CAN I DEAL WITH FATIGUE, ACHING BONES, AND LOW SEX DRIVE, OOPS, I MEAN NO SEX DRIVE!!!!! I HAD A HYSTERECTOMY AT 31, I AM NOW 33.
It doesn’t even seem REAL that we are even discussing sex organ amputation being anything other than sex organ amputation.
AMPUTATION!
Is there anything that is or has been done at a “State” levelnabout this maltreatment of women.I have dealt with this issue for along time ALONE….I was only 23 when i had my hysterectomy and i still can’t understand fully if it was absolutely necessary for me to have that surgery!!!!
Hello from another 23 year old. I thought I was the only one that had this happen so young. I was 22. I had a hysterectomy just a year ago. I am becoming irratated that I cannot become aroused even though I love my husband deeply when we do seem to have intercourse it is very painful and we realy cant enjoy it together I have taken hormonal therapy and even tried over the counter lubes what else can I do? I have already been to my gyn. and she was going to shoot steroids into me well I do not want to have to put my body through something else anyway I am 23 please help what can I do?
Wow at last I found something that echos everything I have been feeling and thinking. My hysterectomy maimed me. I can’t think of any aspect of my life that is still the same as before the surgery. I could say my past is still the same, but sometimes even that feels like it is slipping away.
I went in because my periods were very heavy and I had to go to the restroom alot. The Dr. made one finger exam and told me that my uterus was falling out. He told me it would only get worse. He then told me that at my age 39, I should have a hysterectomy including my ovaries because I wouldn’t need them any longer anyway. He said that the chances of me getting ovarian cancer were great. He told that he had just lost his mother in law who had ovarian cancer. He gave me no warning of what it would be like afterwards. He did tell me I would be so pleased and I would thank him. I was a size 8, in great health and working out 5 days a week.
I no longer work out , no energy. I am a size 18. I have gained 50 lbs. My mental health is unstable. I no longer care to have sex, this is something I never would have believed. My heart health is at a questionable state. My body aches almost constantly. I am starting to wonder if I can keep up my job. It hurts alot to work more than 6 hours a day.
I don’t use HRT because I felt like an experiment “lets try this for a month”. I want to take something that will help. Mostly I want and need to lose weight. I HATE the way I look and feel, both physically and mentally. I am very angry with the profession that allows this. The insurance company too. I feel they have a responsibility in this as well.
I have floundered a bit with Drs. since and given up. Please please answer me. I really would like to begin some kind of treatment that will help. Thank you.
male in mich.
We just recieved a quarterly magazine published by a local hospital. A lead article is about hysterectomy(sales pitch) In it is a picture of a local woman who exclaims joy at having her sex organs removed. I read the article and while it explains some of the risks, it completely ignores loss of sexual function as a risk. It was basically a sales pitch with pictures of the butchers and some misleading facts. While it conveniently leaves out more of the major risks it does state that this is a surgery performed on 600,000 women yearly. I can’t believe this woman posed and exclaimed joy for having this surgery.(it was about 6months ago) I would like to ask her about 2 or 3 years from now how she feels.
To Anonymous of June 4, 2008, 10:24pm
My sister is a nurse also, and she too has had this surgery. She is in denial about all the adverse effects for herself and others who have had this surgery. I respect her right to be in denial because I understand just how insidious this whole medical web of deceit has been, and how difficult it is for her to imagine that this could be possible. Her sweet mind can not grasp it.
For the average person, it is very difficult to believe the truthful information on this HERS Foundation website and these blogs, posted by innocent victims of this Nazi-type torture.
The medical profession apparently want us victims to ‘prove’ to them scientifically that our post-surgery health issues are related to these surgeries.
Well, I am asking the medical profession to ‘prove’ to me scientifically that I will be ‘whole’ and ‘normal’ and ‘enjoy sex better than before’ and that NONE of my health issues post surgery will be related to my sex-organ surgeries.
It is very difficult for honest, intelligent, caring individuals to believe that another human being could do this to someone else, and then on top of that, HIDE the truth from the person under their medical care who has had this surgery. Hide the truthful information also from their patient’s family, and the public at large.
If this had not happened to me, I would find it almost impossible to believe also. My sister had her surgery about 12 years ago. It has been 36 years since my castration and hysterectomy surgeries. I have had a long time to analyze my situation, my doctors attitudes, and their responses to my medical issues and my general non-health during those years. I am totally convinced the doctors are covering up for each other. It is my opinion that this is all a part of their medical code of ‘conduct’, and they won’t expose or divulge any wrongdoing by a fellow colleague.
Why has no doctor I ever consulted during the 36 years since my surgeries even once suggested I would have great difficulties from the estrogen/collagen connection. Not to mention all the other major issues surrounding these surgeries??????
It is my opinion that there are very few doctors/surgeons who are unaware of the damage they do by recommending or performing these female sex-organ surgeries.
When one considers the VITAL importance and the CENTRAL role of the female sex organs to the female body, (and by extension to the human race) one begins to see how very purposeful, intentional and carefully executed this deceitful plot has been perpetrated upon us all by those hiding behind the white garments and white cloaks in the hallways of our health institutions.
Those of us who have found our voice must speak for our sisters who have not yet found theirs. Those of us who have seen the light must reveal it to others. Just as long as we continue to feel ashamed to admit to ourselves what has happened to us, these horrific surgeries will continue.
The only way to stop this continuing madness is to first admit the truth to ourselves, and then educate others with the truth.
We all need to sign the Hers Foundation Petition to make it mandatory for females to view the HERS DVD before signing a consent form for these surgeries.
I am 23 yrs old and I had a hysterectomy 2yrs ago my doc took out everything and now I have a lot of problems with my back and a lot of other things is this normal and is there anything else I can do???? thank you
When the general public learns that predator doctors have amputated the female sex organs of one-third of the women in the United States, this barbaric “surgery” will end. It’s just unbelievable that in 2008 that these doctors are legally allowed to deceive women and amputate their sex organs for profit. This is corporate America at its very worst.
I had total abdominal hystectormy 2007 and since that time my quality of life all the way around has been terrible and have virtually been ignored from the Doctor that did the surgery. I/we my husband and I literally do not know what to do or where to turn and thought that you might have some answers/support to how to COPE with life such as it is or maybe I should be isn’t?
Believe it or not and I’m embarrassed to say so, but I am a nurse for the same docs who performed my surgery and I’m worried I will lose my job if I sue the doc. The caring and understanding from everyone, it’s like you’ve thrown a rope to drowning women. I can’t thank you enough!
I have so many questions concerning how am i suppose to be feeling after this hysterectomy. I feel like I am at my wits end there are so many conflicting reports about hysterectomy and am i really having symptoms of menapause. Any help you can offer would be so nice. Thank You.
Hi there everyone,
I am posting this as I have not seen a post of recent since May 27th. I am doing this to see if this posts. I guess this is a test.
I am posting to ask a question about anyone who has been prescribed the “Vivelle Dot” Patch.
Is it only prescribed for women who have had their ovaries removed, or for women who are experiencing menopausal symptoms?
I was given this prescription about five months after my Hyst., and have never put on me. I am now wondering why the doctor, who did the Hyst. on me, gave these to me to try. I never complained about menopausal symptoms. I also demanded my ovaries not be removed with this Hyst., but now I question if my ovaries are there.
I guess I am trying to say…did my doctor indeed remove my ovaries, and this is why he was prescribing these patches to me? I just came across this box while clearing out a bathroom cupboard. I thought, Hmmmmm…. why did he give me these?
Any input would be great. I have never had menopausal symptoms as far as hot flashes, etc.; yet, I was given this with ovaries not taken out?
To Anonymous who wrote on June 2nd at 1:45pm…excellent post! It’s amazing when you think about all the health benefits of our ovaries and all they did for us. One could write volumes.
It took two years after being hysterectomized and castrated before the bladder problems (specifically stress and urge incontinence) really began for me. First off let me mention that I am only 35, never had kids, and am fairly thin and exercise and eat very healthy. There is no other reason for me to have this problem, except that having my uterus removed (and also an episiotomy at the time of my hysterectomy that I did not consent to) quadruples my risk of bladder problems. I have wet the bed, peed my pants after sneezing or laughing, even leaked for no reason. It is totally humiliating and frustrating. I can’t begin to imagine the experiences of the women whose bladders were damaged during hysterectomy and all they have to live with. Sadly that too is not as uncommon as doctors would have us believe. I have read at least 50 or more stories of bladder or ureter damage as a result of hysterectomy. It doesnt surprise me since the bladder is so close to the uterus.
I have to make sure I go to the bathroom every two hours to try to avoid accidents. Wearing light pants is risky. And yes I am on bioidentical hormone replacement. It doesn’t matter. It’s not the same as having your own ovarian hormones and hrt is not designed for women in surgical menopause.
I have also been getting migrainal type headaches again recently that just stop me in my tracks. Never had them in my life til my hysterectomy. And the digestive problems! Oh yes. I thought the endometrisois made me nauseated before. Since my hysterectomy I have been battling nausea, flatulence, yeast, and irritable bowel problems continuously. Lately it is getting worse again. I have no appetite and feel like I am going to throw up all the time. I get this way especially when I am constipated. I have read too that it is common to have digestive problems with severe estrogen deficiency. Women in menopause are encouraged to take an increased dosage of calcium because their digestive systems do not absorb it as well. Calcium needs estrogen and vice versa to work.
It’s interesting when you go to hysterectomy forums and read about women who say they feel the same or better than ever since their hysterectomy and almost all of them just had it less than a few months to a year ago. Most of them probably havent begun to experience the long term effects of sex organ deprivation. And then there are those who claim to feel so much better years later and then you see them posting in other forums with problems they dont connect to their hysterectomies but to those of us who have been around the block with this and have been educated (albeit too late) in our quest to find answers it is blatently obvious. Problems like depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis, ibs, insomnia, tinnitis, migraines, high blood pressure, heart problems, chronic pelvic pain, the list goes on can all be linked to the loss of our ovarian hormones whether we had our ovaries removed or not (even just loss of the uterus and severing of nerves can disrupt blood flow to the ovaries and cause them to cease working. Women in natural menopause continue to secrete small amounts of estrogen and testosterone from the ovaries and these problems are more gradual and less intense. Had I known all that I do now I too would never have had this done unless I was absolutely dying. As it is now I have a potentially life threatening disease called osteoporosis that I am fighting daily. Without my ovaries that were fully functioning before being castrated it’s an uphill battle.
Belle,
Yes, please do request a copy of all your medical records pertaining to your hysterectomy, including surgical and pathology reports and follow up visits after your hysterectomy. It is your legal right. I know I was surprised at what I found in my records that had not been told to me, and what I didn’t find that WAS told to me. The whole episiotomy thing I didn’t find out about til six weeks after my surgery. I couldn’t understand why my vagina was so scarred and hurt so much and why it felt so different. It also hurt to find out my uterus was completely healthy, aside from a spot of endo on a ligament attached to the uterus. All of my endometriosis had been in places outside of my sex organs except my ovaries and even there the endo was on the housing around one of my ovaries, not the ovary itself. My ovaries could have been saved. I never had a chance to just have the endometriosis removed and my organs preserved. My first laparoscopy was diagnostic only. Sad…Good luck to you Belle in getting the answers you deserve!
I will never be able to totally trust the medical community or specifically any doctor again. I should have listened to my own instincts and RAN when I heard hysterectomy mentioned in the gynecologist’s office…
Belle, you should get a copy of your medical records so you can find out exactly what was done to you.
To Mrs. McKenzie (and anyone contemplating hysterectomy surgery)
Just do an internet search using these two words, together:
Estrogen Collagen
After you have read several of those internet links, including Wikipedia’s definitions of these two words, you will begin to understand why the removal of any estrogen-producing, female sex organ (including the uterus) is so devastating to any woman who has had this surgery. Without all the different types of naturally-produced estrogen being generated within your body, the collagen production in your body is severely affected.
The fact that some women may not immediately experience ALL the severe after effects immediately following their surgery, does not mean they will not experience these severe after effects later in life (should they live long enough).
Each woman is different and has a different genetic makeup. Perhaps some women have a stronger collagen component and therefore may not suffer the immediate after-effects of the estrogen-collagen connection.
Some of the internet links mentioned above clearly explain and reveal the obvious, logical connection to what the loss of estrogen/collagen will do to the body. I mention below only a few of the more obvious ones:
1)
Increasing loss of bladder control. This includes the ‘extreme urgency’ symptoms which will eventually lead to loss of sleep and/or interrupted sleep. Chronic Fatigue will result from lack of sleep and/or interrupted sleep patterns which occur with needing to urinate during your normal 8-hour night-time rest. The severity of these ‘urgency’ pains wake you from the deepest sleep or interrupt your normal daytime and mental focus/concentration activities. Chronic fatigue is often the result of lack of sleep, and if left untreated, may be fatal.
The above results are likely to be caused due to the structural integrity and the muscles of the bladder being affected by the loss of estrogen/collagen.
2)
Scientists have proven that there are certain liver functions which are only performed at the deepest level of sleep. When deep-sleep patterns are non-existent or very limited, impaired liver function will result.
3)
Stomach and digestive issues including flatulence, constipation, acid reflux issues due to the thinning of the walls and lining of the stomach and that of the entire digestive system, caused by the loss of estrogen/collagen. It is my personal opinion that the absorption and retention of water necessary for use in the ‘normal’ process of digestion and other body processes, is also severely affected.
4)
Painful intercourse due to the accelerated thinning of the walls and structure of the vagina due to sudden/rapid loss of estrogen/collagen, post surgery.
5)
Increasing Eyesight difficulties (including torn retinas or detached retinas etc) due to lack of estrogen/collagen
6)
Senile Purpura (hemorrhage-like incidents of blood vessels) due to weakened blood vessels throughout the body due to loss of estrogen/collagen.
7)
Increased likelihood of different types of strokes due to rapid loss of estrogen/collagen. Wikipedia’s definition of STROKE,( in part), quote:
“ … Stroke IS THE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING LOSS OF BRAIN FUNCTIONS DUE TO A DISTURBANCE IN THE VESSELS SUPPLYING BLOOD TO THE BRAIN. THIS CAN BE DUE TO ISCHEMIA (lack of blood supply) CAUSED BY THROMBOSIS OR EMBOLISM, OR DUE TO A HEMORRHAGE … ”
8)
Headaches due to thinning walls and loss of integrity of the entire venous system due to loss of estrogen/collagen.
9)
Neurological difficulties due to lack of estrogen/collagen.
10)
Muscle difficulties and muscle weakness due to loss of estrogen/collagen
11)
Skeletal problems, including joint pains and teeth issues due to loss of estrogen/collagen
12)
Weakened immune system due to malfunctioning of the endocrine system. Hormone producing organs are a part of the body’s endocrine system. The body’s endocrine system works in harmony and as a whole unit, together. When you surgically remove one or more of these hormone-producing organs, you interrupt the normal flow and interaction between these organs. Your body will never be able to function ‘normally’ again and as it was created to function, after removal of any of your hormone-producing sex organs, for obvious reasons.
Surgical removal of a woman’s sex organs can not be reversed and the surgical after-effects are permanent.
No tablet or patch can replace the normal ebb and flow of the many different types of estrogen along with the other hormones and substances produced by your own endocrine system and body as a whole. These hormones and substances all act in harmony, together, while keeping pace with your entire body’s needs as a whole unit.
From my own experience and the experience of other women, clearly the medical industry expects us women to investigate what the loss of estrogen will do to our bodies. I say this because they have failed to give us any comprehensive information on this particular matter before or after these female sex-organ surgeries are done to us. I speak from my own personal experience.
In my personal opinion, and because of what I have suffered due to the medical industry’s lack of full disclosure, misinformation, lies and deceit I experienced prior to (and after) my sex-organ surgeries, I do not recommend female sex-organ removal until the prospective surgical patient is FULLY informed prior to surgery. This is my personal opinion.
I would never have chosen to be castrated and hysterectomized, if I had been told the truth and been fully informed by the medical industry, prior to surgery.
Please help – anyone…
I just found from going through my
cupboard of medications a prescription for “Vivelle-Dot 0.075 MG Patch”
It was prescribed to me five months after my Hysterectomy. Can anyone help answer a question; in that, the doctor prescribed this, but isn’t this for women who have had their ovaries removed? Also, it can be prescribed for women who are experiencing menopause – if I am right.
Well, if this be the case(s), and this is what I hope for feedback on; why was it prescribed to me? I did not want my ovaries removed with the Hyst. surgery. I never once said after the Hyst. that I experienced menopausal symptoms. So why, oh why would this doctor prescribe this?
I was concerned and complained after I had my Hyst., and the doctor who did the surgery did have me have an ultrasound after it to check things out due to my complaints. I remember a technician doing this procedure stating to me (when I asked), that she did not see my ovaries. I was told afterwards by the doctor that “This happens with an ultrasound.” I did have this statement stick in the back of my mind; however, with wondering if this was true.
Then I find this prescription. Did my ovaries get removed during the Hyst., and was he covering his bases by giving me this medication?
My question again is this:
Does anyone know any other reason a doctor would prescribe this Vivelle Patch to a patient; if their ovaries were intact, and if
so; why prescribe this medication to a woman who was not experiencing and menopausal symptoms?
Again, please help. My thoughts are now, with finding this are…
Did he take my ovaries with the Operation/Hysterectomy, and was he covering his bases by giving this
to me; i.e., this medication patch for me to feel better after the ovaries being removed? Hey, if my ovaries were not removed; then why
prescribe these Vivelle patchs?
Again, I never complained to him after my Hyst., that I was suffering with any menopausal symptoms. Did I have my ovaries removed, and this is a cover-up?
I surely would appreciate any feedback from all of you out there.
With fond regards,
Belle
TQ you sure have spelled this horror out correctly.
My crotch feels more like it did before puberty with no sexual feelings then the sexual sensual women I was before I was attacked by a greedy surgeon. The doctors in this country can perpetuate lies for profit legally regarding a women’s sexuality, how cruel. We damaged women who are honest will stop this horrific circle of abuse called hysterectomy by deceit.
At the age of 19 I had my uterus removed due to endometrois and am now having alot of medical problems and according to your site they may all be related and I was never told 90% of the side effects that I found on your site and now I’m scared. I’m 22. What can I do to feel like “me” again? Please help me.
For those who find it difficult to support HERS in their quest to provide women with the factual education of what one is agreeing to when they consent to hysterectomy and then the consequences – I wonder how many female lives it will take to give you pause. We live in a time where women are drugged for a good portion of their lives with estrogens (BCP, HRT). How have we changed the way healthy women age.
If the present rationales are acceptable, when the number affected goes from 600,000 to 1,200,000 and then to 1,800,00 will we still say that women’s conditions are complex – and then seek to reduce the very complexity that defines them as a woman.
Will the conditions that are commonly treated via hysterectomy lessen as time goes on when more and more treatments and drugs come out directly for the female reproductive system.
When there are women in greater numbers affected will it be easier to have one’s complaints heard and disabilty accepted.
I think not…….
To Mrs. MacKenzie,
I just read your post. I find you have valid questions. I would hope you be sure to get valid answers from GYNs, and be sure to get as many opinions as what makes you feel comfortable. You need to be sure to write out what you do and do not want to have happen with any type of surgery. The Hers Foundation is of great reference for help to guide you for answers on researching with your questions.
As far as the people you have heard of who have done well after a Hyst.; well, I think that is great, but when you take into account, after reading all the women who have posted here with their horrific experiences; would it not lead you to believe the surgery is questionable? My big statement to you is this: THERE IS NO GOING BACK, once you have this operation. Please research all alternatives. Make this the last resort; not the only; as what my GYN told me. It is great these people you have heard of have come out well after a Hyst., but I guarantee if you check the percentages of women who feel better after one…you will be amazed of the higher percentage who suffer rather than feel better.
Ask yourself if you want to take this chance…I wouldn’t, had I known….
My mother-in-law pushed my husband into pushing me into a Hyst. also. This might be an awful thing to say, but I think she wanted me to be in the same boat, so to speak, she has been in for the last thirty years. I feel she wanted me to feel her anguish she has not been able to announce herself. She has some significant physical problems; which I guarantee stemmed from her Hyst., but this was thirty years ago. Who would listen to her back then?
I highly recommend to relish in all these posts as women (and men) reaching out to help, and imploring other women to refrain from this insane act by doctors. We may sound “one-sided”, but I am one to stand tall and state there could be nothing further from this as being “one-sided”.
Good luck to you. Be wise with your choices. I am so happy you found this site!
One poster commented that “hysterectomy was a valid option” in resolving female benign pelvic conditions.
The problem with this belief and the reason for the HERS video and petition is that the details, risks and consequences of the surgical procedure hysterectomy are not readily shared with the public.
Each INDIVIDUAL woman should not have to rely on a private discussion with her doctor in order to find out this information as it has left much room for doctor’s to sway and/or coerce a women toward hysterectomy – when it’s suppose to be each woman’s choice and an option.
No, what women have experienced instead:
– individually being told her condition is an emergency
– individually being provided hysterectomy as the only option
– individually not provided informed consent
– individually having complaints ignored or denied
– and, individually being dismissed
While this is unacceptable and I believe no reasonable woman or man would want women’s option and choice denied – this has indeed been the order of the day. Confirmed by any medical website, hospital website, and the posters here.
The consequences of the surgery are quite horrific and while the medical community attempts to lull the public with arguments and logic to the contrary – these arguments don’t hold up to any true test of basic reasoning.
We live in a society that attempts to treat female imbalances with drugs and surgery, two things that will never support female balance. Apparently, there are those who are desperate to separate women from their reproductive/sexual organs, no matter how many women are harmed in the process.
HERS has pointed out that these are women with benign conditions, in no danger of death. And if these conditions were properly addressed, these women would go on to live out their natural lives. Instead we remove organs and tell women its the same as menopause (why is it not the same as puberty?), we tell women that a uterus (breast, ovary, etc.) does not make a woman, and we tell women nothing has changed.
No matter how many “replacement” vitamins we stuff into a Twinkie, it will never contain the power and quality of an properly grown apple. Why would we not think the same holds true for the bio-chemistry of a woman??
Hormones are primarily the result of life processes, not their cause. A healthy female body will produce the amount of estrogen best suited to her constitution. (Bertram von Zabern, MD)
Women and men alike have all been duped by the medical and pharmaceutical industries for their own personal gain and probably even less dubious reasons. But we can all join with HERS and put an end to this for the lives of the women posted here, for the lives of women all the generations before us, and for the lives of the women to come.
Women should have the option to live out their natural lives, free and intact, if that be our choice.
To April,
Please take HERS advice very seriously and go to one of there recommended gynos for a second opinion. I wish I had found HERS long before I had my hysto and totally ruined my life. There are many “rare complications” that the doctors don’t tell you about and evidently are not required to tell you about even after they happen until they are halled into court. Don’t let this happen to you. Don’t take their word as Gold. Do all your research first and then more if you have to. If I can just stop one women from experiencing the pain and anguish of what I am going through everyday it would make life just a little easier. Let us know how you make out and good luck.
To April who just posted:
I had the same symptoms you are experiencing. My GYN told me I had Fibroids and MUST HAVE a Hysterectomy as soon as possible due to the heavy blood loss each period. I know the people at Hers cannot advise you and say NOT to get a Hysterectomy, but please, oh please, my dear…read all who have posted here and what they experience now after a Hyst., and there are alternatives to fibroids. I wish I would have known. The complications you very well may experience after a Hyst. are much worse than anything you have going on now. Listen to what Hers has advised you thus far, and be sure to get other opinions as directions. Just make sure you read all these posts, and make your wisest decision then. I thought with the heavy bleeding and blood like clots coming out of me back then (before the Hyst.) I surely could not continue on that way, but I would rather have taken that, then what I experience now – after my Hyst., and I could not be more sincere with this statement.
Take care, April – wish you the best.
April,
The only cause of passing very large blood clots is a fibroid that’s submucosal, one that is located in the inside layer of the uterus, in the endometrium. A submucosal fibroid that is 4cm. or smaller can be shelled out with a hysteroscope, a surgery that is performed vaginally. If it’s larger than 4 cm. you would need a myomectomy, a surgery that would require a horizontal incision just above the pubic bone, and the fibroid would be cut out and the hole created in the uterus would be sutured back together in layers.
The first step is to ask a doctor (it can be a gynecologist, but it can be any doctor, such as a family doctor or internist) for a written order for a pelvic and transvaginal ultrasound. Then call the best hospital near you, ask for the Radiology Department, and tell them you have a written order from a doctor for a pelvic and transvaginal ultrasound and they will schedule an appointment for you. The radiologist’s report will be sent to the doctor who order the study. You can call the secretary and tell her you’d like the report sent to you. Then contact HERS at 610.667.7757 to ask someone to review the report with you so that you can discuss it with your doctor with sufficient information in hand to know your treatment options.
I am a 32 year old woman with a fibroid tumor, I have have constant irregular very heavy periods which can last for up o 3 months at a time, and sometimes I will be without a period for up to 4 months. Just resently my period came on and I have been passing huge blood clots quite often which I haven’t experienced before, I mean I have had clots before but never this much. Is this normal?
To Mrs. MacKenzie, I’m so glad you found this site too! Now you can find a doctor who will preserve your organs and actually help you. You should call the HERS Foundation on Tuesday at (610) 667-7757 to get information about your condition, and help with finding a doctor in your area. You are smart to ask how you can avoid any unauthorized procedures because it’s very scary to know that a doctor can amputate all your organs while you are under anesthesia without your consent. I authorized a doctor to do a minor exploratory surgery to remove a cyst, and woke up with all my healthy organs amputated. It’s just been a nightmare, and these doctors are doing this to women all over the United States. Run far away from any doctor that suggests a hysterectomy. Hysterectomy/castration causes extensive damage to your body. It’s a horrible barbaric surgery. Keep us posted and let us know how you are doing!
I am so glad I found your site. I have gyno problems and am seeing my gyneacologist in 10 days. I have pain and heavy bleeding and all my friends are urging me to have a hysterectomy and my SIL thinks I am out of my mind because I am resistant to this. She recently had a hysterectomy and says she has never felt better and many women who she has nursed (she is a nurse) tell her that they are so happy that they had their hysterectomies done. Sites like these are the only places where you get other information.
I just want to have a laporoscopy to see what is causing my pain. I have cysts on my ovaries, fibroids and scar tissue due to having 3 c-sections. My main concern is pain on ovulation, during menstruation and rectal bleeding that occurs during menstruation.
What can I do to make sure that my doctor doesn’t undertake any unauthorised procedures during my laporoscopy?
I want to keep all my bits and pieces but how do I manage the pain and blood loss I am suffering from now. I use a progesterone cream which is wonderful and has helped a lot. I am 41.
Thank you to all those ladies who are willing to share their stories so that people like me can make informed decisions about our bodies.
Warmly, Mrs MacKenzie
I was also shocked and horrified when I read the facts on the HERS website. To learn that hysterectomy/castration increases your risk of heart attacks is a nightmare. How many women have been told that by their gynecologist before he performed this barbaric surgery on them? How many women knew that their vagina would be shortened and sewn into a pocket? It is so beyond disgusting and criminal and just really hard to believe that this is continually allowed to go on in the United States.
I just read the facts on ur website,and I’m horrified I was never told none of these facts,if I were do u think I would have went threw with this.I hate this,I think this should seriously be banned,I never knew I’d loose my hair,I can’t take the HRT so they say I need,I don’t know what to do,I need help with this,I feel like I’m going crazy.I’m glad I found this site,It is very imformative, it helps to read what happened to other women.I need to no what HRT should I take for my skin.nails,hair,I ‘m scared to go to a doctor,I had so many different hormones the he put me on ,he said he had to figure out what one I needed, I need something I want my hair back,my skin,my nails,sexual drive I want the pain to go away,can u please please help me.
To “Man in Mich.”:
It did my heart so good to see a husband posting here. It sounds as if you have before. Good for you, for your concern and love. You just have to be one supportive man. All of us who suffer after a Hyst. need more men like you out there. Never give up on your wife. She suffers greatly, and needs…as I feel which you are already doing, someone to understand her; especially you!!!
If the tables were turned, and you had your penis cut off and testicles, would your wife still be there for you? I don’t know you, but I imagine she would. This is the problem with some men with their spouses/significant others, after their women go through this…they cannot relate. I put it bluntly to my husband. I said just that…”How would you feel if you had your…”
That was all it took. He was supportive before, but did not quite understand; as he said his mother had a Hyst. (years ago), and she was “okay” after it. Hmmm, I wonder if she doesn’t realize that the aches and pains she has complained about with her back and legs over the years are because of her Hyst., plus her insomnia, her loss of hair, her skin problems, etc., etc. She was
in a different generation when she had her Hyst.; however. Heaven forbid a woman complain in the 1960’s about a female problem after a Hyst. – it would be all in her “head”. She did tell me she had a horrible time after her Hyst. back then with moodiness, and a lot had to do with the physical pains and felt no one was listening to her. She had to put up and shut up. She had a very forceful mother too; who felt she was just being ‘soft’ and whining; and her mother would tell her that she needed to concentrate on her four children and keeping house, and move on. I am sorry for any woman who had a Hyst. prior to the nineties; because, I do believe women were supposed to do just this. Oh, and how about; as I said, living and being a woman in the 60’s, having a Hyst., as my mother-in-law, and being told this…by her own mother!!! It is ghastly now what we women still go through, but can one imagine dealing with this back then? I do not think I would have survived having four children to take care of, a husband, and a home; and to feel the way I do now…(might as well just pointed the way to the “Funny Farm”…)
Again, “Man in Mich.” – I commend you, I admire you, and if there is a Heaven; you will be there at those ‘Pearly Gates’, and that keeper of the gates will highly likely let you in, because of this alone…
Give your wife a hug…have your wife give you a hug…you deserve it!!!
I had a hysterectomy for endometriosis over a year ago. A full hysterectomy. I am still having pains in the same place I had pain before. I don’t know if the endometriosis is back. There should be nothing there to attach to. I don’t know if there is any scar tissue or not. I just want to know if anyone else has had this happen after surgery. What can I do about the pain?
I had a hysterectomy for endometriosis over a year ago. A full hysterectomy. I am still having pains in the same place I had pain before. I don’t know if the endometriosis is back. There should be nothing there to attach to. I don’t know if there is any scar tissue or not. I just want to know if anyone else has had this happen after surgery. What can I do about the pain?
I had a hyserectomy with BSO last year. I was only 26. I had to have complete recontrcutive surgery alsmot a year after that. The new dr thinks it is from the hysterectomy. I am not sure what to do. I have no sex drive, no energy. I am on hormones, but we can’t find the right dose. I have hot flasshes and major mood swings. I am just looking for some kind of information that might help me.
I have been so tired and I can’t sleep very well ever since I had a partial hysterectomy. They took everything but my overies. Is this normal to be so tired and no energy after 11 months?
Regarding recommendations such as estrogens,
Although it’s good to know what can help in any way with the adverse effects of hysterectomy and castration please investigate the known adverse effects of drugs and devices before trying them. Sally may realize using Estring increases her risk of stroke, deep vein thrombosis, dementia, gall bladder disease, retinal vascular thrombosis, and impaired liver function, but the women to whom she strong recommends it may not.
Again, I urge you to comment about your own experiences, good and bad, with any drug or device, not to make recommendations to others to do what you have chosen as the right thing for yourself. If they knew the actual risks they might well make a different choice.
These are only the known adverse events that Pfizer is compelled by FDA to reveal to the public. After receiving full disclosure of the known risks some women may decide those are risks they’re willing to take for any improvement with the problems they are experiencing. Others may feel they’re risks they are not willing to take. As with hysterectomy, No information? No consent!
I have been using estring now for about a month. I love it. It has given me back a little of myself. I feel more lubricated and the constant dull pain in my vulval and vagina has now gone. I insert the ring and forget about it. I was on vagifem but was depressed by this as the insertion of the tablet twice weekly was a bitter reminder of what was done to me. I have no ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, or cervix – bar one ovary – all removed though the pathology report stated ‘healthy in appearance’.
Mich. You could suggest to your wife to book some massage (aromatherapy massage is lovely). It really does re awaken the senses in the largest organ in the body – the skin. Perhaps give it to her as a present – but check first she may not be happy to be touched. There are many other areas of massage – Indian head, foot, reflexology, hand; it doesn’t have to be full body. But I strongly recommend them.
As I do the estring. BTW on intercourse (yep I never thought I EVER say that again) my husband can’t feel it. Plus the pain at the top of the vagina has gone as well. It’s worth checking out.
male in mich.
have been away for a while and returned here to read accounts and see if anything can help me with my wife. My wifes hyst. was 51/2 yrs ago going on 6yrs. Even though she had what they termed a partial (ovaries left)she started menopause symtoms within a 6 month to year period. Now her menopause symtoms continually getting worse. This is an example of how she is treated by her doctor: They are giving her estridiol(estrogen cream). No relief or worse results. She follows the doctors advice like a manual of health. I have argued she needs something else. Should menopause symtoms last 4 or more years. I think she has other issues. She has no thyroid but heaven help me she is not getting much help from the quacks she’s seeing. I know she has a shunted endocrine system but she is getting old fast. At mid 50’s she should be more active. Just gets less and less interested in doing things she used to enjoy. I’m more depressed than I was a year ago. She has no feelings for intimacy, no energy, lack of social interaction desire, the list goes on and on. I recommended NHRT and she basically told me to “fly off”(kinder use of words) My sex drive is in overdrive yet and she can’t get it out of neutral(I now understand her fate because of surgery). I’ve said it before, men suffer too, especially husbands and boyfriends. Guys, if your wife or girlfriend is contemplating this hysterectomy thing become proactive and STRONGLY do the homework. PERMANENT emotional damage to your relationship is very likely.
To Anonymus May 19, 7:58pm
I was castrated and had my uterus and cervix removed at age 24. So you and I would have been the same age at the time of our surgeries. That was 36 years ago.
I must have had a good surgeon because I did not suffer from any apparent ‘surgical errors’. Within 6-WEEKS (not months) I would say I still felt just a little soreweak inside, but nothing that did not gradually heal within the next few months. It was nothing I would call pain after 6-weeks, as it was so very vague.
In my opinion, 6-MONTHS is FAR TOO LONG for you to be still in ‘pain’ since your surgery.
I did not have a bladder suspension, and my guess is that adding the bladder suspension may be contributing to your post-surgery problems and pain. This ‘foreign’ matter is now inside your body, and you may be going through some body-rejection to this new sling. Also, you may be experiencing some reaction to any additional medication you may be taking for having this ‘foreign’ matter inside your body. Just a thought.
In my opinion, these gynecologists/surgeons suggest additional procedures to the sex-organ surgery so they can blame something else going wrong, when you find out after your sex-organ surgery, that your life has turned into a nightmare. They also probably do this to try to protect themselves from possible legal action for doing this to you. I mean, creating something else they can blame, ‘the sling’.
Also, it just means extra (Ching! Ching!) money in their pockets if they can persuade you to do as much surgery as you are willing to agree to. Just my opinion.
It it were me in your position, I would not delay, I would begin by discussing your details with the HERS Foundation. I would also seriously consider taking legal action against your surgeon etc. There is no good reason for you to be suffering and in pain 6 months after this type of sex-organ surgery, and especially if the doctor did not forewarn you (before the surgery) to expect to suffer and be in pain 6 and more months after the surgery.
When these doctors do not tell you to expect the outcomes that you end up getting, after sex-organ surgery, sue, sue, and sue again. These are nothing more than criminals in disguise.
Their actions reveal what they truly are, despicable creatures!!!
By the way, it is Belle who just posted to ‘RareSong’. I hope you will respond, and let us know how you are doing with your endeavors.
To: RareSong
I am sorry I did not read your post earlier. Do not, I repeat, do not listen to those doctors who you just saw. Run…as fast as you can away from them; especially, the second doctor who came in to examine you and gave you a disgusted look when you asked your questions. How dare him! That alone should be enough for you not to trust what he says. Oh, and the vertical cut – Hah! Is this doctor for real? Please, oh please, do not have a Hyst., and I had fibroid tumors, and did not need a Hyst., and I was told the same thing; that they were so large, and had to be removed by taking my uterus. There are alternatives. You must research, and even go outside your vicinity to find a good doctor. I hope you will heed this advice. Listen to all of the women who have posted here. Do you really want to end up like one of us?
As far as having children and your age…you are fine. God gave us these bodies. We are a fine working machine, and if we still have monthly cycles, we can have children, and that is how nature is. Stupid doctors to even state that to you. I mean it – how dare that doctor relay that to you. I had my second child when I was almost 37. My mother had her fourth child when she was 41. A close friend of mine had her third child when she was 43. All of us are just fine, and so grateful for these beautiful beings we helped bring into this world. Tell those doctors you saw to take a hike…to you know where…
What you most likely are experiencing with the fibroid tumors are heavy periods and painful ones. There are solutions for this. What you want to concentrate on is not getting too anemic right now; so watch that, and get on a good iron supplement for starters, and a good multiple vitamin, and plenty of fluids. I recommend a multi-vitamin that women usually take when pregnant. Then; as I said research for another doctor to see you to help you with alternatives to your fibroid tumors. Knowledge to the alternatives is the key here. By all means, save your uterus. Please heed these words. Above all, get rid of at least that one doctor who looked at you that way. That is just awful!!! Any doctor who would give me a disgusting look and attitude when I am asking questions about a life and body altering surgery is a doctor who should not be practicing medicine. Sorry, but this really, really angers me. Actually, I should not say ‘Sorry’, but Hallelujah you have come to this site to gain insight and help making much more wise decisions than these doctors are providing you with. Thank goodness you have not gone through with what they said.
Good luck with your research, but do not give in to a Hysterectomy. I am sorry for your financial burdens. I can truly relate, but you might face more financial woes after a Hyst. than by not having one. I know I have. There is no going back after having your uterus removed. There are alternatives to alternatives; however. I am not a doctor. I am not one to give medical advice, but I am one to share with you what I experienced, just as so many others have here what they now experience and have to live with after this surgery. You are hearing it ‘first hand’ from us who are, in a way, the experts of unwanted experiences. Oh, and I left out ‘unnecessary’ experiences also.
It gladdens my heart when someone posts here who has found this site
who has not had a Hyst., but told she needs one, and feel we might save her from doing it. Have you watched the Hers video yet? Have you researched all the areas of this website? Have you read all the people who have posted their stories yet? I wish I would have known about this. I would have bolted out of my GYN’s office.
Take care, RareSong. Research, research, research, and take the vitamin supplements to help you right now. You really are a target by these two doctors; it truly sounds like this; at least with that one doctor.
I am having a ‘Great’ day knowing I may have touched you with words to help you stop from having a horrible injustice done to your body and your life.
I have checked posts daily lately; reading posts from women who have posted before, but also new participants, who find this site and share their personal stories of how they have been mislead by their doctors, and now suffer with what most of us have as the same issues, problems, and wanting help.
This is so SICK!!!
I write this now due to Anonymous who just posted on May 19th. You are only 24 years old. You state your doctor told you it will take time. It has been seven months as you stated. I heard the very same thing from the GYN. who performed my Hyst., but he actually said it could take a year to a year and a half for me perhaps due to my RSD; a nerve disease I have, and had prior to the Hyst. operation. I know now he was passing me off by making this statement. Talk about having faith in a doctor…
Okay, point here is…yes, I am sick of reading all of these statements. Anonymous, who I refer to who just posted. My heart goes out to you, as with everyone here. Just do not think your life is over. You are too young, but D— the doctor who put you to this point. I have a daughter who is only 22. This has happened to me; the damage done by having a Hyst., but something about your post sparked me. I thought if this happened to my daughter, I would be even more furious. I feel I am already, but, the mother in me would come out, and that would be that! I hope it will never come to a point a doctor do this to my daughter because his career would be over. A doctor may get away with doing this to me, but not my daughter. My motherly wings will spread, and heaven help the doctor who even tries to do this to my baby.
Don’t give up, Anonymous at 24. Don’t give in to this doctor, either. Get mad at him/her, and demand answers. I think so many doctors feel we women will just ‘cave’ in, and put up and shut up. Women have done this for too long.
I also would ask all of you out there to write to the Oprah Winfrey show. I have tried three times, but no response. If we did it in numbers, to ask for them to air a show regarding this, it just might happen. We need to have Nora and Rick on there; along with some of us who also can first hand share these stories we have to confirm what doctors are doing to women. How about it, everyone? Write to Oprah, and I hate to speak for Nora and Rick, but I can only imagine they would be only too happy to speak on national T.V.
One voice may not be heard, but in numbers, we may get response. I am sending an email tonight. Please do the same asap. Write your congressperson also asap. This is getting to the point of the “Twilight Zone” with these unnecessary hysts. being performed. How dare this doctor do it to you, Anonymous at 24…, let alone all of us who have had it done at ages 25 and above. My heart went out to the 28 year old female I spoke with at the Hers Foundation conference in November of this last year. She was so sad that she could not have anymore children. She found out after her hyst. that it was not necessary. I did not know this woman at all, but in a matter of ten minutes, during a break, we shared a deep understanding with each other of how this has devastated our lives, and we were already great comrades in a kindred spirit. We were there for the same reasons. We wanted to find hopefulness with this tragedy of our bodies. We were begging for answers to help heal our physical and emotional wounds.
We all should be (and I am sure all of us are) so very thankful for all the time and efforts Nora, Rick and comrades put into this cause. If there is a stronger word for ‘Saints’, I would use it here. In the meantime; accept my humble reference to you, Nora, Rick, and others at the Hers Foundation. I am one of many who do not know what I would do without this Foundation; as I said before…because I know I am not alone.
Take care all, and take care Anonymous at 24. Hang in there, Girl! We are here to listen! Write Oprah!!!
I had a partial hysterectomy with a bladder suspension, I’m 24yrs old. and think my life is over. i’ve had nothing but problems and pain. my doc says it takes time to heal. its been 7 months…is it enough time? After 7 months I think that there will never be enough time for it to heal, it’s healed and I’m in constant pain. I can’t live with this much longer.
I had a hysterectomy 2 years ago at age 44. My ureter was nicked during the time and I underwent several repair surgeries and procedures.
I have had one complication after another, all originating from the hysterectomy. I am about to begin physical therapy treatment now to the pelvic floor for the residual problem. I’m accumulating tremendous debt after losing my business because of this error. This complication is common and is accepted as an error. However, 2 years later and still undergoing the ramifications and suffering monetarily. I am over my head in debt now. I am so overwhelmed by debt and so tired of fighting a battle and getting no where. It warms my heart to know someone cares. Please keep telling everyone about this nightmare called hysterectomy. Thank you.
I HAD A TOTAL HYSTERECTOMY IN MARCH, NOW I AM EXPERIENCING SEVERE PROBLEMS WITH PELVIC PAIN, STOMACH CRAMPS AND PAIN, VERY SEVERE PAIN WHEN I ATTEMPT TO HAVE SEX, TO THE POINT OF HAVING TO STOP ALL TOGETHER. MY GYN. DR. WHO DID MY SURGERY SAY’S ITS NOTHING, HAVE ME AN RX FOR ESTROGEN CREAM TO PUT IN MY VAGINA AND THATS IT. NO EXPLANATION, NOTHING FOR THE PAIN, ACTED LIKE IT WAS NOT A BIG DEAL. I GO DAYS WITHOUT A BOWEL MOVEMENT….HAVE THE WORST PELVIC AND STOMACH PAINS I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED IN MY LIFE, EVEN THE PAIN I HAD FROM ENDOMETREOSIS WAS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THIS. PLEASE HELP ME.
The human body works in unison, and as a whole unit, together.
First line of defense should not be to amputate body parts for common ailments. That should be an absolutely very last resort!
To suggest amputating a malfunctioning part of the body is so gross!!!!
If these gynecologists don’t know how to fix the problem, they owe it to their patients to say,
‘Sorry, I do not know how to help you to reverse this condition or to prevent it.’ This will allow the patient to seek real HELP elsewhere, where it is more likely to be found!
Instead, they recommend you amputate your body parts. Sure this MAY aleviate SOME of your immediate symptoms. However, they are not honest enought to tell you that you will inherit more severe health issues after amputating your sex organs.
My logic told me this and my mind and spirit told me this, when my own gynecologist recomended castration and hysterectomy etc. for one ovarian cyst, when I was 24 years old, unmarried and childless.
I was made to believe my life would be in jeopardy if I did not have the surgery soon. (this proved untrue). Within 3 days I was on the operating table and the deed performed.
Hindsight is 20/20 vision.
I now understand more clearly after living the past 36 years without my two ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix, and also having my vagina sewn into a pocket, that I was thrown into a living nightmare which I was not forewarned to expect, by anyone, not even the gynecologist-surgeon who did the surgery.
Do not expect to be told the truth about what to anticipate after these mutilating surgeries by the average gynecologist. This HERS website proves that most if not all of them do not tell their prospective (Ching! Ching!) hysterectomy patients what to expect after these surgeries.
BUYER BEWARE!
This trickery by gynecologist surgeons is legal insanity.
Women are going to gynecologists every day for care, they are letting a serial mutilator (with legal clearance) deliver their child, a mentally unstable attacker is delivering their child and the women don’t even know it. A serial mutilator delivered my child and I didn’t know it, how gross.
Why is it that these licensed amateurs don’t tell their (‘Ching! Ching!) prospective hysterectomy patients to visit a Health Food Store and browse among the large assortment of autobiographical books written by people who have actually recovered from cancer and just about all the other major illnesses, diseases etc. ???????
I have personally encountered people who have shared their personal recovery experiences with me.
One possible source is through the Hallelujah Acres website where the Christian Minister, George Malkmus shares his own Colon Cancer recovery story. He has an online website ARCHIVE full of personal testimonies from many of his readers.
Many authors of these ‘self-healing’ books, invite contact with their readers. You are then able to share first-hand information, with someone who has gone through the healing process of a specific health issue. I personally value this type of information very highly.
Many of these ‘self-healing’ authors mention they were diagnosed and told they needed to have one or more of their body parts removed and others were told they needed Radiation and or Chemotherapy treatments etc. etc. When many of these authors carefully investigated and evaluated their Alternative health-care options (beyond their licensed amateur’s office), they often found healing by adopting a totally different recovery route to that suggested by their licensed amateurs. This is always a personal choice, and needs to be an ‘informed’ decision, and one very carefully made.
George Malkmus’s healing was many, many years ago and he has never had a recurrence of his colon cancer. Now that is someone worth speaking with!!!!!!
I do not believe one size fits all when it comes to healing, even with the healing of the same ailment.
A healing method that worked for one person may not work for another. One interesting reason given for this, can be found in the book titled
‘Eat Right 4 Your Type’ by Peter D’Adamo.
This 2nd generation Naturopathic Practitioner thinks a person’s blood type plays an important role in selecting recovery methods (he mentions Cancer specifically) and he gives some good reasons why blood types play a role in recovery methods.
There are other very good reasons why we need individual recovery methods, and some of these are discussed in the book titled,
‘Healing With Whole Foods’ by Paul Pitchford.
I agree with that author, that assisting our bodies to better cope with, and ultimately recover from illnesses, is the key. We need to know a lot more about how our bodies work, and specially about our own bodies, in order to aid and assist in our own recovery, no matter what the ailment. He discusses extensively, why shared symptoms do not always indicate an identical healing method for everyone.
We are all individuals, and in my opinion, the better we understand ourselves , and our own body’s individual needs etc. the sooner we will be on our way to recovering from all sorts of ills. Unfortunately, after removing any body parts, we are being unreasonable in expecting our bodies to function ‘normally’ afterwards. This is not logical. Just because ‘science’ has not yet proven the ill effects of removing some of our body parts, this does not mean their removal does not have devastating results.
To the lady above who needs a quick solution to her uterine fibroids, my suggestion is to call HERS and make an appointment for a phone counseling session. They always have good advice.
I would never encourage anyone to have a hysterectomy, however, some people do not want to take the time and effort and personal sacrifice necessary to obtain their healing. Too may of us are caught up in this ‘quick fix’ mentality where we need instant recovery etc. This is why hysterectomy has become such a good ‘sell’.
Faith works when it is combined with accurate action. I will not presume to tell anyone what they should or should not do. I only suggest one acts upon their faith by seeking a ‘perfect’ solution. A solution which will not leave you more distressed after surgery, than before. May good fortune be yours, always.
There is a lot of information on the internet describing natural menopause together with surgical menopause which is completely inaccurate. Surgical menopause is not natural and the effects are far more extreme. I was not having menopausal symptoms before I was castrated, but now I have continuous hot flashes where I am dripping with sweat and I wake up in a pool of water. I was so soaking wet when I woke up today that my sheets had water spots all over them, and there was a big soaking wet circle on the sheet underneath me which looked like someone dumped a cup of water in my bed. My pillow was wet and my hair was soaking wet stuck to my face and my neck. I actually need to have a towel on my bed so I can dry myself because I wake up soaked almost every day. I have to change my clothes quite often because I am dripping with sweat. Castration has caused me miserable and severe hot flashes and night sweats. For about eight months I took estrogen and it did not help, but instead gave me severe neck and head pain which forced me to stop taking it. And even though I thought the hot flashes and horrible sweats couldn’t get worse, they became even worse. It is mind boggling how a doctor can amputate a woman’s healthy organs and then hand her an estrogen pill as if that fixes the damage they just did. It’s completely insane.
to rare song, thanks for sharing your classic story of how these doctors lie and deceive women. You definitely need to find another doctor. Your doctors are clearly only skilled at amputating a uterus, not removing fibroid tumors. Like most of these doctors, they are deceiving you by telling you that you “need” a hysterectomy. Hysterectomy is an elective surgery. Women who have found out later that they did not “need” a hysterectomy are then told by their doctors that they could have refused if they wanted to, that no one made them do it. Yet your story clearly shows how these doctors manipulate and pressure women with scare tactics telling them they HAVE to HAVE a hysterectomy. I’m so sorry for what you are going through right now with this and the financial issues, but you need to run far away from any doctor that tells you that you need a hysterectomy. I’ve never heard of a fibroid tumor killing anyone, but 500-1000 women die per year because of hysterectomy complications. I hope someone can help you find the help that you need.
I wrote my feelings below as a story. After reading several of the blogs posted here I know for certain I DO NOT WANT female castration . . . if anyone has suggestions for someone on a county medical program who needs to find another doctor please let me know. I’m limited by financial resources. The doctor told me one week ago that I need to have a hysterectomy or be miserable with my very large tumors which will eventually cause death. He said a hysterectomy was my ONLY choice. I’m 37 years old and I have no children (yes I still want them). I live in Fontana, CA and I don’t know what to do. I have an appointment with the doctor on Thurs. and he said I must decide by then . . . PLEASE HELP if you can.
May 6, 2008 11am
“I’m sorry. I know you do not want to hear this but, we are recommending that you have a hysterectomy (a removal of my uterus).”
The doctor seemed to almost whisper her medical advice, but I heard her loud and clear. Two weeks earlier I had explained to her that I still wanted to have children, even though I was suffering from symptoms of fibroid tumors. Our discussion today was suppose to be about the different options I had for treatment, but it sounded like she was only offering me one.
I didn’t understand why, but I felt embarrassed by the tear that escaped from my eye which was followed by others. I tried to speak but I seemed to have lost my voice . . . how could I, a poet, lose my voice? The room was silent for moments and all we could do was look at each other.
“I’m going to go and get one of our gynecologists so he can give you his professional opinion as well.” As I watched her leave the room my mind became tormented with “I don’t want” thoughts . . .
I don’t want to lose a part the part of my body that can sustain life . . .
I don’t want them to cut me . . .
I don’t want the choice of having a baby taken away . . .
I don’t want to give up hope . . .
But yet a part of me did at that moment . . . a part of me was losing hope as I whisper to God, “why?”
Minutes later another doctor entered the room and introduced himself as he asked me to lie down so he could feel my stomach. He felt around the large mass inside as he began spouting off reasons I certainly needed a hysterectomy and I heard him in pieces . . . “I had multiple fibroids . . . one was extremely large . . . I could lose too much blood if they tried to remove the tumors and they wouldn’t be able to get them all, my uterus would be so damaged I wouldn’t be able to have children anyway . . . it would be too difficult to repair afterward . . .”
He showed me how they would cut me and I was horrified as he made a vertical line that started just below my breasts down to my naval, basically indicating I would be cut in half. When I asked why the cut would be so long, he looked at me with slight irritation as he explained again that the tumor inside of me was very large and they couldn’t get something large out of a small surgical cut.
I tried to remain attentive as he continued explaining why my only option was the removal of my uterus . . . he even called it a “dumb organ” that really is only needed for reproduction and my chances of having a child at “my age” were almost gone anyway because I’ve been cycling so long that I don’t have many eggs left. Okay . . . maybe he didn’t use those exact words, but that’s what I was hearing.
My initial doctor seemed to notice I was upset and they both agreed I should get a second opinion. She gave me a sympathetic look and encouraged me to meet with their fertility doctor (who I have an appointment with in the morning). I ended my appointment and walked out of the office/hospital no longer caring that others could see me cry. My heart was exploding with horrific emotions and the releasing of my tears was the only reason I was able to keep from screaming.
I got in my car and started to drive. Instantly I decided that I couldn’t return home where I would be alone until my roommates arrived. I needed some time on the road. I yearned to see my mother. I began to cry even more and pray. I kept driving pass my residence and one hour later found myself parked in my brother’s driveway.
My mom was surprised to see me, but also happy and seeing her smile (especially after she recently suffered from a stroke) made me feel better instantly. However, her smile soon turned into a look of concern because my mother knows me well, she knew something was wrong. I explained what happened earlier at the doctors and she began to preach. Didn’t I know how powerful God is? Didn’t I teach her not to trust in man, but in God? Didn’t I believe in miracles? My pastor and mentor who lives in Colorado had prayed for me earlier as well . . . one of healing and talked about having faith for a miracle as well.
I knew they were talking right, but at that moment I couldn’t receive it. I was angry. My stomach was all poked out and hard like a woman who is seven months pregnant. I didn’t have medical insurance (but was on a county medical program for single women), wasn’t working full time because pain kept me away from work too many days (you can only take so many sick days) and my ministry basically stopped because of my medical condition as well. By now I was suppose to be working on my TV show and finishing up my project as I wrote dozens of additional poems . . .
I felt all the good things in my life stopped because of the fibroids and although I didn’t want to lose my uterus, what other choice did I have? At least that was what the doctor was telling me . . . that I had no other choices. I wanted my life back but was that the price I had to pay?
Thank you so much all women here who are speaken out.
I posted already some times and I often read the comments here and so many women are thinking at the same way than I do- I too experience a lot of all these horrible consequences for the body and the soul.
One of the hardest things for me is to realize what they have REALLY done to me and that all this is LEGAL!
I am writing from Europe and since my surgery I don’t feel well in my home country- I have lost all my confidence to the government and health providers- They don’t do anything to protect women against this barbaric procedures!
I feel homeless now!
rosa
I have been reading some of these heart breaking stories of my fellow sisters and my heart bleeds for all of you. Thank you all for sharing your stories, and responding so eloquently to the Dr. that posted his/her lousy comments on May 14 at 4:28 pm.
This blog is really a wonderful resource for networking and also, hopefully, for saving some of our fellow sisters from meeting the same, horrible fate we have met. I am so happy when I save a woman from this debiltating, criminal surgery.
I was victimized 17 years ago when I was 51 years old and had not stopped my periods which were regular and normnal. The surgery, performed by a female gyne, was supposedly for fibroids. I did have a large fibroid uterus, but if only I had waited. When I asked my Dr. if they would shrink, she was doom and gloom, and shook her head from right to left, and said, “there is no way of knowing”. My female gyne had a hysterectomy and used herself as an example for talking her paitients into having one. I heard latter from one of her patients that she had said to her ” What are you afraid of, I have had one”. So she used this tactic to sell her trade. I think she was jealous of all her young, thin beautiful patients. She had once been young and beautiful as I had known her for many years. Ond day I went into her office, and said, my, is this the same woman? She had gotten terribly heavy and was no longer pretty at all and so aged. I see so many women her age that are still beautiful. It is obvious to me which women have been hysterectomized. I can usually tell just by looking at women who has and hasn’t had a hysterectomy. When I had the panic attacks, fainting spells(nervous breakdown) etc. 6 weeks after the surgery, she passed me off to the shrink, and said she never heard of anyone having problems like this(as I now know that all gynes say this). She also said my uterus was so big, she was afraid I had sarcoma(!) -the rarest form of uterine cancer.
With Nora’s wonderful help and attending conferences, reading books, attending National Institutes of Health Conferences(a waste of time but learned what the medical industry does to promote the surgery with their atrocious studies slanted in their favor), I put the pieces of the puzzle together and realized what had hit me and why: I had been under life’s stresse which had built up over a life time and did not realize that I was experiencing burn out and some premenopausal psychological changes which women need to be aware of at this age, especially. I now believe in the mind body connection and psychosomatic symptoms. However, before the surgery I did not realize this, the gynecologist scared me, played on my worries and hypochondriasis, and before I knew it, my mid life crisis was taken out on my uterus and ovaries. I have now lived with my changed life for 17 years and fortunately, I am still alive with no serious physical crippling effects-but I am emotionally crippled. My worst problems are insomnia, severe skin problems from cancer to benign tumors to red patches and keritosis(formerly peaches and cream complexion) boarderline osteoporosis, stress incontinence and leakeage, rapidly decaying teeth(although I have good teeth hygiene), and the premature aging due to the loss of collagen. I am very weak in my ligaments and had a shoulder problem for a year. So far, no broken bones, and I am holding my breath. My blood pressure has shot up, BH(before hysterectomy) it never changed and was very low. My hair is very thin and greying(BH had no grey hair) and I have floaters in my eyes and am am developing cataracts. BH my eyes were fine although I did wear glasses. I have become less sociable. I have constant tinitus(ringing in the ears). And of course, I have no libido, but do find that a massage wand helps. I took various estrogens after the surgery for a few years off and on, but they did nothing for me. 6 weeks after the surgery I had a nervous breakdown. I slept 3 hours a night for 6 weeks. I was suffering from post hysterectomy and permanent physical damage syndrome. I was a wreck, and could not eat. I had no saliva. I was detached. It was just horrible. I did not know what had hit me. I always had such energy and accomplished so much.
The hysterectomy was the straw that broke the camels back! I took some antidepressants and tranquillizers for a short time and finally got back on my feet after about 6 months. Now when I can’t sleep, I take a minimal dose of Klonopin, a benzodiazapene which is in the same family as vallium and zanex. It has a longer half life and stays in the body longer and helps me to stay asleep longer. Now I only take a very small amount of Klonopin if I am nervous and can’t sleep. I always hated pills, and was petrified to take them after the surgery when I was having the nervous breakdown.
Yoga and exercise help a lot. I did yoga for 10 years. Now I am doing weights and some exercises to build up my body, but it is a struggle. Walking is very good to if you are able to push yourself to do this.
To the woman that has a lump on your incision on the right side, I hope that is better. Did you go to the Doctor? Maybe it was a stitch that got infected? I had staples and don’t know if they even use stiches anymore.
For the woman that has nerve damage to her bladder, that is one of the worst stories I have ever heard and I am so sorry you have had to endure this horrible outcome. I hope you win your law suit. There is a good lawyer in New York city that Nora knows. Maybe she can help you find a good mal practice lawyer where you are located.
There are so many horror stories out there. In the overall picture, I can not complain.
I appreciate the comments on collagen/estrogen. That explains the rapid aging. Before the surgery at 51, I looked so young for my age. It is hard to recognize me now, 17 years latter.
For those of you out there that are suffering, I hope with time that it will get better. It is a bitter adjustment. Women endure so much. The medical industry’s inhumanity to women is beyond comprehension. Young women need to be educated in women’s studies programs in universities. If you can go to your local universites, and meet with women’s study program heads, perhaps you can make a difference. Nora’s patient education DVD should be distributed to every university/college in the country. You can make a difference, like women getting the vote. Let us stand up in any way that we can for human female sexual rights and pray that change will take place soon and save our daughter’s, sister’s and future generation from this plunder of women’s reproductive organs.
Have you tried,
natural radiance natural progesterone creme plus herbs, transdermally?.
What hormones have you tried?
I’m embarrassed to tell you but I gained 30 lbs. I tried everything, weight watchers, South Beach diet, Jenny Craig…a few others.
I hardly even eat and I’m gaining.
Very frustrated.
What have you tried to lose weight after the hysterectomy? How much weight did you gain?
The inability to lose weight is having a tremendus effect on my willpower to do so. Please, is there anything I can do to make this process a little easier? I was told that it will take years to be able to lose weight again after having a hysterectomy, is this true? I really need some kind of answers or help. Thank you.
To Anonymous who copied from her father’s medical book. Great information, thank you for posting it. Yes, they know what they are doing to women, that’s why they won’t openly debate it. It would be the end of their cash cow. They are cowardly criminals who terrorize and mutilate women for profit.
to 05-14 4:32p anonymous, your failed attempt to grab the higher moral ground leaves me pondering who exactly it is that you are trying to fool. You argue that hysterectomy may be medically required. HERS has never said that there are not cases where it is medically required–only that 98% of the time, a hysterectomy is not medically required.
As for hysterectomy’s being an individual decision, again HERS has never said that it wasn’t. What HERS has said is that the playing field must be leveled. Let the patient know what the physician knows. Let patients see the HERS video.
(sigh)I’ve known HERS for too long a time now. In all that time, I’ve never known HERS to advance anything but careful consideration for the rights and equality of all. Turns out, actually taking the higher moral ground has proven to be a position of strength.
Whereas your vain attempt makes a mockery of medical necessity and a sham of individual decision– all the while robbing humanity of human dignity. That is quite the concept, isn’t it? That you cannot take human dignity from someone else without losing a like measure yourself. Your remark relegating true life experiences as mere opinion bears evidence only to your own moral bankruptcy.
I’ll take my thoughts one step further. Compassion cannot reside without human dignity for its’ cradle. Today’s medical community has largely lost both a long time ago.
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1210901106123140.xml&coll=7&thispage=2
The artist’s rendering tells all. A pair of shoes, a cane, wire-rimmed eyeglasses. Ashbel S. Green, a writer at the Oregonian, reports that a 45 year old woman was seen jumping off the bridge. The cane sends a chill up the spine of everyone familiar with the destructive nature of hysterectomy. We know the story before we set eyes on the words.
There was nothing left to identify her but DNA, a body-briefer, a pelvis emptied of female organs.
The time line that night advances important clues:
Nov. 17, 2001 Barbara Schmunk attends a function with her
husband, David. A photographer snaps a picture of them. This
picture is later given to the detective.
Nov. 17, 2001 Barbara Schmunk
disappears. Her husband calls 9-1-1 to
report his wife missing.
8:30 p.m. Nov. 17, 2001 An eyewitness sees a woman jump off the Ross
Island Bridge and calls 9-1-1. Emergency response teams search the river but
the woman is not found.
Perhaps the strain of a social function, a heroic attempt at normalcy, was more than she could bear. Attempting to girdle in the typical post-hysterectomy pounds, the need for a cane to navigate, loss of sexual feeling and sexuality, loss of ability to make small talk and socialize, back pain, leg pain, foot pain, fibroisitis, and fibromyalgia, loss of short term memory, and profound fatigue are a few of the typical experiences of women whose female organs were taken from them, unaware.
There need not be another girl who grows up to be hysterectomized. Be part of the solution, take action now.
Join women and men everywhere who are signing this petition to put female anatomy information into hysterectomy informed consent. Support HERS Anatomy Video Education (HAVE) Law by signing the petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/saynotilyouknow/
No HERS anatomy video? No consent!
Orgasms are gone now bluntly stopped and no sexual fullfillment because the skin is so damaged and my sex organ is gone. I have not enjoyed one day of my life since this was done to me. I am in serious pain in my crotch and I feel like dying.
I am very tired, all of the correct medical information is evident and in print in this country. We are not bitches, look at what it is doing to the bitches. I think the doctors who are doing this to women laugh about it, they are very brainsick for counting their money while they blatently attack women and ruin their bodies by deceit like it is a sport/hysterectomy/torture.
The entire practice of gynecologist doctors responsible for my maiming are mentally unstable to the point of mutilation by deceit.
We have blown their cover, but it continues. Those who are covering each other’s professional status, the medical facts are clearly available and we have found them. It is not a mystery that amputating a persons sex organs causes physical and sexual dysfunction it is a medical fact.
Gynecologists know what they are doing to women, but will never admit it because hysterectomy is the gold mine of gynecology. Please take a few minutes of your time and read the following.
My father was an eye, ear nose and throat doctor, not a gynecologist, thank God. I have his medical school textbook, “Clinical Endocrinology of the Female” by Mazer-Goldstein, July 1932, published by W.B.Saunders Company.
Here are a few excerpts which are horrific.
Introducition: Pg. 11 P.3 ” The outline of this volume closely follows in sequential order the functional phases of the human female-puberty, menstraution, pregancy, lactation and menopause. These physiologic phases are mainly governed by the development, and later decline of ovarian function, which is, in turn, controlled by fluctuations in function of the anterior pituitary lobe AND OTHER RELATED GLANDS OF INTERNAL SECRETION”. The purpose of the book is “to describe first the structures and actions of the internal secretory glands individually and collectively before taking up the consideration of the NORMAL AND DISTORTED PAHSES OF THE WOMAN’S SEX LIFE”.
General considerations: Pg.17 P3: “THE SOMATIC AND PSYCHIC PHENOMENA FOLLOWING CASTRATION OF HUMEN MALES, PRACTICED BY ORIENTAL MONARCHS ON THE SUBJECTS WHO WERE ASSIGNED TO GUARD THEIR HAREMS, WERE KNOWN FOR CENTURIES.”
(Castrated women are no better off than these poor eunuchs. We need to be aware that our nervous systems have been shot by taking away our precious reproductive organs that have given us so much. God gave them to us and the gynecologist takes them away. Do they think they are God? They know full well what this does to us. The proof is right here in one of their medical school text books!!!!!)
The text book goes on to talk about the interplay of the hormonal systems and the human female Nazi-like experiments, only these were done before WWII. Read on.
Pg. 18: P2 “The first experiment in human endocrine surgery was made by Robeert Baltey, in 1872, who removed healthy ovaries for the relief of neurosis in nonmenstruating women”
Pg. 18 and 19: P.5: “Though the endocrine glands are intimately connected with the vegetative nervous system, Cannon and Riddle have proved that the gonads can exert their influence independently of nervous control. Clinical observation, however, shows the tremendous psychical influence of the central nervous system upon the gonads.”
P.19: P.3 : “The products of the endocrine glands are either synergistic or antagonistic in action to one another. An excessive or diminished function of one gland almost invariably affects the structure and function of one or several in the endocrine glandular chain. For example, the anterior pituitary body, the ovaries, the thyroid gland and the adrenals are decidedly synergistic in their action: the oxytocic principle of the posterior pituitary gland is antagonistic to the lutein hormone of the ovary and to insulin.”
(AS ONE CAN SEE, THE HORMONAL SYSTEM IS VERY COMPLICATED. WHEN WOMEN HAVE PANIC ATTACKS AFTER HYSTERECTOMY, FAINT, ETC., AND THE DOCTOR TELLS THEM TO SEE A PSYCHIATRIST, IT IS A FARCE. THEY KNOW DAMN WELL THAT OUR BODIES ARE IN SHOCK: OUR BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS HAVE CHANGED, OUR CORTISOL, INSULIN, THYROID, WE NO LONGER HAVE THE SYNERGISTIC PLAY OF OUR HORMONES, ETC. THEY ARE ALL SCREWED UP FROM THIS RADICAL, SUDDEN,SHOCKING, ABNORMAL, INHUMANE, UNNATURAL CHANGE. THE GALL OF THE MEDICAL INDUSTRY TO INFLICT THIS HORROR ON US AND GET PAID FOR IT NO LESS! IT IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST SINS ON EARTH.
Now for the atrocity experiments:
Chapter 1: Pg.29 P.2 “Methods of the Physiology of the Mature Ovary.-Our knowledge of the female gonads was obtained through many years of earnest endeavor on the part of clinical and experimental investigators. As a result of numerous castration, transplantation, and ablation experiments, and the injection of potent ovarian extacts, valuable date were accumutaed concerning the minute physiology of the ovary.
Pg.29 and 30 #1. Castration: There is no authentic record of the effect of extripation of the ovaries in the human female before or shorlty after the age of puberty. (NOW ISN’T THAT JUST TOO BAD-GRRRR). In young adults, bilateral oopherectomy was, until recently performed frequently(HORRIBLE THAT IT WAS DONE THEN, BUT THE FACT IS,IT STILL IS BEING DONE!) by gynecologists. The most prominent EFFECTS OF THIS OPERATION ARE THE CESSATION OF MENSTRUATION, AND ATROPHY OF THE UTERUS, VAGINA, CLITORIS AND BREASTS. (I might add the entire body atrophys, turning to sagging, aging, cellulite no matter how thin! The ligaments turn soft and weak). In certain instances, the latter organs actually increase in size due to the obesity which often follows the operation. In the female libido is usually not influenced, in fact, it is accasionally even accentuated.(Some joke! What about the eunuchs of the Chinese monarchs????? Are castrated women any different?????).IN ADDITION, THERE IS A TRAIN OF SYMPTOMS INDICATING HYPEREXCITABILITY OF THE SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM. The basal metabolisim is appreciably lower.”(thus weight gain.)
(This is the worst, and there is much more that I will not go into.)
Pg. 30 P.2 Transplantation of ovarian tissue in HUMAN BEINGS….HAS RESULTED IN ADVANCING OUR KNOWLEDGE VERY MUCH IN THE ENDOCRINOLOGY FIELD. GRIGORIEFF IN 1897 RECORDED 2 CASES IN WHICH THE OVARIES WERE SUCCESSFULLY TRANSPLANTED FROM ONE WOMAN TO ANOTHER. THOREK RECNTLY REPORTED SUCCESSFUL TRANPLANTATION OF OVARIAN TISSUE FROM THE HUMAN FEMALE INTO THE CASTRATED MONKEY.” (Can anyone imagine doing this with a healthy ovary? I wonder what the hospitals do with our healthy ovaries at present? Do you think they extract the eggs and sell them to fertility clincs? Is there a black market for them? Is there a transplant hot line or egg clinic hot line? It boggles the mind.)
(Did the Nazis get their ideas for removing women’s ovaries and transplanting them into monkeys, rats, or whatever from experiments as the ones I mentioned above? The book does not say what country these experiments have been conducted in, but one can assume that plenty have been done in the USA.
The former chapter goes on to talk about implanting human female ovarian tissue in rats.
I think most people are more concerned aobut animal rights than human female animals that are being hysterectomized and castrated every day by the hundreds. This is truly a sin. It is a moral and human rights issue. All religions should speak out against it. The Catholic religion is against birth control. Why don’t they condemn this surgery, 98% of which are unnecessary? You would think they would consider this the greatest crime of birth control or abortion.
For centuries, the medical industry has been fascinated with human female reproductive organs and our intricate hormonal systems which are a miracle of nature and the most sophisticated in the animal kingdom. Why don’t they leave us alone and stop these experiments, studies, inventing all sorts of damaging surgeries, endometrial ablations, endometrial resections,fibriod embolizations, having collusion and conspiracy with pharmaceutical companies(For example, printing patient propoganda pamphlets about hysterectomy and interjecting in the pamphlet: “women who have had hysterectomies do not need to worry about getting cancer of the uterus if they take estrogen) etc. etc. etc.
To all women out there, be aware of what is going on. We live in a capitolistic country/society where everyone is vying for the female expenditures/dollar. Don’t expend your reproductive organs plus pay for it with insurance but mostly pay for it by sacrificing your woman hood! Buyer be ware!
I had my hysterectomy in July due to an unidentified tumor. Since then I have had frequency in urination, minor incontinence, undescribable bowel issues, pain with intercourse and complete numbness in the abdomianl region. I know other women that have had hysterctomies and they said/say it will go away, well almost a year later I still have these issues. Who do I follow up with?
What recourse do I have, if any? My doctor says she’s never heard this before. Well thanks to all of you I know that’s not true. I think other women told her but she wasn’t listening!
There is no gynecologist who will publicly debate this issue, and we all know why.
Dear Anonymous of May 14th 4:32pm
You suggest this HERS website is acting irresponsibly because you say they are presenting as facts, what you say are actually ‘opinions’.
You also say,
‘…OBJECTIVE factual information from A VARIETY of sources is the best means to evaluate any medical decision…’
As you appear to be well acquainted with the medical field, please let us hysterectomy victims know where the medical profession get their ‘OBJECTIVE factual information’ (which they convey to women who seek their professional help) by telling us victims before hyst. surgery that,
1)
‘sex will be better than ever after the surgery!’
2)
‘just take some estrogen replacement, or possible combination of hormone replacement, and that will get rid of any of the possible after effects.’
SUGGESTION:
Any woman being touted this nonsense by her doctor before surgery should ask her doctor for the necessary ‘OBJECTIVE factual information’ to substantiate these ‘facts’ being given to her. Even more important, ask the doctor why so many women posting to this HERS blog feel so very different after these sex-organ surgeries than they were told by their doctors, they would feel.
I would sooner believe the personal experience of several women who have lived through these sex-organ surgeries, than listen ONLY to some male or female doctor who has only read books on the subject. What can a male doctor possibly know about this subject other than what he has read and heard and is now repeating to you, his patient????!!!!
A medical license does not come with an automatic guarantee of compassion, honesty and integrity.
BUYER BEWARE!
Too many of these medical license holders ignore all the natural cures for cancer and continue to use the cancer scare tactic to rush their prospective (‘ching! ching!) hysterectomy patients into surgery. They peddle pills for all ills and wonder why each pill prescribed needs another pill to counter the side effects of the previous pill.
I am totally convinced that the many and varied hormones prescribed for me by my doctors during the 2 years leading up to my castration and hysterectomy surgeries at age 24 was the CAUSE of my developing a sudden Ovarian Cyst. They were treating an irregular-monthly period syndrome. Bingo! Not one of these bozos made the connection of their botched treatment of my simple health concern, which led to their recommendation for radical, major surgery at age 24, to an otherwise previously healthy person!
Too many hyst surgeries are recommended by doctors after they have spent several years treating all sorts of simple ills, with pills. Had their treatment been successful, surgery would/should NOT have been necessary. How can a doctor claim to have successfully treated a patient, when the end result is surgery???!!! Hello!
BUYER BEWARE!
I am a true believer in the Alternative health treatments available in preference to putting my trust in these legally licensed ‘pill pushers’ for the huge Drug companies.
BUYER BEWARE!
Thanks Rick for a great post. Very informative. Good luck with your invitation to a PUBLIC debate on this topic. I am all ears.
To CT and Jill who just posted:
I can relate and have so many of the same symptoms you have spoken of. Why can we not be heard? If so many women have these problems after a hyst., how can this continue to happen? Thanks for sharing the post regarding the spaying of female dogs, CT. I have been posting of recent because of the “Anonymous at 4:32 p.m.” (I call it), but also to ask a few questions, and just reading the recent posts, as from you both, just gets me so angry. It is an awful thing to say to someone, good to hear you feel the same. but the points I make are two: One is it is not in our minds; not with all the women who post here, and Two is if we continue to speak up; someone will have to listen to our cries. I do mean by stating, “good to hear” is
that I don’t feel alone. My symptoms are not restricted to just myself, and I can go to any doctor and state this.
I had an ultrasound done this morning on my upper abdominal area. The doctor felt he saw some higher level in blood work just done which sparked having the ultrasound. I said, “If you are questioning anything with my bladder, kidneys, gall bladder, and/or liver; could this stem from my hyst.? He said “No”. I wonder about this, and would appreciate any feedback regarding any of you having problems with these organs after a Hyst.
Now, I certainly know a lot have had major problems with their bladder and urinary tract, but would love to hear from anyone about this and other organs.
I will dearly love any and all replies.
Have a great weekend everyone.
In the last year and a half since I was castrated and hysterectomized against my will and without my consent, I have experienced joint pain, dry skin, urinary incontinence, bowel urgency, increased skin ailments, lower abdominal pain, bloating, protrusion on the left side of my stomach with pain, post traumatic stress, anxiety, muscle weakness, extreme fatigue, severe hot flashes, night sweats and insomnia. I cannot become sexually aroused and only have feeling on one side of my clitoris. When and if I can actually have an orgasm, it is over quickly and it has considerably diminished (I only have about 30% of the feeling I used to have). I often get sharp pains in my vagina. I never could have imagined such damage when I was an intact woman. The horrible effect that it has had on my sexuality is indescribable. I could never have imagined how it would feel to not be able to become aroused or have orgasms. It has been a nightmare and sheer torture to learn that women with no ovaries or uterus have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, sexual dysfunction, dementia and Parkinson’s disease, and many other health problems. How can they keep doing this to women without telling them the basic truth?
I suggest no female undergo a hysterectomy unless her life depends on it. Three years ago, my total hysterectomy (due to fibroid) left me emotionally and physically devestated. Within 3 months of surgery, my hair and skin severly dried. Sleep was sporatic and sex was immpossible due to no desire, dryness, and no sensation. Within 6 months, I had severe joint pain, intestinal and bowel problems and weight gain. By the end of year one, I developed both arthritis and osteoporosis. I had to leave my job and now can barely work parttime. I am too fatigued for interest in anything. My skin is sallow, severly wrinkled, and I look 15 years older than I am (50). It’s now year three and I’m barely able to walk – the bone pain is so severe. My scalp is nearly visable due to hair loss – yet I grow facial hair at a rapid pace.
No female should endure this suffering.
I found this information in regard to spaying female dogs. Since they know this about dogs, why are they still doing it to human females?
• if done before 1 year of age, significantly increases the risk of osteosarcoma (bone cancer); this is a
common cancer in larger breeds with a poor prognosis
• increases the risk of splenic hemangiosarcoma by a factor of 2.2 and cardiac hemangiosarcoma by
a factor of >5; this is a common cancer and major cause of death in some breeds
• triples the risk of hypothyroidism
• increases the risk of obesity by a factor of 1.6-2, a common health problem in dogs with many
associated health problems
• causes urinary “spay incontinence” in 4-20% of female dogs
• increases the risk of persistent or recurring urinary tract infections by a factor of 3-4
• increases the risk of recessed vulva, vaginal dermatitis, and vaginitis, especially for female dogs
spayed before puberty
• doubles the small risk (<1%) of urinary tract tumors
• increases the risk of orthopedic disorders
• increases the risk of adverse reactions to vaccinations
Hello Everyone,
I would like to know if anyone out there has been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia which may have come about from having a Hyst., and if so has anyone ever heard of taking Mirapex, and done so? I posted previously that my PCP thinks I have Fibromyalgia, and sent me to a specialist for this. This doctor has prescribed Xanax, which I said I did not like at all; so he now wants me to try Mirapex.
I would appreciate it so much if anyone can share with me about this, and also anyone who has been told they have Fibromyalgia stemming from a Hyst.
Blessings to Everyone.
P.S. Great post, Rick. You provided some excellent points. I would love for you to debate ‘Anonymous at 4:32 p.m.’. It is interesting to me, we have not seen any feedback from him/her. I gather the people here who responded to that post, enlightened him/her, and found he/she was the only one with irresponsible opinions/thoughts…
I am 52 years old. I have been experiencing abdominal pain, bloating, digestive, urinary and bowel problems since my hysterectomy. I no longer trust my gynecologist. He perforated my bladder during the surgery which resulted in a 6 ½ hour surgery by a urologist. I desperately need a doctor that understands my complaints, but I haven’t found one. Can you please help me?
I JUST HAD A HYSTERECTOMY I AM 33 YEARS OLD. HOW DO THEY DO THE SERGERY AND WHAT MAKES THE HOLE INSIDE? I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE AFTER? CAN YOU HELP ME I HAD ENDOMTOISS? AND AFTER THEY DID THEY SAID I DID NOT HAVE IT AT ALL!!!!! PLEASE HELP WITH THIS PLEASE.
Anonymous who posted at 4:15pm,
If you don’t mind my asking, what kind of “possible cancer” does your doctor suspect you might have? What diagnostic tests have been performed to evaluate your condition?
HERS can help you determine if you’ve had an appropriate evaluation of your symptoms, and if you have not, we can help you obtain the appropriate tests. We can also go over test results with you. To discuss these issues with a HERS counselor please call Irene at HERS at 610.667.7757 or email her at hersfdn@earthlink.net to arrange a telephone appointment.
To Anonymous who posted about the urinary problems:
I did not experience any of this after a hyst., but wanted to post this to say to you, I am so very sorry you have experienced all that you have. You must have a good husband and family who support you; however. What an ordeal! It is so true what you said; in that, we believe our doctors’ words to be ‘gold’. I have certainly found out differently; as you must feel now too.
There are so many like me and you who post this statement: “I wish I would have known about the Hers Foundation previously.” This is why we have to continue to support getting this made law for doctors to be required to have women view “The Video”, and consent forms changed with wording. I get so upset about what happened to me, and what I have been through, and live with now. To hear this from so many other women is more ludicrous. It is almost as if we are living still in a dark age. It parallels to back when women were not allowed to vote. It took numbers and voices from women to change this. This is what needs to happen here. I wish this could be remedied tomorrow. It must happen, and the sooner; of course, the better to save anymore women from this criminal action. So, write your congress people, get the word out to friends and family, and share, share, share. We should not be embarrassed to talk about why we have no more libido, why we seem to be “not the same person”. We should “SHOUT” it from our ‘rooftops’. “I am mad, and I do not want to take it any longer” (to see doctors getting away with this). Do all of you know how badly I want to sit in front of my doctor’s office, who performed the Hyst. on me, and talk to every patient of his before anyone walks through his door, to enlighten them? Who knows, maybe I will someday. You may see me on CNN. I will be the one being carted away by police with a poster in hand which states, “No more criminal castration to women! Stop Hysterectomies Now!” I may be put in jail for the very first time in my life, but boy, will I feel great about that, and be smiling all the way, and if one, even one of his patients took heed to my point, and changed her mind about doing this surgery; then I accomplished a great deed…
To the woman asking if anyone has tried natural (bioidentical) hormone therapies), the answer is yes. Most of us here probably have, but speaking for myself, I have tried compounded bioidentical testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen (estradiol, estriol, and estrone) going on three years now. I have also spent a fortune on supplements, nutritional counseling, homeopathy, etc..and none of it has made a huge difference, although it has helped slightly. I am still on some of the compounded hormones and supplements. I have tried them in troche, cream, sublingual drop, vaginal, and pill forms. Nothing can replace what the ovaries, cervix, and uterus do so automatically and naturally for a woman. The ovaries adjust and compensate for the various stresses and environmental factors in our lives that require more or less hormones to function properly at any given point in time. Hrt is manual and static and generally made for women who still have functioning ovaries but are in natural menopause. The uterus also secretes hormones and chemicals that can not be currently replaced by hrt. Just recently a study involving menstrual blood repairing damaged hearts was successfully conducted. This study discovered that menstrual blood, which comes from the uterus, has important immune cell components that are not present in other blood cells of the human body.
Also keep in mind that if you have a hysterectomy for cancer or “possible” suspected cancer of the reproductive system that very few doctors will be willing to prescribe hormone replacement. As it is you have to pull tooth and nail to find a doctor who will work with you and prescribe bioidentical and compounded hormones, especially progesterone or testosterone. My insurance will not cover most of these and these hormones are not cheap.
Even if I had cancer I would try every other more conservative route first before consenting to this again. As it is now I am at much higher risk for breast cancer with the hormones I am on but without them my osteoporosis would become much worse and I would not be able to function at all (I tried no hormones for three weeks).
Possible Cancer is not a disease. Read all of the medically correct information on the Hers Web Site. Listen to the women telling their stories of lost sexuality and health on the Hers blog.
A woman lied to me before extensively and told me the truth after. Women are embarrased by the fact that they can no longer experience a uterine orgasm, they lie to protect their self-image.
No hormone treatment can replace the natural hormones and functions of the uterus and sexuality of a women, they may help, but they don’t compare.
HERS Foundation is doing an excellent job informing and educating women about the “truth” concerning Hysterectomies. I only wish I knew about the organization before I had my hysterectomy.
I remember it as if it were yesterday, February 14, 2003. My doctor (a female gynecologist) performed this surgery after discovering benign ovarian cysts growing in glusters the size of quarters on/in my uterus, cevix, and both fallopian tubes. I was given various medications to shrink them, some did, but then grew back the sizes of a Kennedy dollar. Because of this, I was told the best cure was a hysterectomey. My doctor amputated my uterus, cervix, and both fallopian tubes. My ovaries remained intact because as I was told, they weren’t as badly affected as the other organs. Yes, I was told I would not have children after the surgery, no periods, and still would experience menopause. I was NEVER told about the other side effects. My doctor only suggested that I seek a therapy group with other women who experienced having a hysterectomy. After my surgery, I was in pain, felt reproductively inadequate, ugly, depressed, and less than desirable. To make matters worst, during my recuperation period I was placed on the maternity/nursery ward. It was as if the doctors and nurses didn’t give a damn about how I might feel being on a floor where I had to walk everyday pass the nursery and see those beautiful angels in every color, shape, and size. I could even hear them crying in the nursery each morning and night, and even in their mother’s rooms. I saw ballons, flowers, family and friends, and all congratulating the new mothers and their new arrivals.
My life has changed quite a lot since that surgery, I don’t really have any regrets in my life but I regret having a hysterectomy. To the HERS Foundation and the may women on this blog, and elsewhere that have lived through a hysterectomy, and still are,
Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.– Dylan Thomas
I am in the middle of a decision due to possible cancer. I have several friends that have had hysterectomys and were miserable until they began a biogenetic hormone therapy. They say they feel almost normal again. Have any of you tried the natural hormone therapies? What were your results?
To the women above who has the horrible urinary damage and side-effects from a damaging hysterectomy.
I have a suggestion for you.
Find a, homeopathic doctor, who is an MD. They do exist but are rare.
I believe a homeopathic doctor could help you.
My insurance covers my homeopathic doctor because he is an MD. But they wouldn’t if he wasn’t.
I had to drive to the next state to find one, it is worth it. The homeopathic doctor will try to heal you.
I am so sorry you were damaged so severely and that a female gynecologist lied to you, how cruel.
Let us know how you are doing.
Unfortunately I found the Hers Foundation way to late to help me, but I will not rest until all women are told all the potentially “rare complications” they don’t tell you about. I am now 42 years old and had a total abdominal hysterectomy at the age of 39. I have 4 children and had had a tubal ligation after my fourth child. However, years later I started bleeding irregular and went to the doctor’s office. He did an endometrial biopsy and called me a few weeks later and said it was fine. I said OK great now what I keep getting my period every 2-3 weeks and the bleeding is getting worse. I was told wow that sucks for you. Not kidding either those were his exact words.
Great, now what. I did suck it up for a month or two, but the bleeding was becoming more frequent and heavier and taking its toll on me. I was working almost full time and taking care of a house and 4 kids and a dog and a husband. I then went for a second opinion to a woman gyno. I figured she would understand a lot better. She took the history, did an exam ordered some blood work and an ultrasound. I did all that and about 2 weeks later she called and said that the uterine lining was extremely thickened and that I should start Provera 10mg for ten days a month for four months, this should take care of it. Okay great atleast I’m not crazy. I did that and by the fourth month I was bleeding continuously for a whole month, none stop with clots. I called her and she said to come in. She did an exam and then said you need a hysterectomy to fix it. Okay anything else available I asked. Well, we could try an endometrial ablation, but it would only bide you a couple of months. Well, you won’t get me twice on the operating room table. I asked her what her professional opinion was to do, because honestly I didn’t know what to do. She said ” you need the hysterectomy to rectify the situation sooner than later” Okay she said she would schedule it and call me. I was scheduled 2 weeks after that visit, for the operation. I went to her a few days before for a pre-op visit. I asked her what the complications were and when I could resume going back to work. I was told 6-8 weeks the most off from work. Complications are: Blood clots, pneumonia, infection, cardiac arrest, hemorraging, and death.
I asked how will my sex life be after. I was told”Better than ever”.
“You are young and healthy and don’t worry about it everything will be great” That is the biggest bunch of BS I have ever heard.
I had the surgery in September 2004,and my husband and I were told everything went great with no complications. We lived an hour from the hospital. My husband went home later on that night to take care of the kids and get some rest.
15 hours after the hysterectomy, my right kidney shut down and I was in severe pain in my back. I was whisked off for a CT scan to show that my right ureter was damaged during the hysto and I would need to go back into the OR at 2:00 am. My husband was called a drove probably like a crazy man, because we were told they would try and put a stent in, but if they couldn;t do that then I would have to be moved by ambulance to another facility to put in a nephrostomy tube. I didn’t even know what that was. Thank God that didn’t happen. I was recovering in the hospital and finally my Foley was removed 2 days later and I spent the entire night trying to pee and couldn’t. I finally called the nurse to tell her that my bladder is about to burst and I can’t go. I was trying for about 5 hours. She said to drink more and she would call the doctor. Gee thanks. I was finally able to go, but just overflowed 1000 cc’s after that the nurse finally came back in with another foley to put in, but said oh you could go, good just give it time. I told everyone there that I can’t go when I have to go I can only go when its so full it has nowhere else to go but out. The doctor, nurses, and urologist all told me don’t worry it can take time and sent me home on a prayer.
Well, I sucked it up all weekend, not able to go unless it was completely full, which was usually only in the morning and then nothing until the next morning or if I was really lucky a few drop here and there. I went back to the doctors for a check up and told her about it and she put a foley in and drained another 250cc’s out and told me to keep the foley in until I saw the urologist next week. I went to him the next week and he took out the foley and told me it should be fine now go home and rest call me if you have any problems. Fine, I went home and a few hours later called him and told him I can’t go. Just relax and take deep breaths. Hang in there and give it a day or two.
I gave it a day and called him in agony, I can’t go. Like I was bothering him he told me to come in and he would check the residual. It was 256cc. Put another foley in for a few days. The back pain was horrible, the foley was horrible. I went back again a few days later and he took it out again only to be put back in again a day later. This went on and on he took the foley out 6 or 7 seven time only to put it back in again. I tried getting another doctor, but noone and I mean noone would see me, because I was ” a problem case”. After the sixth or seventh time of taking the foley out, the urologist said to leave it in until the stent comes out. Okay, three weeks later the stent was removed, but the ureter collapsed again, so he had to put another one in. I woke up with severe flank pain and the foley still in. I had to stay overnight in the hospital, because the pain was so severe. He came in the next morning and explained about the stent and how it would have to stay in for a few weeks and that the foley would have to stay in until I was off pain meds for 48 hours, because supposedly they affect the bladder. About a week later I got another UTI and just got it in my head that I would get off the meds and get rid of the godforsaken foley. I did that and just to find out I couldn’t pee again. I was in tears, what the hell went wrong. I went back and was given the option of another foley, meds, or both. We talked for a while and decided that the foley would be placed again to protect my kidney because the stent was still in and I would be put on meds to try and stimulate the bladder. I took the meds and finally the foley was removed 7-8 weeks after the hysto. The meds were working a little but still had residual left over. Its working don’t worry these things take time. It was now December and he decided to take me off the meds and lets see what happens. Well, it all started up again. I went for an IVP and Dec. 13 ten days after stopping the meds and it showed I was retaining again. I had a visit with him and he said yeah but now you were able to go. I told him yeah, but I had to stop 4 times to your office and by the time I got here my bladder was so full it had to release somewhere, he said well you have to learn to relax. I tried to explain to him time and time again that it is not normal to have to pee and than not be able to go. Oh well, give it time. I did that, I gave it another 2 weeks and ended up with the nastiest kidney infection, shaking chills, fever and the worst back pain ever. I called him and went in and he said OK lets put you back on the meds. I was finally getting the picture that I needed to take my health care into my own hands. I think I was brought up with what the doctor says is gold. Well, no more. I insisted on testing to find out what the hell was wrong and then my worst fear came true. We did the testing and it showed nerve and muscle damage. Not sure if it is permanent I was told. Take the meds and we will just watch it. I did that and I was miserable. I was still retaining. Finally, in January 2005, I was taught how to self-cath. Nice huh!!
After a few weeks he wanted to take me off the meds again and see what happens. What the hell am I a guinea pig. No I said. I did alot of research and went to my GP and finally found the most caring, understanding urologist who would take the case on. I went to her and she did some testing first to check the ureter out and make sure that it was open and then the bladder testing again. Thankfully, the ureter is ok, but I still suffer from right flank pain chronically. This I’m told is either due to the bladder pressure, nerve damage, muscle damage, or its chronic ureterectasis, which is my understanding is spasms of the ureter.
March 2005, bladder testing done again and showed a neurogenic bladder. Nerves were completely sheared or burned and never coming back. I had three options: 1. stay of meds forever. ( not an option I didn’t tolerated them well and was literally in the bathroom 18-20 times a day and still having to cath. 2. Cath everytime for the rest of my life. ( I don’t think so, I absolutely hate it and it makes me angry everytime I have to do it now) 3. Try interstim. These are electronic medical devices implanted that are attached to the sacral nerves to stimulate the bladder and help you go. ( okay let me research that and meet with medtronics and discuss the procedure and device.
I met with medtronic in April 2005, and my husband and I decided to give it a try and see what happens.
I had the trial first for two weeks and then the permanent device inserted. I was a success for a short while. It had to be redone because I took a fall and the wires moved. I was getting electrical jolts from the metal detectors in the stores. I had it redone, and it was somewhat successful I still had to cath, but not as often. This lasted for about a year and the wires moved again and it had to be redone. This time the doctor talked to me about having two devices, one on each side of my buttocks to stimulate both sides of the sacral nerve. Okay we tried the trial first, and then it was successful, so we inserted both devices in June 2006. I was good at first, but quickly waned, we finally figured out that for some reason my body gives off alot of electric energy and with the stores detectors is was causing a malfunction of the devices. So medtronic told me to avoid the detectors at all costs. This sounds easy enough, but let me tell you it is not, the stores are not very receptive about letting you bypass them. The bright side is I have gotten very good at ordering stuff online. I can never have diathermy, or MRI’s. I must shut the devices off for Xrays, mammos and other medical procedures. And still get jolts if I move to quick.
As far as my sex life, I really don’t have one. I mean we have intercourse, but I have never been able to have an orgasm since the hysto and just have no libido whatsoever. ( I’m still hopeful on that one) I’m trying to figure it out. I still have to cath on average 1-2 a day, but its better than all the time.
The real kicker of all of this is that it is obviously under litigation, but we can’t find one single doctor to say that this is malpractice. They say wow that really is terrible but it is just a maloccurrence, she didn’t do anything wrong. Are you kidding me?
They say it is a MINOR RARE COMPLICATION that noone tells you about. I can’t begin to tell you how angry this makes me. My life, my kids lives and my husbands have forever been changed and I just get OH WELL. I am fighting this until I have nothing left, because if it is a minor complication, than all women should be told,because if I was told I could possibly end up not being able to pee for the rest of my life, and somewhat disabled and in pain almost all the time I never would have done it and I would have just continued to bleed, eventually it would have stopped. I don’t even know what my future holds. God forbid, I have a heart attack and need a pacemaker at some point in time. You can’t have both the neurostimulators and a pacemaker. So I would have to choose. Or if when I’m old my insurance doesn’t cover the operation to redo the devices when the batteries deplete, which could be every 5 years or every 10 years or they don’t cover them when they have to be reprogrammed which is 600.00 a pop. Or if I ever need an MRI. Or if the devices have to be removed and for some reason I can’t cath myself. I would need a suprapubic catheter. Gee won’t that be nice.
If I ever get to trial you can rest assured that I will let my voice be heard and HERS voice be heard and get the video played during the trial.
Lets not give up on this and we have to stop the insanity that is going on with our bodies.
If anyone wants to talk or has had similar experiences with not being able to pee forever after a hysto kindly let me know if there is anything else out there to help. If I can help anyone at all, let me know and will do what I can. Sorry it was so long, it is my first posting and I really want to help women avoid this nonsense if I can.
To Anonymous, who posted on May 14 at 4:32am:
The fact is, the incidence of cancer in the male and female organs is nearly identical. What other “treatment” deserves a “legitimate place” in medicine that is unwarranted 98 times out of a 100? As the surgeon Dieffenback said more than 150 years ago, except in extremely rare life or death situations, “According to my opinion, an indication for this operation does not exist. The attempted extirpation of the womb partakes more of the character of murder tales than of curative surgical operations.” All anyone who debates these issues needs is a medical textbook like Te Linde’s Operative Gynecology and Netter’s anatomical drawings, because the facts of female anatomy that are the same for all women are all that’s needed to demonstrate that the information on the HERS website is based in anatomical certainty. I would welcome a public debate with anyone who thinks otherwise.
Sincerely,
Rick Schweikert
Hysterectomy should cease for benign conditions. It is a criminal, barbaric major surgery. Women die from this surgery. Women suffer short term complications from this surgery. Women suffer life long health problems from this surgery. More hysterectomies are performed in the USA than any other country in the world. No wonder we spend more money on our health care per capita than any other country in the world and are less healthy than many other countries! Many women that have hysterectomies suffer health problems the rest of their lives after this major surgery. 90% of hysterectomies are for benign conditions and are unnecessary. Health care expenditures would go way down if hysterectomies ceased for benign conditions. Women would be stonger, healthier, happier and lead more productive lives if they aged naturally and in tact. The 1991 US senate hearing produced a 200 page booklet, “Unnecessary Hysterectomy”, which could have saved women from this devastating surgery which causes premature aging and many, many other health problems. Instead, the gynecologists manipulated the research in their favor to justify their bread and butter at the expense of our womanhood. They will never give up this lucrative practice as long as they have a willing, cooperative, worried, frightened woman who has a good insurance policy and has not gotten the proper education/information of the importance of aging intact and naturally or has not been informed of the damage that this surgery can/does cause, long and short term. Women need to value their reproductive organs as men value theirs. A man would never dream of giving up his reproductive organs for benign conditions. Cancer of the uterus is less than 4% and of the ovaries, less that 1/2 of 1 percent. A woman is much more likely to die of a heart attack or stroke. The odds are with women that most women will not get cancer of their reproductive organs. Women need to wake up and value their reproductive organs. Women need to stay away from gynecologists. It is no wonder that their malpractice insurance is so high and that they are going out of business. They should go out of business. Women can see an internist or GP for exams, pap smears etc. Women need to stop worrying and stay away from gynecologists!
Hysterectomy is a damaging, dibilitating,destructive surgery for non cancerous conditions. This surgery ages a woman rapidly and prematurely, and is not a natural aging process. Many women loose firmness/strength in their muscles, ligaments and tissues.There skin becomes a problem. They become incontinent. Blood pressure rises. They develop rapid osteoporosis, shrink in height, are at a greater risk for heart attacks and strokes. Many have tinitus, lack of libido, insomnia and depression. There teeth decay rapidly and their eyesite gets worse with floaters or earlier cataracts. The list goes on and on. Hundreds of thousands of women who were formally healthy before hysterectomy become unhealthy rapidly after it. Their life span may be shortened. They spend millions on their health care. If hysterectomy ceased for benign conditions, we would be a wealthier and healthier nation. Stop unnecessary hysterectomy now!
I have not read the posts for awhile, and catching up now. I want to comment on Anonymous’s blog on May 11th @ 11:39 p.m.:
Bless your mother for being adamant about not having a Hyst., and please tell her to keep with her faith there are alternatives.
From your post, it sounds as if she has been through so much already, but, heaven forbid, she have a Hyst., and faced with even more and worse issues. If she ever questions it; just have her read these posts by other women at this site. I am happy to hear the doctors she does see ‘back off’ from trying to persuade her to have a Hyst. – darn…a doctor lost out on adding extra income to his bottom line. She has saved putting out extra income for the aftermath of seeing doctors for the problems after a Hyst.
I just touched on a very valid point with women after they have had a Hyst., and what doctors make and profit from this. It is not just what the doctor(s) makes from the Hyst., but all they make from the women who continues to see the doctor because of problems post-hyst.. An example:
I kept seeing my doctor who did my Hyst. for a year. He made extra money from this. Then, I dismissed him and saw three different GYNs to get help for problems after my Hyst., and all profited from this. I paid thousands of dollars. I do have insurance, but think about the Co-pays I made to the doctors, to the hospitals (for CT Scans, ultrasounds, etc.), and I went out of town to see two doctors. That cost me money, e.g., gas, motel rooms, food expenses and such. Everyone profited from my Hyst. except me (and my husband). Oh, and I spent $900.00 to go to the conference in November of this last year to attend the Hers Foundation conference. Don’t get me wrong. This was so worth it. It is just that I would never have attended this, had I not had the Hyst., and hoping I could gain help and insight by attending. I did; of course. I barely made it down there. I had a horrible ankle infection at the time, and I suffer with RSD. I could have really hurt myself by just traveling there to Pasadena. I hope everyone understands my point here. The after expenses of a Hyst. should also be figured in with everything. I am not financially well right now. Do you know how great Nora and the people at the Hers Foundation are? They waived my conference fee. It was more important to Nora, and thinking of me to get down there; she did whatever she could to accomodate my financial worries. (My mother and father-in-law helped with the trip expenses also.) I get angry when I think of that trip. I get angry with the GYN who did the Hyst. on me with this trip alone. I could have really jeophardized my leg with the open ankle wound with this trip to Pasadena. When I write my letter to him, I will be sure to mention this. This was my Christmas present and birthday present to do that trip. I could have spent it on my two children. Again, I hope everyone understands my point here. That conference was such an uplifting thing for me. I learned some things I did not know about. I met other women who shared with me, and this made me feel I truly was not alone with my plight. One person I met was just 28, and had a Hyst., and she was devastated she did it. She was so upset at that conference. She felt she was pushed into the Hyst., and she said she cannot have anymore children; which really has hit her emotionally hard to find out she did not need the Hyst., but there is no going back. She really made an impact on me. She does have a five year old son, but truly wanted to have more children. How awful is this for her to find out after her Hyst. there were alternatives for her? I feel I have almost more animosity towards her doctor than my own.
I got some good information from that conference. I had never seen the picture diagram of the nerve
system they provided at the conference. This really got to me; in that, I have RSD. For those of you who don’t know what RSD is; it is a nerve disease/syndrome. Here is the sickest part about me and the doctor who did the Hyst. on me…
He knew I had RSD. Why would a doctor do a major surgery on a person with RSD, knowing he would be severing nerves on me, and could further damage me with my disease (which I have been told that is most likely why I do have some of the symptoms I developed after the Hyst. and relative to RSD spreading). Pretty sad, huh?
When I heard this at the conference, I had to get up and walk out for a short time, and cry. Again, this doctor knew this; yet, he continued with doing a Hyst. on me. And then…get this…
I dismissed this doctor, and went to see another GYN. for help after the Hyst., and asked if she would do a Laparscopy on me to check my insides to see what was wrong. She said she would never do a Lap. on me because I have RSD, and could further damage me because of my condition. Now, isn’t that amazing this doctor considered my disease, did not want to cause further nerve damage to me, but that doctor who did my Hyst. had no problem doing a much more intensive surgery on me? If that is not a thoughtless, greedy, and inconsiderate doctor, I do not know otherwise.
Well, there I vented. Any out there who do have RSD, and who have considered having a Hyst., do not do it for just this reason alone. Of course; anyone thinking of it should consider the nerves which are severed with this operation. This diagram picture which was provided at the conference should be enough for any woman to not want to have one.
How come doctors don’t show these pictures to women who they recommend having a Hyst.? How sad!!!
To all, take care, and good blessings upon you.
Hello again,
I just had to make one more comment with regards to Anonymous’s at 4:32 p.m. final words: You wrote, “Hyst. has a legitimate place……as well as presenting facts on a website that are, actually, opinions is irresponsible.
This comment is ridiculous, and once again, you have not read all the posts by people here (including men). Facts have been presented on this website. How much more factual do you want it when you can read all the women who have posted here factually stating what they have ‘first-hand’ experienced by having a Hyst., and how they were mislead by their doctors?
You don’t get it either with what the Hers Foundation is trying to do. They are trying to let women be informed with both sides of the whole picture. Women are not by their doctors. This is what needs to be changed, and changed yesterday. It is like buying a home. A salesman can say, “You must buy this home. It is the only one for you.” Well, I would like to know my alternatives before making a decision. Wouldn’t you? A home is a very huge investment. Once we sign those papers, we are into this investment for a long time. I only wish having a Hyst. would be like buying a house. At least I can sell a house and get another one. I can’t get another uterus…
You sound as if you think the Hers Foundation is one sided. You are the only one with this attitude. To imply Nora and the Hers Foundation wonderful people are irresponsible makes me so angry!
Shame on you for even stating this. I am so thankful if they have saved even one woman from having an unnecessary Hyst. performed on them. My wish is that the word gets out of this Foundation to even more women. I am only sorry I did not have the knowledge of it before my doctor deceivingly pushed me into having mine.
Hello Everyone,
I read what you posted “Anonymous”
at 4:32 p.m. today. I will respond
to this shortly here.
I do want to shout “Yeah! and good
for all of you who have responded
to this already. All comments are
so well put. Nora, once again, you
show me the caliber of the woman
you are. Bless all for responding
to this. Keep them coming.
I agree, Anonymous who posted at
4:32 p.m.; let us know who you are.
Come out, Come out, whoever you may
be, and I would like to know if you
are a man or a woman. Have you ever had a Hysterectomy?
Well, the women posting here have.
I am one of millions. I was so
mislead by my GYN. I was talked
into a Hyst. when I did not need
one. There are alternatives which were never told to me. There are
horrific consequences to a Hyst. which were never told to me. I now live with a body that is ruined. My life will never be the
same. It is ruined, and to the
opposite of what my GYN said it would be.
If you are a man, I would only give
you credit to voice if you first have your penis cut off, and your testicles removed…then I would listen to you with feeling you are ‘walking in our shoes’. If
you are a woman; then have your
uterus removed, and your ovaries
cut out (oh, and make sure it is
an abdominal Hyst. so you can feel
and look at the body scar daily;
then again voice here. Otherwise,
tell us where you conjur up your
thoughts and opinions; because this
is what they are. You do not have
the facts as all the women who have
posted here do. These are facts from women who have personally been through a Hyst., and can state with utmost credibility what is wrong with women being subjected to this insane and inhumane act. I have lived it, have you?
The problem with the Hers Foundation is one thing: All the
hard work and efforts to stop this
deceitful practice by doctors is still not reaching the women who are set up to have a Hyst. now. This is the reason to have what Hers is fighting for; to have a law put into effect so women can view even one short video to understand the consequences of having a Hyst., and this, Anonymous is called being INFORMED.
I was not informed by my doctor. Had I watched this Hers video, I would never had my Hyst., and my life would be so much to the better. “NIGHT AND DAY” better. What is wrong with a woman viewing this video? I know you do not have a valid answer to this as to why not. It could mean the whole medical institution be upset and where will these doctors and hospitals make their easy money?
Also, why don’t the doctors and hospitals call it what it is on their consent forms? “I agree to
have my body castrated and amputated for no valid medical basis, and there are alternatives to this surgery. I am agreeing to
this unnecessary surgery.” Let’s
make sure that is on all Hyst. consent forms because that is exactly what will be happening.
I am a Hyst. victim, and suffering now; have no alternatives; i.e., cannot reverse this surgery, and
will never be the same. I approve
of this message. (Oh, my husband
approves of this also. Our sex
lives are ruined. We once had a fantastic sexual relationship. How dare my doctor tell me it would be the same if not better.)
I could share all that I physically have to suffer with now, but just read all the other blogs, Anonymous at 4:32 p.m., because obviously you have not. These are the facts from women who do not just talk about a Hyst., but have experienced one, and now
live witht the horrible and cruel
aftermath.
Nora, You GO Girl! How dare anyone put down this foundation!
Anonymous at 4:32 p.m. – again, who are you? I tell you if you tell me. I will even happily give you the name of the GYN. who ruined my body.
To Anonymous who posted at 4:32 p.m. You are correct that “A responsible medical recommendation cannot be obtained from someone who is wholly committed to a specific agenda.” All you have to do is follow the money trail of hysterectomy surgeries for doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies to see that there is nothing objective about hysterectomizing and castrating over 600,000 women per year, other than profit. Women are being deceived and bullied into this surgery. It is totally legal for a doctor to amputate a woman’s uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes and cervix without any medical basis and without her consent. I know this from first-hand experience. There is no law to protect a woman when she is under anesthesia. Informed consent laws are not enforced in the United States. This status quo will only change when there is a law in place to force greedy doctors to give women the correct information when they recommend hysterectomy and castration surgery. The medical community is not working towards saving female organs, they are only coming up with faster and less invasive ways to remove female organs because the faster it is done, the higher the profit margin. I never consented to have my female organs removed, but woke up with my healthy uterus, ovaries, cervix and fallopian tubes amputated. I never knew anything about this surgery until after this was done to me without my permission or consent. I find it mind-boggling that this is allowed to go on in the United States. I thought I lived in a free country where women have rights, but I learned a very difficult lesson. I learned that when women are put under anesthesia for a pelvic surgery, that they have no rights and that doctors can remove all their female organs without consent and without any medical justification. The United States has the highest hysterectomy/castration rate in the world, and even though studies have shown that there is no medical benefit, the yearly quota of over 600,000 hysterectomies continues. Any logical reasonable thinking person can see that there is something very wrong going on. You can see on message boards all over the internet that women generally have no idea why this surgery is recommended. Some are told it’s a “mess in there”. Some are told “you have a tumor, so it all has to go.” Some are told they have a “bulky uterus”. Some are told “you have an ovarian mass”, so the uterus has to be removed. Doctors are so accustomed to removing female organs with no medical basis, that even though their reasons sound ridiculous, they continue to get away with it. If doctors were amputating kidneys of over 600,000 women per year every year because they had a cyst or a benign tumor that could just be removed, there would be riots, but the medical community treats female organs as if they are throw away and not needed unless the woman wants children. Even when a woman wants children, a greedy doctor will still legally amputate them. Even though there is no hormone replacement therapy that can replace the hormones that ovaries produce, doctors are quick to amputate ovaries and give a woman an estrogen pill. Even though it is totally illogical that a pill would replace the intricate workings of the female ovaries, doctors continue to do it and get away with it. You should be ashamed of yourself for promoting this surgery while ignoring that it is being done to women at alarming rates without their informed consent. The fact is that even when the HERS video becomes mandatory to show patients who are told they need a hysterectomy, it will not stop a woman from getting a hysterectomy or take away her right to do so, it will only give her the information that she deserves to know so she can make an informed decision. Only at that time, will women be given back their rights as U.S. citizens. When un-consented hysterectomy is ended in the Unites States, the HERS Foundation will be out of business, yet that is their goal. The HERS Foundation has no monetary goal like the medical community. The doctors, hospitals and pharmaceuticals will lose a huge income, but their goal isn’t to stop something that is wrong, it is their goal to keep the money rolling in even if they have to perform harmful and unethical surgeries. Hysterectomy only has a place when a woman is fully informed of all the possible risks and complications and damage it does to their health. It should be a woman’s right to decide, not a doctors decision when he derives most of his income from the surgery (while the woman is under anesthesia). Even the most ethical doctor would be tempted to perform unnecessary surgery when his very income depends upon it. “Healthcare” for women in the U.S. is an oxymoron. There is simply nothing healthy or caring about amputating over 600,000 female organs per year without proven medical benefits and when less invasive alternatives are readily available but are kept secret from women by the doctors they trust.
Anonymous,
To make a decision about a treatment or surgery recommended by a doctor people need full disclosure of information to determine if they have a medical problem, the treatment options, and the known adverse effects. Objective factual information, if complete, cannot come from a variety of sources because the facts are the same from any and all sources, or they are not in fact, facts. Opinion, on the other hand, will vary from person to person and may be based on the individual’s vested interest or a conflict of interest. For instance, a doctor who stands to gain financially or by elevating their status by performing a surgery that increases a hospitals bottom line may have an opinion that is self-serving rather than factual.
The only legitimate hysterectomy is one that is life saving and only if the woman has been fully informed of the adverse effects of the surgery and consents to removal of her uterus. The vast majority of hysterectomies are not life saving, and they are unwarranted and unconsented. Information is requisite to consent.
It is no more a matter of individual differences when removing the female organs than it is when removing the male organs. So you have a discharge from your penis. Do you want children? No? Well, what do you need it for, I’ll cut it off, why be bothered with all that messy discharge. You’ll be a new man, better than ever. Sex? Oh, that will be the same or better. And since you’re 40 years old it’s standard procedure to remove your testicles so that you don’t have to worry about testicular cancer. I’ll give you a little testosterone pill, dear, and you’ll be as good as new or better.
Sound ludicrous? I think so too. Yet that’s what is being told to women in doctor’s offices every day, all over the country. The excellent questions women ask are trivialized, and women are often bullied into surgery.
Another woman’s female organs are removed without her informed consent every minute of every hour of every day in the United States.
The women who post on this blog anonymously do so because their bodies and lives have been damaged and their health destroyed by doctors who did not disclose the information they needed to consent to hysterectomy and female castration. And some of them went into operating rooms for diagnostic procedures and were told that “possible hysterectomy and BSO” was on the consent form in case they found a life-threatening problem, and they were assured their uterus and ovaries would not be removed otherwise. They were lied to. They were hysterectomized and castrated even though a life-threatening condition did not exist. They prefer to remain anonymous because they have suffer the hideous consequences of a mutilating surgery. It does not make a person feel good to say “Hi, I’m Jane, I was hysterectomized and castrated and now I have no sexual feeling, I’m dead in bed. And that’s not all, I have joint pain, I’m in pain if I sit, stand or walk, I can’t sleep, I’m always exhausted, I’ve lost interest in a social and work life, and my vitality is gone. Oh, and did I mention that there’s no uterine orgasm without a uterus and that my poor husband is so sad that this was done to me and that it’s destroyed much of the life we enjoyed together?
If you believe that what you have said is credible please stand behind your words by giving your name.
The objective factual information about hysterectomy that every woman needs is in the video “Female Anatomy: the Functions of the Female Organs” just before the comment section of this blog. No HERS anatomy video? No consent!
To Anonymous of May 14, 2008, 4:32pm
You sound like someone in the medical field, and more specifically, someone who will benefit from hysterectomies.
We hysterectomy victims who post on this site tell our personal experiences, including the fact that we were NOT given the facts by our doctors/surgeons before being given a consent form to sign before surgery. Some of us declared loud and clear we did not want the surgery, and it was given anyway, on the whim of the surgeon….
You do not appear to have read many of the blog posts here because you say:
‘A responsible medical recommendation cannot be obtained from someone who is wholly committed to a specific agenda.’
This blog exists because we victims were not given ‘A RESPONSIBLE medical recommendation’ from our doctors/surgeons. Now that we know the truth, post hysterectomy surgery, we are exposing the facts, and our experiences to the world! Get it???!!!!!!
You have some nerve, saying,
‘Hysterectomy has a legitimate place as a medical treatment; but embracing or rejecting it outright, without respect to individual differences as well as presenting facts on a website that are, actually, opinions is irresponsible’.
My doctor told me as a ‘fact’, all I needed to do was swallow a pill every day for the rest of my life, post surgery, and, in a nutshell, everything else should be as it was before, except I would not be able to have children, and I would no longer experience my monthly periods. How’s that for ‘facts’ , and ‘ responsible medical recommendation …’
Only someone who is benefitting from this cruel mutilation of women could make the irresponsible comments you have.
Smartbutt!!!!!
Time for you to butt out!
I just recently found your website and it is absolutely wonderful. I underwent a partial Hysterectomy about 2 years ago in January of 2006. They left my ovaries there but took the uterus. Last year, I started experiencing very frightening racing of my heart and fainting. The racing heart got worse and I actually thought I was having a heart attack. I have severe Anxiety disorder which is gradually becoming worse. It was a few months after I had experienced the racing heart rates that I started developing a vertigo. Almost as if waves were under my feet and a sort of balance problem. Now I experience this vertigo on a daily basis and it is very difficult to live with. I am unable to stand for long periods of time or walk much. It feels better to lay down. My doctors cannot figure out what is causing the vertigo and I was wondering if this could be related to the hysterectomy? My doctors had told me that it could be caused by an inner ear problem but I found out that this was not the case. They found nothing wrong with my ears. I have also suffered all my life with migraines and they too have became worse.
I was just wondering if all this could be linked to the hysterectomy and menopause. I am 32 years old. I certainly thank everyone very much for your posts, it is greatly appreciated and I am so happy to have found your wonderful website.
Wow…this really sheds some light on my questions. I was 17 when I had one of my ovaries removed. I am 38 now and I have noticed over the last several years, I forgot a lot of things. I even forgot my kids names at one point for about 5 minutes. I read something and cannot recall what I read right after reading it, the list goes on and on. Any advice on what type of doctor I should see, this is really becoming annoying.
Eight years after my total hysterectomy I am still very emotional, irrational at times and very grumpy – uh, very irritable, very very irritable. I have been fatigued for a couple of years. The rest of the symptoms have just recently began. I am ashamed to say I am a nurse because I should know better but I didn’t.
Thank you for doing what you do.
I was 26 yrs. old & my uterus and ovaries were removed because of excessive uterine bleeding. I am embarrassed to say I had no idea, the doctor did not tell me anything at all except that I would be a new woman. He didn’t tell me the new woman wouldn’t be a fraction of the old me. If you’re even thinking about a hysterectomy, think again. And again. And again.
The bottom line for any medical treatment is that it is an individual decision based on the medical facts of the INDIVIDUAL case, as well as the INDIVIDUAL woman’s tolerance level for symptoms, goals and preferences for her lifestyle. OBJECTIVE factual information from A VARIETY of sources is the best means to evaluate any medical decision. Blanket statements that claim to apply to everyone are nearly always wrong for some. The fact is, for most women’s medical issues, studies are limited and information is conflicting, often colored by political motivations on both sides. A responsible medical recommendation cannot be obtained from someone who is wholly committed to a specific agenda. Hysterectomy has a legitimate place as a medical treatment; but embracing or rejecting it outright, without respect to individual differences as well as presenting facts on a website that are, actually, opinions is irresponsible.
For hundreds of years women have used, Cinnamon Oil and Ground Cinnamon, to curtail heavy periods. Read a good herbal healing book for other good female tips.
I was trying to find out if there are any drugs FDA approved to help women regain their sex drive. I had a hysterectomy 3 years ago and was never informed of the possible adverse effects. My sex life is ruined and I can’t live like this anymore. I need serious help. Please help me. I have one ovary.
Do you have any information on teen age hysterectomies; and the physical, mental, emotional affects on the person. I was 17. I’m 22 now. Thank you.
Alert! Although you may get an error message when you click “Publish Your Comment” your comment will still be posted.
This problem has been reported to blogger, hopefully they’ll have it fixed soon. In the meanwhile, ignore the error message and keep posting!
I have already had a total hysterectomy at the age of 29. I need help to feel normal again. What can I do? I want to find an alternative to replace the ovaries and their functions.
It will take passing a law to stop the predator ob/gyn surgeons from attacking women for profit. This is proven by the fact that one-third of the female population in the U.S.A, has had their sex organ amputated by hysterectomy.
Sign the Hers Foundation Petition, to end un-consented hysterectomy by deceit.
Have a lawyer draw up your consent form before having any female surgery, to make sure you leave the operating room and hospital with your sex organs.
Do not forget there is a loop-hole in the current consent form for female surgeries in the U.S.A. The loop-hole is clearly written on all female surgery consent forms. The loop-hole allows surgeons to amputate healthy female sex organs at will for profit, which many do, if you look at the statistics.
Informing women of the “female anatomy”, will stop ob/gyn surgeons from robbing women of their health and well-being by deceit for profit.
I found this by accident, like so many others. I have never trusted doctors in general or the way that “medicine” is practiced, particularly obstetrics, and this certainly doesn’t encourage me to change my mind any time soon!
But I do have some heartening stories to tell. I am extremely lucky to not have gyn problems *knock on wood*. My mother on the other hand is not so lucky. She’s battled lupus most of her adult life and it has attacked her reproductive organs severely. She has endometriosis and fibroids. She hemorrhaged and nearly died a month ago. She may have has a miscarriage, but tests were inconclusive. She is undergoing a DNC tomorrow to have necrotic tissue and tumors (most likely not cancerous but caused by the endometriosis and scar tissue) removed. I was actually searching for information about that procedure when I found this site. Doctors have been telling her for years to get a hysterectomy. Her mother-in-law who had a hysterectomy some years ago tells her to do it. Nurses who claim to have had it done to themselves tell her to do it. They all say, especially because she’s 46 and has given birth to 5 children, that she should get a hysterectomy because 1.) she’s had all the kids she could want and 2.) she could go through menopause at any time anyway (although, there are no signs that she’s even premenopausal yet – women in our family have been known to continue menstruating as late as 60 years of age). But she won’t allow a hysterectomy. She knows what it might and likely will do to her if she does. And thank God! I cheer her on in her perseverance. She has stopped seeing doctors and found new ones several times because they’ve told her she has no other choice but to have it done. She is currently seeing an internist doctor for most of her lupus related issues, in conjunction with a obgyn. Apparently, they both are very understanding. They think she’s a little crazy, but they’re very willing to respect her wishes, her obgyn in particular. He knows she feels very strongly about it and has never tried to convince her otherwise. I don’t know his name (I’ve never happened to have asked), but the practice is Women’s Health Care of Sumter in Sumter, SC. My mother says that at that practice they are doing every thing they can to make sure that she will always have other alternative ways of managing her medical problems so that she can avoid a hysterectomy. Every time she goes in and sees someone new (doctor or nurse), she’s said first thing (due to all the doctors and nurses who have insisted it’s the “only way” in the past), “Whatever it is this time, I don’t want a hysterectomy!” before they even say a word, and every doctor and nurse she’s seen has said, pretty much the same thing: “Well, then, you won’t have one. There are other things we can do for you to help you feel better and manage this, so let’s discuss the possibilities.” She also had a ruptured ovarian cyst two years ago which forced her to go to the emergency room at Tuomey Healthcare Center (which is also in Sumter, right next to Women’s Health), where she was told she required emergency surgery. The internists and obs who worked on her there promised her that they would do everything they could to avoid a hysterectomy and/or oophorectomy (at the time she went under, they did not know how extensive the damage was because blood in her abdomen was obscuring the ultrasound too much to tell – it was that bad!). After working on her for five hours to clean up the mess, they were successful in that and she made it out of the surgery with everything intact, thank God.
I pray that this kind of attitude, which puts the health and life-long well-being of women before profit or the convenience of doctors, becomes the norm of medical practice very soon.
No alternatives were told to me when a hysterectomy was recommended. The doctor first encouraged me to allow her to perform a bilateral oopherectomy in addition to the hysterectomy. I refused. She continued to pressure me. Finally, she said that I was at very high risk of ovarian cancer because someone in my family died from cancer. After she continued to badger me with the cancer threat, I finally agreed to the oopherectomy.
My problems began almost immediately following the surgery with a terrible reaction to the hormone therapy. Since that time the list of compounded and bio-identicals endless, including weight gain of 50 pounds, high blood pressure which caused severe nose bleeds, high chloresterol within one year of surgery, when I had had very low chloresterol up until the surgery, chronic fatigue, chronic depression, headaches, muscle aches, rashes, itching, hair loss (particularly pubic hair), thinning of my skin, memory loss, irritability, mood swings, constant hot flashes which have lasted until the present time despite my taking hormones, worsening of Rheumatoid Arthritis, loss of self-esteem, itching of the skin, brown spots, my fingernails became thin, brittle, and developed vertical ridges, and more.
Worst of all, I cannot get rid of the anger over what the doctor did. Therapists think I’m over reacting, they don’t understand at all. This web site and blog saved my sanity and maybe my life. Please help me.
I am not able to take hormones because it gives me bad migraines, but i really need something that helps with my sexual appetite. I have no sexual feeling. I have totally lost it and I really don’t like that. Please help!!!
I am 5 weeks post op of total hysterectomy. I have a lump on the end of the right side of my incision. Sometimes it burns and hurts so bad I cry. after the pain leaves I am very aware of loss of feeling down the right side of my pubic area. I called my doctor and she wanted me to put warm compresses on the incision. I have no fever but honestly I felt better 4 weeks ago physically than I do now. Is any of this normal? or should I really
push my doctor for an answer?
To add to the above
‘estrogen collagen’
post today, I hope others will mention any helpful things they have tried, which may have helped them cope with this estrogen collagen connection.
I have recently started taking the (over-the-counter) amino-acid nutritional supplement, L-Lysine. It has helped me in some small measure. I plan to introduce some more amino-acids gradually into my daily nutritional supplement regime and will keep you all posted on my progress. I suggest we all seek a reliable product brand as inferior brands may possibly do more harm than good, as with any nutritional product. I also strongly recommend self-education on these issues along with ‘reliable’ professional advice before self-medicating.
I tend to shy away from quick-fixes like collagen injections or promises from even more ‘doctors’ of renewing youth through their plastic surgery procedures, expensive potions etc.
I believe the estrogen collagen connection makes sense.
It would explain so many health issues which usually, (gradually or sometimes suddenly) develop after sex-organ surgery. These few possibilities below, are just those that come first to mind. The list is never-ending, and many more still remain unknown:
Increased loss of bladder control and extreme urgency (which often leads to loss of sleep and/or interrupted sleep which gradually leads to chronic fatigue. Chronic fatigue, if left untreated, may be fatal in some cases). The structural integrity and the muscles of the bladder are likely to be affected due to the loss of estrogen collagen
Stomach and digestion issues including flatulence, constipation, acid reflux issues
Painful intercourse
Eyesight difficulties (sometimes leading to detached cornea etc)
Headaches and possible ‘senile purpura’ issues, strokes etc. due to weakened blood vessels
Neurological difficulties
Muscle difficulties and weakness
Skeletal problems including the teeth
Weakened immune system due to malfunctioning of the endocrine system
This is not even a scratch on the surface of the many issues created by removing several sex-organs from the body by one surgical procedure. Not to mention also having your vagina sewn into a pocket along with the structural vacuum left in the pelvic floor where your organs have been removed thus creating dislocation of your remaining body parts and skeletal structure etc.
For those who want to believe, having their sex-organs removed was ‘the best decision I ever made’, please provide some tangible evidence for your new found enthusiasm for hysterectomy surgery. What could you possibly find so very wonderful about the above facts?
collagen estrogen
A quick search on the internet using these two words (together) is quite enlightening.
Estrogen is used in the production of collagen.
There are many types of estrogen and there are many types of collagen.
It is so sad that most females think the loss of estrogen affects their sexual functions mainly.
Too many doctors give this impression when discussing estrogen with their female patients. Certainly this has been my experience.
There is a whole BIGGER story that needs to be told.
Because of the resulting loss of collagen due to the loss of estrogen after sex-organ surgery, literally, the fabric of your whole body is affected. Collagen may also be described as the ‘glue’ which holds the body together.
First Reference:
A story appearing in the November 14, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report, titled ‘Skin Deep’ by author BERNADINE HEALY, M.D. and posted on 11-6-2005 mentions that:
1) sex hormones shape the skin and
2) estrogen increases collagen and skin moisture and promotes wound healing
therefore
3) estrogen-deprived skin thins, loses collagen, and slows down its cell renewal
Second Reference:
Wikipedia:
‘ … Collagen is one of the long, FIBROUS STRUCTURAL PROTEINS whose functions are quite different from those of GLOBULAR PROTEINS such as ENZYMES. Tough bundles of collagen called collagen fibers are a major component of the EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX that supports most tissues and gives cells structure from the outside, but collagen is also found inside certain cells. Collagen has great TENSILE STRENGTH and is the main component of FASCIA, CARTILAGE, LIGAMENTS, TENDONS, BONE and TEETH. Along with soft KERATIN, it is responsible for SKIN strength and elasticity, and its degradation leads to WRINKLES that accompany AGING. It strengthens BLOOD VESSELS and plays a role in TISSUE development. It is present in the CORNEA and LENS of the EYE in CRYSTALLINE form … ’
First of all, no synthetic or so-called ‘natural’ estrogen ingested into your body after surgical removal of your estrogen-producing sex-organs is going to identically replace the lost estrogen (many types) in the exact manner and method and timing etc. as normally produced by your own sex organs.
These doctors who keep telling their prospective (ching! ching!) hysterectomy patients that they can take a pill after the surgery to replace their lost estrogen,and all will be well, need to provide these prospective (ching! ching!) patients with PROOF of their much touted, blatant nonsense!!!!!
Let’s begin to get real.
To Anonymous of May 10: 1:23pm
Great post!
You have said it like it is.
You have spoken for me too!!
Thank you.
O.K. then, “Dirty Bidding”
“Dirty Bidding”
The media is staying silent about the hysterecmy by deceit of 1/3 of the female population in the U.S because of Advertising Money. The hospitals, doctors-surgeons and drug industry pay the newspapers, magazines and television media millions for their “dirty bidding” – Medically impossible lies perpetuated for profit by a well honed medical industry on the female U.S. population regarding their sex organs and amputation of them.
I pondered this and came to the conclusion that….sad but true….my sexual organ amputated by deceit for profit is paying for the medical industry to advertise the amputation of more women’s sex organs by deceit.
If you add up all, 22 Million, women involved, the Uterus’s, Ovaries and Cervix’s surrendered by deceit, for profit, add up to a hefty sum. I am including the money involved for the medical industry after the women’s body is ruined, too.
It isn’t the quality of the surgery or the medical facts regarding the sexual organ amputation, it is the quantity of misleading surgeries they perform.
Oh, I get it now, the medical industry needed my sex organ, my well-being, my endocrine health and my non-existent uterine orgasm, to advertise for more women to be tricked.
And the media needed my sex organ to print the lies for the medical industry.
If I feel I can not go on in the life altering conditon I am in now, who cares. On to the next one please, step right up, you are not significant in the United States Of America, you are a uterus for profit-a female sex organ-not necessary for sexual function or health.
Hey medical industry, OB/GYN’S, are you secretly saving the eggs in the amputated ovaries? Come on now, are ya?
Ladies, go to http://www.PBS.org and tell them what you would like them to air under their “Question of the Day”. Near the top of the page, it says: “PBS Engage”. Just below that, click on “Now Tell Us What You Think”. You will then see a form to fill out telling them what you would like to air. Make sure you link them to the HERS Foundation also.
Hello Everyone,
I apologize for my last post and
all of the ‘squares’. It was strange; in that, it came back when
I sent this post, that it did not
go through. I even sent it again.
Anyway, sorry about this.
To Anonymous who posted stating your doctor did not want to see you
any longer… Did you communicate
to him you were unhappy about the
surgery? What did you say to him?
I am curious. Sounds like a “Wham,
Bam, Thank You Maam – now be on your way.” How dare him not to at
least provide avenues of help after
your surgery and be responsible. My doctor basically did the same
thing. He just scratched his head,
and said, “I have never had anyone
have any problems after a Hyst”, and said I should go for a second
opinion. I did…a second, a third, and a fourth. Not one GYN
offered any help or direction. This is what really amazed me. I
felt these doctors (three practicing in the same area) were
in ‘Kahootz’ with each other; e.g., like police officers not talking ill of other police officers – like an alliance, and
no wrong doing could be within this alliance group.
I told Nora I had prepared a letter to send to the GYN who did
the Hyst. on me. I did not send it
yet; as I ordered some books to research first, and quote perhaps from these books. Two are written by Dr. Stanley West. One is called “The Hysterectomy Hoax”. I
also will send this letter to Nora
and Rick for their approval, and any other comrades at Hers for input before I send it. I want so
much for it to be an impacting letter so he will truly realize what he did to me. I also want to
ask him to step to the plate and
see if he will respond to my letter. I will also ask him to have any of his patients he suggests to have a Hyst. first view the Hers Foundation DVD; thus, sending my point that his
patients truly make an ‘informed
decision’. If I help save even one patient of his from doing what
was done to me; it will be so very
monumental.
It really is incredible with so many of the posts I have read here;
where the doctors who performed the
Hysts. on them, have passed them
off. Do these doctors think of us
as ‘dust’, and can ‘sweep us under
the carpet’, so to speak?
I read the post by June. I am so
thankful you are so insightful, Nora, to have picked up on this. I
guess, if I am assuming right, June
is using this blog to promote a
product? I did understand what you
were stating with June not posting
something to the effect that all will be well after a Hyst., if one
does not ‘dwell’ on it. I do not
believe any one woman here posting
wants to ‘dwell’. When something
changes one’s life physically, mentally, financially, and expands
to affect family and friends…it
is only by grace we post to want
to expand our tools of reaching out
for help, input, and guidance. To
use the word ‘dwell’ – it is not
in the vocabulary regarding this
subject. All of us who have been
through this have every right to
be so very upset, and continue with
being just this. I do get back to,
if this happened to men…oh my
gosh…want to talk about ‘dwell’..
Of course, this just would not be
happening to men.
I would like to hear from anyone
if they have been prescribed the
drug, “Mirapex” As I stated in my
previous post, I was referred to a
doctor who is a specialist with
Fibromyalgia. He feels this is my
problem with my abdominal pains,
back pains, and every other symptom I have had since my Hyst.,
and first prescribed Xanax to help
me with sleep. I could not take
this. He has now suggested this
Mirapex. I would appreciate any
feedback with doctors applying
Fibromyalgia as the problem, and
also these two drugs he wanted me
to take.
Also, what about HRT? I have never taken anything. I still have
my ovaries, I think…another thing I should have confirmed, but was adamant they stay in with the surgery, and told by the doctor they were not removed. Gosh, has anyone ever found out later that their ovaries were removed when they requested they stay in; only
to find out later they were taken
out? I remember having an ultra
sound after my Hyst., and the tech.
who did the study said she could
not see the ovaries in me, but this
was not uncommon. I would appreciate any input with this too.
Happy Mother’s Day to everyone. I
wish all of you, most sincerely,
a continued year of every hope of
feeling better. I just got off the
phone with good friends visiting from out of town from Seattle. They want to see me tomorrow. I
used to be the type to jump at a
chance to see them. Now, I have to state, “Let me see how I will feel.” Isn’t this sad? For this,
I would love to call the GYN who
did this to me, and tell him how
I feel right now; not being well
enough to visit with these close
friends from out of town. It is
so true…ever since the Hyst., my
life has changed to this point, and
this is just one of many that hurt
so emotionally because of the physical impairment.
Once again, thanks for letting me
vent…
Belle
This is my story about my emergency hysterectomy following induced labor. The story still haunts me today and I continue to live with problems resulting from it. I havent spoken about my story it is very hard. I am trying to find courage. I have filed a complaint.This is the letter and timeline I wrote to state medical board.
I suffered PPH Aug 1, 2006. I am writing you asking for your professional opinion. I need to know the standard and proper care of an obgyn caring for a patient with PPH following a normal delivery. Please if you could take the time to read my information. I am asking our State Medical board to review my situation. It would be wonderful if I could get your help or any suggestions that you have.
My complaints encompass five areas of concern as they relate to physician care:
1). Lack of early recognition of the large right broad ligament hematoma along with the active bleeding from the right uterine vessels which was obviously a life-threatening condition.
2.) Delay in treatment. Taking several hours in instituting a plan of care which should have included an immediate transfer to a large tertiary center and timely consult with physician.
3). Abandonment. Leaving my care during the night in the hands of an interventional radiologist while Dr. Carlson found it more appropriate to go home and go to bed while being fluid resuscitated.
4.) Wasting even more valuable time insisting that I be transferred to Mayo vs. Sioux Valley, certainly realizing that the additional miles would delay my treatment even further. I very much appreciate the initiative taken by the flight nurse to insist on S F transfer.
5.) Ignoring advocacy roles in addressing my immediate post-partum needs.
Because of the deficiencies in healthcare provided by Dr. C, I now suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety, Headaches, Irritability, Loss of Fertility, Menopausal Symptoms, Constipation and Irregular Bowels, Difficulties with Concentration, Night Sweats, Insomnia, loss of appetite, rectal bleeding, stomach pain, muscle tension, pain with intercourse, profound fatigue, loss of energy and stamina, dry skin, dizziness and continued outpatient counseling, physical therapy, and reconstructive pelvic surgeries due to hysterectomy. Vaginal and bladder prolapse and small rectal prolapse. Abdominal hernia with repair. Multiple Dr. visits, lifting restrictions that were placed after surgeries. I developed High Blood pressure and now take medicine. I have trouble remembering and recalling information due to being resuscitated and extreme blood loss and shock. Possible Sheehan Syndrome. On Jan. 15, 2008 a Radiologist found a tumor on my Pituitary Gland which could be a result of everything I’ve gone through. I believe I will live the rest of my life with many of these problems and I’m young, we have no idea what will happen to my body in the future.
I have been blessed with a wonderful husband and four beautiful children. The fear and emotional suffering my children have went though this past eighteen months would bring tears to anyone. My children grew up way too fast and this took away much of their innocence.
Recent data shows that 1:3 obstetricians will be sued in the course of their careers. If this is the level of care being provided by most, I now understand why the high numbers.
Time Line
8:45 Patient lost conciousness
9:15 Dr. C at bedside ordered consult with Dr. W
B/P 64/32
Ct scan ordered at 9:20
9:55 taken to CT
B/P 34/20
10:15 ct taken
10:45 ct showed large retroperitoneal hematoma
wait for surgical consult
11:30 Dr. W surgical consult arrives wont do surgery told Dr. C to do surgery who also says no, Orders radiology consult
12:00 radiology arrives says this isn’t for him. should be surgical. no one wants to do surgery so it is left in his hands
12:00 obgyn goes home radiologist is upset obgyn left him with his unstable patient
4:00 am out of radiology unstable and critical placed in ICU
New Ct showed bleeding is critical
call Dr. back to hospital
5:40 call made to see if plane available
6:00 am Dr. talks with family if should transfer
7:20 flight team arrives No pulse
Flight paramedic wants change orders to fly to closer hospital, no Dr. available to sign changes husband made executive change.
8:00 flight team leaves hospital
Hysterectomy completed in Sf
Please describe your complaint in detail:
Eighteen months ago I delivered my fourth child at Avera St. Lukes Hospital in Aberdeen SD. I am writing this letter to tell you about the events following my birth on August 1, 2006. My delivery was induced due to increased high blood pressure. My induction started at 7 am and Joseph was born at 4:11pm. It wasn’t until 8:45 pm that I began to feel uneasy and short of breath. And my side had a sharp intense pain. The baby and I were the only ones in the room, somehow I reached for the call button for help. My blood pressure dropped 64/32. It feels like yesterday. I have had both spiritual and emotional growth this year. I will never forget the twelve hours of pain and emotional suffering I had to endure. I survived the unthinkable. The fear and pain was something I wish onto no one. I believe the Lord was watching out for me and my family. When I was holding my baby boy for what I thought was the last time I saw the strength of my family fighting for me. I spent a great deal of that night talking with the Lord. The Doctors had left and I had to accept that I had no control over the circumstances, I had to let go and hope that the Lord would answer my prayers. I was in so much pain. My body would go numb when darkness overcame me, which happened many times that night. I begged the Lord for him to send someone to help me. I lost consciousness several times and everytime I thought as my body began tingling would I would wake up this time. I am learning to let go of all the negative feelings I have and I want to do something about Dr. C who was suppose to be there for me. He knew early in the evening that I was suffering from a hemmorage. I don’t understand why he waited, watched, and went home. The care, treatment and conduct of Dr. C was below the standard of care of a competent OBGYN. Not only did he have a duty to refer me to another facility when he knew he did not have the required skill, or the proper facilities to treat me and my medical condition. He abandoned me. I believe a more favorable result would have been more likely obtained by another specialist or at another facility. Dr. C went home to bed. I suffered unbelievable amount of blood loss. I was given 21 units of blood products. I was continuously resucitated the entire evening. I felt what it was like to lose control of my breathing and reach out for help. To be awoken my nurses yelling in my face. This began at 8:50 pm until the flight team arrived the next morning. I remember the four hours in the cath lab with the radiologist. The pain in my belly and body never got any better. And the slightest movement would drop my blood pressure. Then the hospital ran out of blood products so it was inevitable that I would need to leave ASL. The wait was unnecessary and unreasonable. A patient should not have to wait an entire evening for one to get care. Dr. C left the hospital and went home to sleep. He was never with me even when upon the insistence of the head flight care nurse when I was discharged to the flight team. We had to make a decision where to go S F or Mayo Clinic, The Dr’s at the hospital said earlier to go to Mayo. The flight nurse said he didn’t think I would make it to Mayo because I had little to no pulse. Dr. C was no where to be found. My husband made the decision to go to S F. Enclosed is a copy of notes we made that evening and I hope you take the time to read and picture what my evening was like at Asl. I don’t want anyone to go through what I did and there needs to be explanations as to why the treatment was so bad. I face many health problems from the inadequate medical diagnosis or misdiagnosis and lack of treatment, which I will carry the rest of my life. It has also affected my family. My 6 year old son Matt, started having night terrors. We find him around the house sometimes curled up in the fetal position crying, sometimes running down the hallway screaming. We put bolt locks on the top of our outside doors so he can’t reach them and have taken many other measure to insure his safety. Most of his dreams are about me dying. He is tuned in to every conversation. When the radiologist called today and said I have a tumor on my pituitary, he picked up on the conversation and immediate needed to know about everything. My husband and I have still take turns laying in my oldest son’s bed to help him go to sleep. He try’s to be very strong and grown up for 8 years old. The conversations have been, if mom die’s Dad can’t get remarried because we never want to forget out mom. If mom dies I want to die also. Why would Jesus let mom die? My 4 year old daughter, on the way to S f for a check up with Dr. L she said to me, “Mom, you look beautiful in that dress, is that what you are going to wear when they bury you.” Lilly has had a very difficult time understanding everything and has had many deep thoughts for a four year old. My youngest son Joseph, when the flight team came to get me, a nurse brought him to say good-bye. I held him and knew I had to fight but also knew this may be the only picture he will ever have of his mother. We have hundreds of stories of how this has effected our children, what they have said, the tears we share, the pain, and not just my husband, my children, and myself, my entire family and my husbands family share our pain. I believe I have thousands of people praying for me right now. I have had nurses from the hospital come up to me, hug me and cry with me. People who don’t know me call me or bring us food, even today they still do. Doctors share their stories and nurses share theirs. The nurse who was with me that night feels extreme guilt because no one did anything to help me. She said she would be willing to tell her story anytime. She even asked me to forgive her for not doing more. I will follow though as an advocate for women and am willing do and spend whatever it takes to right the wrong.
I am seeking an explanation from the committee as to why Dr C, a board certified health care provider in SD, should be allowed to treat me with such insignificance and unimpotance and still have a license.
I wanted to add this note from my father after he had read my complaint.
Heather,
This looks very good; I know it was difficult to face all of those memories and feelings and to then put them into words and onto paper!
I know I still question my own disbelief in hearing Dr. W say, while Dr. C sat behind the intensive care desk with a blanket wrapped about his shoulders, “we need to send Heather out—we will need to have someone clean up our mess”! Hearing this from the doctor when you have placed your life and trust in them to care for you, is so very hard to understand?
Anyway, I believe that proceeding with this process is an integral part of your healing process! God is giving you the strength to deal with all of this, just as He provided you the strength that night to fight for your life and make it through the ordeal that continues for you yet today.
You are certainly right when you mentioned that many are still continuing yet today to hold you up in prayer.
I love you Heather and am so proud of the person, the woman, wife and mother you have become.
Dad
I am emotionally tired of dealing with this traumatic event that I had. Thank you so much for reading. I need help on what to do. If you could help or put me in contact with someone I would be very thankful.
God Bless
Heather
I would like to know if there is any research and whether there is information available for weight loss strategies for women who have had hysterectomies? I have tried everything except starvation. I get plenty of exercise but no matter what…I cannot lose weight…as a matter of fact, I have gained 15 pounds recently. The funny thing is I am totally dedicated to exercise 4-5 days per week over an 1 hour! I have not lost a pound, an ounce or an inch! Help! Hmmm…is anybody else complaining?
I GUESS IF YOU WONDER IF YOUR QUESTION MAKES SENSE I CAN ASK MINE TOO. IF YOU’VE HAD A PARTIAL HYSTERECTOMY (REMOVAL OF UTERUS STILL HAVE OVARIES) IS THERE ANY TYPE OF SURGERY YOU COULD HAVE TO EVER BE ABLE TO HAVE A CHILD AGAIN?? THANK YOU!!
Is it normal to feel insecure and depressed after a hysterectomy? Ovaries were left. Most of my endometriosis was removed. I feel very sad and that my husband does not love me anymore, even though I know he does. Do I even make sense? Does anyone else feel this way?
I went to see a Doctor in Fort Smith Arkansas for some female problems due to heavy periods. What I did not undersdtand was that he would advice me that I needed a Hesterectomy and a complete one at that! +Thius Doctor is doing this to milk the medicaid insurance companies/ I never did deseve to have this done to me. At the time I did not understand what this would mean to my over all health and how disabled it would leave me in the long run. Dr, Bruman did not explain anything to me about this surgery at the time and he did not tell me that I would have to take medication{ HRT} for the rest of my life also. I thought since he was a Doctor then he knew what he was doing and that it was best for me. I now know that I did not have endomeatriosis at the time and have never had that to this day! This Doctor lied and fooled me into a surgery that would change my whole life. Please do not let a Doctor do this to you. These Doctors that do this to women for the insurance money ought to be charged for a crime because it is a crime to lie about someones health and take the insurance comapny for thousands of dollars.Dr. Bruman in fort Smith Arkansas made up a lie and used it to do a hesterrectomy on me! It happens. Please be very careful of A Doctor that is in a hurry to take out your female organs. I think that they should and better have a good reason for doing this procedure.I wish that I had of gotten a second opinion. Because this Doctor lied to me and then after the surgery he sent me a letter and told me that I could not come back. This man is not a Doctor but a monster! Thank You very much.
Hello Everyone, It has been awhile since I have posted or caught up on reading the posts on the blog site. I have been up most of the night taking care of/helping with a newborn kitten. This is a story I will have to share. Believe it or not, it is related to all of this. I read the blog posts and there were some recent heartfelt messages. Tears filled my eyes. Frances, I thank you for your post and site, and doing what you are to help with this issue. I have not even gotten through two days worth of recent blogs, and I began to cry; as I was reading the posts by others. It is just so amazing, yet should not be; that just about everyone of us share the same problems; whether physical, mental, or related world around us, i.e., our sexual lives, family, friends, doctors, health care - post hysterectomies, and even financial issues. That so many of us heard the same thing from the doctors who did the hyst. on us. “You will feel so much better after the surgery. Your sex life will be the same if not better. This is the surgery you need. Hey, while I am in there, I might as well take your ovaries. Your not planning on having anymore children, so why not?” “Hey, while I am in there, why not remove your appendix, to save you from any complications with that?” (My doctor actually said this: along with wanting to remove a small piece of skin on the outside of my labia. Sound familiar? Cha- Ching, Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching…) I have said, as many others have posted also; it is so SICK that if this was happening to men with 600,000 being castrated each year, well, it just would not be. This would have stopped after the 2nd man had it happen (as someone else posted). It would be a CNN high priority topic. Can you picture the headline? “Men castrated unnecessarily by surgery when alternatives were available.” It would be a crime for the doctors who performed these surgeries, and how the doctors deceived them. And how the poor men would talk about their sex lives being ruined – “Heaven Forbid” that for a man! Might as well give him that so called “towel” to throw in… I am not the same person. My life has been ruined. I was so active before. What crushes me is that; my son, who is now sixteen, will remember me as this weak, fatigued, frail mother. He was ten when I had the surgery. I feel he won’t remember the vibrant person I was. His memories of me will be the person this hyst. has made me now. (I am crying…) My husband and I had a FANTASTIC, I mean it, FANTASTIC sex life before the hyst., and now I can’t remember when we made love last. I have posted before about this… the French Maid outfit has cobwebs. It may sound awful to state, but I would not be surprised to hear if a doctor’s office does not wind up being blown up someday from a woman who just got too devastated to handle the crime committed to her. People got head strong years ago about abortion clinics. Well, this is just about as bad with mentally and physically ‘killing’ a woman and her insides. We cannot go this far, but I would support anyone standing outside a doctor’s office with a picket sign. The answer is education for women, and just what the Hers Foundation is promoting with putting this law into effect; that women be informed as compared to not informed and being SO MISLEAD (as I was, and all of you). The recent posts I have read are women who are desparate for help. I am also. I bring this up for two reasons: one is – why should women have to feel this way? Two - we are the stronger sex…we are. We have to keep believing there are answers for help…post hysts., and this blog is a step. We can share and help each other. It has done me a great deal of good just to know I am not alone. I do not know where I would be if it wasn’t for the Hers Foundation. I am so grateful to Nora and her band of angels. Well, I have vented a lot. Thank you everyone out there for listening, and “Hang in there”. I am trying to…I also do not know what I would do without the small unit of family and friends who do believe in me. Some family and friends do not contact me anymore, but in actuality; they have shown their ‘True Colors’. On a final note…every female I do come in contact with…I share my story to get the word out. I give them the Hers Foundation site to go to. I have tried to convince any family and friends to contribute to the Hers Foundation rather than helping build a well in Africa. Hey, it would be great to contribute to both, but first things first… My love and blessings to all of you, “Belle” P.S. I wanted to share the new baby kitten event. I got a kitten last year, but could not bear to have her spayed at the time. She got pregnant and just had a kitten several days ago. I will get her spayed now, but I just could not do it before…all has to do with what happened to me – call me crazy, but that is how I felt. (We also had homes for any kittens born.) P.S.S. A doctor now wants me to take a drug called Mirapex. Anyone ever tried this? He feels I have Fibromyalgia. He started me out with Xanax. I did not like that at all and quit it after three days. My post hyst. problems are being called Fibromyalgia now… Help!!!!
I would like to say a heartfelt, “Thank You!” to Frances Cerra Whittelsey for both her post and her own excellent web site. Women need more women like you!
The blog is also popping with smart women’s questions about the media’s own role in hysterectomy. Recently, in the business section, my local paper profiled a new CEO, a cardiologist, no less, taking over a group of nonprofit hospitals. I was shocked and dismayed to read within this feature a blatant advertisement for the robotic da Vinci equipment and for the supposed ease of hysterectomy. A $*$%$! gyn was actually quoted as saying,”…It saved her pain and suffering, with a better outcome.”
Naturally, I emailed the paper’s editors in protest. I explained that nothing could be further from the truth! I explained how hysterectomy is most often unnecessary and that the procedure itself is inherently harmful. I told them that the uterus is not just a reproductive organ but also a sex and endocrine organ as well as that the uterus is an integral part of a woman’s pelvic floor!
For validation (something we all struggle to find!) I directed them to what The American Heart Association notes on its’ web site, “Women who had a hysterectomy have more cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, which makes them prone to heart disease and stroke,” researchers* reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
I closed with a statement that they owed their readers better than this insidious misrepresentation and blatantly underhanded endorsement. Especially originating from a cardiologist— who should know better! Ditto the surgeon/gyn!!
Sadly, I never got a reply. Sadder still, this is but one of many, many times that I’ve seen these tactics used. Sometimes, its more subtle. Remember, “About Schmidt?” Kathy Bates plays a woman whom the story makes a point of having had a hysterectomy. Only to next show Bates’ character as a woman with an over the top sex drive intent upon seducing Jack Nicholson’s wary Schmidt.
You see, the media itself is playing a large and largely unnoticed role in all of this. Prior to surgery, most of us thought of hysterectomy as a benign procedure. While a great deal of that false comfort came from medicos (I don’t like to call them doctors), some of it came from images absorbed unknowingly thru the years. Think about it.
I asked myself, “but why?” and the answer came to me swiftly. Again, it$ money! The profiled CEO will no doubt be buying much advertisement for the hospitals and for the medicos from this newspaper. After all, they’ve done his dirty bidding. As to the Bates movie, I can only guess that someone paid dearly to have the script written as it was.
What I would have you take away from this is that we all need to be more aware of what is going on within the various media. Personally, I now think that ethics is a scarce commodity for both medicine and media.
Once your antennae are up, you’ll be startled at how much of it you see. I’d ask you to not let it go unchallegned. I’d ask you to alert others. Carefully placed comments on a piece or site can undermine their intent– and actually strengthen your position. Just like HERS has done with various so called expert health sites (kudos to HERS!). Turns out, the door to suspicion is easily opened. And don’t you wish that someone had done that for you?
Yet another incredibly important avenue to take is to lobby for the HERS HAVE Law.
*lead author, Barbara V. Howard, Ph.D, of study of 90,0000 women which found hysterectomy led to a 26% higher risk of cardiovascular event.
When reading this blog, the HERS analysis, and the posts, one has to wonder whether the enormity of the issue is realized.
First, medical information for a major surgical procedure is being denied to all women. Because of this denial, no woman can truely have choice or informed consent and doctors appear to have a conflict of interest. Informed consent is a basic right.
Second, the consequences of a major surgical procedure are denied. Because of this denial women are left vulnerable to the attitudes and judgements within the greater society. Because of the aggressive denial inflicted on women by the medical community, any efforts to seek out additional treatment is risky.
And lastly, because of denial of disability from lost functions, women find many barriers to obtaining support post-surgery (financial, legal, family, etc.)
This becomes the perfect crime for doctors and a living death/nightmare for women. I remember after surgery lying on the bathroom floor as I had just discovered blood in the toilet – I had developed hemmoroids and a fissure. I had never had hemmoroids and this latest development had come on the heels of a quick succession of other new conditions. I pleaded with God – “please, no more”.
I am 40 years old and chose to have a hysterectomy because I didn’t want to risk pregnancy. My periods were painful, I had no intention of having children, and I was sick of going through it every month. But I have lost all sexuality- I can’t even masturbate anymore- if I’d known that I would not have had it done. Why is this a cause of a hysterectomy? My sexuality was an important part of my life and I was so sad to see I am unable to orgasm anymore. Orgasms used to relax me if I could not sleep, pleasurable during sexual intercourse, and I just can’t get it back. Thank you for any information regarding this.
So I will be a 40 yr old woman who will have to fake it with every man she beds. I won’t enjoy the pleasure of masturbation and the calming way it made me feel. Will I have clitorol orgasms? I wish I’d never had this hysterectomy. A spinster at 40. Great.
As one reads this blog and takes in the information provided by HERS, the individual women stories – can one really get a sense of the enormity of this issue.
That out the gate, women are being misled about a very serious surgical procedure and eventually denied choice. That this surgery takes an unimaginable toll on one’s health with the loss of many functions.
I think about one of the days post-surgery when I discovered blood in the toilet. I had developed hemmoroids and a fissure, as I layed on the floor begging God “please, no more”.
You see I had never had hemmoroids before and this affliction had come in succession after a long list of bewildering new issues after surgery. It has come in spite of my valiant trek from doctor to doctor and humiliating lecture, insults and dismissal after another.
It had come on the heels of my family’s silence in response to my situation, my increasing difficulties at work, my inability to return to school, and probblems taking care of my home. It had also come after difficulties with bladder and bowel function, lower back pain, weakness including brain strength, disminished sexuality and sensation.
It had come after an indescribable feeling of drained nutrition, constant nausea, new body odor, and body changes. And it was also after a desperate call to the surgeon.
But because of the deception of the medical community in addition to all that is written on this blog, women must then suffer through the indignities of trying to find support (financial or otherwise), explain to employers, families, friends, lawyers, agencies, let alone, trying to make themselves as comfortable as possible.
As long as nothing is done, it continues to be the perfect crime for doctors and an inescapable death and nightmare for women.
To Frances Cerra Whittelsey of May 8, 2008, 12:54 pm
WOW! Thank you for your recognition and support for this vital issue. Your frank and honest admissions about your own sex organ surgery takes great courage and strength. I admire your truthfulness and openness which can only help bring more attention to this cruelty to women being perpetrated by the medical profession.
I consented, at age 24, to having my two ovaries and fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix removed because I was not told the truth about the real after effects, by my doctors or surgeon.
36 years have passed since my surgery, and I wish that I had died during my surgery and avoided the nightmare which I have had to endure since this was done to me. My quality of life and the effect on my family etc. have been devastating. I would have chosen death before putting everyone who knows me, through all of this trauma.
At age 24, I was not focused on medical issues and had no reason to investigate the functions of my organs etc. I relied on my doctors and surgeon for their truthful disclosures, before the surgery that they were recommending, because they claimed to have had the necessary education, training and medical experience in this area of health expertise, and to boot …were charging me for their ‘opinions’!!!.
Today, I am convinced I could give them a real education on this topic, having experienced the after-effects of this surgery and done some of my own investigation into this subject.
I will be happy to join with you in any public support of the HERS Foundation and all that they do, especially in promoting their (HAVE) Law, Hysterectomy Anatomy Video Education and by encouraging everyone to sign the HERS Petition found on their website.
When we have a law that compels the medical profession to more correctly inform (by using the HERS Foundation 11-minute DVD) before seeking consent from their female patients for these surgeries, we will begin to see less women consenting.
Congratulations on a great post at your own website today, on this topic!
I clicked on your name at your above blog post and found it was a live link to your webpage. Great work and a great website! THANK YOU.
Carie, I am sorry for yours, I am young too so I am interested in what you say. I am writing on here because I am very confused and scared. I am 20 years old and I live in a small town in France. I had my both ovaries removed a few months ago, due to torsioned cysts. The surgeon didn’t tell me anything about this surgery except that I won’t menstruate and I won’t be able to have children. Now I have learned from the net there is much more with this surgery than what the doctor told me. Last week I went to see an endocrinologyst. After I described all my symptoms (insomnia, nightmares, hot and cold sweats, crying out of nothing, lack of energy) she said that all these “are normal after castration”. I was so shocked I could hardly breathe. She then explained me very technicaly that the removal of ovaries is female castration. Until then I wasn’t aware of what realy happened to me. When I returned home I cried for hours.
Now I am really desperated and angry. My right ovary had some cysts, was somehow torsioned, and gave me excruciating pain, but my left ovary was functioning quite well. Then why did the doctor remove them both? Why? He is a doctor and he knew what was doing to me, so why did he do it? Then why didn’t he tell me the truth? I had a normal sex life and I am very worried. What about nightmares and insomnia (I have a lot since the surgery)?
I am becoming more and more desperate, as day after day am feeling worse and the doctors here are either not taking me
seriously or they are completely idiots and don’t know how to treat my condition (horrible nightmares, insomnia, cold/hot sweating, no more desires, a feeling of emptiness, etc). Please help me out!
Sophie
Please help me. I am a 40 year old woman who had a hysterectomy with removal of both ovaries and my uterus in 2006. It was the worst decision I have ever made. I am sexually impotent, and it is ruining my marriage. I am currently taking sublingual bio-identical testosterone, and topical tri-est gel. I take low dose estrogen. It helps a little. I grieve for the healthy sexuality I had prior to surgery. Please help me. I am desperate. Thank you.
Thank you Frances, I clicked the link to your blog, I’m glad a writers giving this attention. I had a hysterectomy and since then I have developed Fibromyalgia (severe), severe depression, sky high cholesterol, as well as high blood pressure. Those are just the main things. This dr. did not tell me of ANY negative effects of having this surgery done. I am unable to work at all, (let alone function very well most days). I had planned on going back to school and now I am unable to do any of these things.
I feel like my life has been taken away from me.
Frances,
I agree with you, it’s impossible to imagine 600,00 men castrated every year in the USA. If it were done to two men there would be a revolt. I can imagine a thunderous hue and cry of the masses protesting in the streets against something so outrageous and unacceptable being done to men.
But this can be done to women without inciting a hue and cry and in fact it flies below our radar because the female organs are internal and their functions are not visible. No one would need to tell a man that if his penis was amputated he would no longer be able to have an erection. No one would have to tell him that if he was castrated everything about him would be changed, including his body shape, his vitality, his very identity.
Removal of the uterus without removing the ovaries results in a change in body shape, loss of uterine orgasm, loss of the integrity of the pelvic structures, compromised support to the bladder, loss of support to the bowel, and a 3x greater incidence of cardiovascular disease.
It is difficult for any woman to fully appreciate what the loss of orgasm means until she experiences it. She soon discovers how sexuality and sensuality are part of the way she communicates and affects everything from the way she engages with someone she’s attracted to, to her sexual energy and vitality.
Kudos for your terrific work in the public interest, and particularly in giving voice to issues that are imperative for women.
Ms. Whittelsey, Yes, you did have a choice 15 years ago. We all had a choice even 25 years ago. They have known about Myomectomies and other alternative surgeries many years ago, but somehow giving a hysterectomy/castration is much easier for them. Thank you for supporting these very important issues that we all have to live with the rest of our lives and for being honest about your own surgery. Please have your family and friends go to the Hersfoundation site, watch the DVD ‘Female Anatomy’ and sign the petition to pass a law so no more women will be left disabled by this surgery. This surgery not only destroys her life, but affects her family, her career and her friends. Every woman who has written on here has been deceived into thinking she will be much better off without her ovaries, uterus and cervix. The Hers Foundation seems to be the only organization who is telling the truth what really happens to a woman after her hysterectomy and
castration.
Hi Francis,
Since you are an accomplished writer perhaps you can shed some light on why and how hysterectomy by deceit has dodged the main stream media? and dodged the law.
T.V. shows like Dateline sensationalize the lowest of the low for ratings.
As a writer what is stopping hysterectomy by deceit from being blown out into the light of day. This is a life-saving story, why isn’t the media jumping on this one?
Thanks
This latest installment about the failure by major hospitals to provide women with real answers about the impact of hysterectomy just adds to my outrage.
When I was told about 15 years ago that the only way to cure my nearly constant and severe bleeding was a hysterectomy, I suspected that the procedure would affect my sexual pleasure. My doctor, of course, despite being a woman, said nothing about that, but presented the surgery as my only option.
Sure enough, the uterine orgasms that I had enjoyed disappeared. I was smart enough to be sure that I kept my ovaries, but my sex drive also diminished.
I don’t know if I really had much choice other than the hysterectomy so many years ago. But women should be told what will happen. Imagine if 600,000 men every year had their testicles removed. No, I can’t imagine it, really. It would never be allowed.
Hi Carie, why did you have to have a hysterectomy at 16 years old?
hi my name is carie and i had to have a hysterectomy when i was 16. i am now 20 and i am on estrogen i hate having to depend on a drug. is vaginal dryness a side effect ? my other question is i have recently gotten married and i have always wanted to experience pregnancy. have you ever heard of a uterus transplant? if anyone had a hysterectomy at a young age like me i’d like to know if you thought about a uterus transplant? thank you for listening to me and if you could please respond to me i would greatly appriciate it.
Having sex for me after having a hysterectomy, what sex? It would be like my huband trying to have sex in a wound. I care for this vaginal wound every day of my life, I suffer every day with severe redness, pain, atrophy and my lost sense of identity.
Oh, that’s right I can’t tell the doctors who deposited my sexual organs in their bank account by deceit, they dismissed me as a life-long patient within eight weeks after the sexual organ amputation, by certified mail.
I RECENTLY HAD A HYSTERECTOMY, BOTH OVARIES REMOVED AS WELL. MY DOCTOR SAID I WAS PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULTETTE WITH MY LIFE. THE LAST FEW DAYS, I HAVE FELT AS THOUGH A DARK CLOUD HAS DROPPED ON ME, DEPRESSION, LETHARGY. WHAT I SHOULD BE DOING NOW. I WAS A VERY VERY ACTIVE, EXTROVERTED 47 YEAR OLD MARRIED FEMALE. WHAT IS IN STORE FOR ME? VERY CONCERNED AND WONDERING IF I DID DO THE RIGHT THING.
JOAN, ME TOO! MY SEX LIFE HAS GONE DOWN THE TUBES AND I HAD A HYSTERECTOMEY 4 YEARS AGO–HAIR NOT GROWING RIGHT–DRY SKIN—-ANGRY—-TIRED–AND JUST PLAIN “HELL” TO LIVE WITH.
Joan,
You described how I feel so beautifully! I used to be a writer but have lost my way with words due to this neverending brain fog I am swimming through daily. I can totally empathize with you! I had this done when I was 33 years old. I feel as if my life was fast forwarded 30 years to 63. I feel robbed of what was supposed to be the most productive years of my life. I too have very little energy to work with. I am holding down a part time job but just can not do any more than I am. I have over $800 in medical bills out of pocket unpaid right now, all related in some way or another to my hysterectomy and the damage it has done. It really is hard when you have no money at all to go out and have a normal social life. Even paying for groceries is a monthly nightmare. I understand the depression, lack of motivation, loss of self confidence and esteem.
I am just trying to redefine who I am and am trying to let go of fighting to get back the person I was before because there is no way she is coming back. I even cut short my long thick hair. It felt like a symbolic act for me. I continue to experiment with various hrts, supplements, vitamins, exercise, etc. trying to find a way to function, but my sensuality, my sexuality, my ability to connect with others has been sorely diminished. At times, I am ashamed to admit, I have to pretend to laugh or react to things people say to me at work or in social settings. I just don’t feel anything. It’s frightening.
You are so right about the lack of dignity. It truly is hard to find anyone who empathizes with what we deal with and who treats us like human beings. It’s quite sad. There just is no room in this society for vulnerability.
Thanks everyone here for sharing and speaking out! It helps when others can put words to what we are experiencing.
Elaine
To all the truthfull women here, thank you. I had a hysterectomy two years ago. I could not understand why Ican not seem to get a grip on my life. I can’t work, am always fatigued, depressed. I have always gotten a “second wind”, was able to come up with a plan, get back into “the swing of things” no matter how bad or traumatic the setback. It’s just not happening, and I thought, well, this is it, I have now completely lost my mind. Then I read the statistics on the study you conducted and saw myself there on the page; it’s not my imagination, and maybe not my fault, that I appear to have lost myself and my life. Noone, not the doctors, other women, anyone around me, told me that this could happen. In a way it was a relief, to know that the state I’m in and how I am relating (actually, not relating) to the world is physiological. At the same time I really feel doomed to this sentence, maybe I’ll never get my life back, although, somehow instinctually I knew when I received the news that I needed the surgery that I was going to lose a much larger part of me than just my uterus. Not to even mention how this has affected how I feel about my womanhood and the aging process, which has now fallen over me and crushed me like a ton of bricks. The worst thing of it all is that I have had no one to talk to about any of this (or would participate in a conversation with me), have fallen into deep debt since I got sick, and since I can’t seem to get it together enough to work, am drowning in that and all the crap that accompanies it, so I can’t even afford to pay someone to talk to me, or help explain this stage of life to me. I am very interested in your organization and this amazing blog, and welcome any information and help anyone has to offer. I would be immensely grateful just to hear from other women who know what is happening to me and empathizes. I think from things you’ve said here that some of you feel the same.
I’ve had a hard time dealing with everything that has happened to my life since my hysterectomy. Maybe it also included other issues with aging, but, a forty-five year old woman was not old, so old that I have, in many ways, been changed from a vibrant, intelligent, spunky woman who was as sexual, somewhat charasmatic (or I’ve been told) and excellent employee and a quite socially adept person. This is not who I have been since that time. I’ve not been able to find employment, not less hold it. All in all, it’s just been a general nightmare.
I have no interest in relationships, sexual and now even personal these days mostly for lack of energy, self confidence, depression and poverty – who can go out and enjoy themselves with friends when you don’t have a cent, and your twenty-five thousand dollar credit card limit is maxed, each of them, to within tweny dollars of their limit!. This is not the perosn I was before this surgury – and, just as I thought I was coming into the prime of my life – my daughters and son were now grown and going in a positive direction and I was absolutely free – to go and or pursue anything I wanted to. The career and projects I’ve had to put off until this time – I was exilerated and excited . And then, this happened.
Sorry – but I’ve had noone to share this with for all this time either – and I still believe society still remains far to hushed about it. Sometimes I just a shoulder to cry on about my “lost self”?
I guess I too did not want to believe this could be the primary reason why my life had taken such unbearably nightmarish turn for the worse. I can not remember the last time that I actually I had a GOOD time, really done something I enjoyed and wanted to do. Enough time goes by like that, you start to give up hope that anything will change. Scared I will never dig myself out of this whole if I don’t start facing down what happened to me – and I’m sick and tired of a society, especially when it’s groups of wormen, that will not talk, instruct, comfort and support each other. As far as I’m concerned, we are still in the dark ages with all of this…If you could help direct me, maybe I could find a way to get back on my game, and up on my feet again.
Thank you, and for any information you could give me. It looks like we are going to have to do this ourselves, one woman at a time. The one thing I have found so amazing is how women can stil lie so to themselves, to each other, and keep harming, damaging and sometimes it appears, intentially sabotage or try to undermine anothers woman’s vulnerbility for their own gain. Do they not think that this will, one day, happen to them as well? And, the audacity they display when they do this to a “sister”, like rubbing salt into a wound, or not to sound overly dramatic, like retraumatizing a victim – it’s like, is this ever going to end? Is there a sympathetic person left out there – and the biggest insult and degradation I feel I have stuggled with – the lack of , or the inability, of others to treat one another with dignity. I have felt I have had my dignitity denied me since my surgury so frequently it has gone beyond habitual – it seems like a chronic state. What is wrong with this society? Has it become the norm to deny each other this fundamental right? God forbid that my daughters and their friends would have to face the reality that in a very short twenty or so years – they will be us too!
I have had very weird and painful symptoms since me partial hysterectomy in Year 2003. I lose my ability to walk, plus other pain througout the body and migraines.
Please help me, now that I know what is wrong with me. I feel hopeless at this point because the Medical Center in Birmingham, AL did my surgery and they get away with murder (literally) all the time. My body has shut down and I am only 38 years old. My mind goes places it should not because of all the pain and they keep trying to give me more medications, but no answers. I want resitution and help for my physical ailments. PLEASE HELP ME ASAP!
Thank You Nora Coffey and HERS Foundation for investigating the blog posts to this site made in late April,2008, by ‘June’.
How can ‘June’ or anyone else who has read many (or all) the blogs on this HERS Foundation website:
1) continue to look for a ‘cure all’ for the after-effects of being castrated and/or hysterectomized?
2) even suggest that there could be a ‘cure all’ solution for the permanent, physical and other damage done to a woman by these mutilating surgeries?
Nora Coffey has given good, solid reasoning and evidence why this is not possible.
Do you understand this better now, ‘June’?
The HERS survey results/statistics published on this website, along with the personal testimonies of so many victims of these surgeries, should help to convince anyone with an open mind, seeking the truth, that the after-effects are devastating, and ruin the life of those women who undergo these surgeries. I speak from my own personal experience, having been castrated 36 years ago, at age 24, and suffered every day of my life, since. It affects our families. It affects our local and global communities. Mutilation is not constructive. It is clearly destructive.
Believing something does not make it true.
Not believing something does not make it untrue.
Something is either true, or not.
If you have fallen victim to these surgeries, then I recommend facing the truth about it and then seeking wisdom to deal with the after effects.
I encourage those of us who have found some health aids, nutritional supplements and palliative measures that have brought us some measure of relief, to keep sharing this information, especially on this blog.
Selling ‘false hope’ for profit, however, will not help anyone.
To Alicia who posted about her stomach bulging out more on one side than the other. I also have the same problem. The left side of my lower abdomen bulges out further than the right side. I also get burning pain often where it’s bulging. I am so devastated because of what the criminal gynecologist did to me. I only had a benign ovarian cyst, and he amputated my uterus, cervix, and both fallopian tubes and ovaries without my consent and against my wishes. This crime against women for profit needs to be stopped!
helen nothing about my total body health is as it was before a money grubbing liar got his hands on me and deposited my health in his bank account. I believe these surgeries are so damaging that it is a death of the person you were before. I do not trust the medical doctors of this country now, because they have not stopped this cruelty from being perpetrated on a third of the female population to date.
It sounds like you really got hit hard with the damage, so sorry. You may want to try a highly regarded homeopathic doctor to find some relief.
Damn the gynecologists, men and women who profess to be healers (MD-Mad Doctors) who are doing this to women, damn the doctors of this country who don’t stand up and stop it, greedy cowards.
In 2003, I had a complete hysterectomy/oopherectomy due to extensive endometriosis. I had agreed to only the removal of my ovaries, but awoke to find that my uterus etc. had been removed. During the ensuing months, I developed back pain. More importantly, I mysteriously had beet red hands, worse when dangled at my sides, which are constantly tingling and sensitive. I have been to a neurologist, rheumatologist and orthopedic surgeon, who each agree that I have a problem, but none of them have been able to figure how the cause or how to treat me. I attribute this condition in my hands to my hysterectomy, since I did not have it prior to surgery. The discomfort has gotten unbearable. I had been on HRT for six years, but stopped taking estradiol seven months ago due to reports that HRT may cause more heart attacks than it prevents. My hand symptoms have gotten worse since this cessation. Can you please advise if a hysterectomy can, indeed, cause the condition I am experiencing. I am at my wits end. I am desperate, I need your help. Please, if anyone else has had this happen I need to know what treatment helped you. Thank you.
i HAVE HAD MANY COMPLICATIONS AFTER MY HYSTERECTOMY, IM HOPING TO RECIEVE HELP AND ADVICE FROM YOU WOMEN AS TO WHAT TO DO NEXT.ANY INFORMATION AND HELP WILL BE GREATFULLY RECIEVED. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH.
9weeks after I had my uterus removed I have having bowel pronlems and urination problems. also, my lower stomach is tinklin and sor and numb all at the same time. I have always had a flat tummy and now my skin looks a bulge on both sides and one side is bigger than the other. Is the normal. Please can I need help?
Wow! I just discovered your web site and want to thank you so much for the work you’re doing. What amazes me is how prominent doctors in prestigious teaching hospitals around the country are promoting hysterectomy for uterine fibroids–especially for women in their forties and above. This whole notion that the uterus is nothing but a ‘baby cavity’ (a term used by a female radiologist who examined my recent ultrasound report) and that you don’t need it if you’re not going to bear children is beyond egregious–it’s criminal.
Do they say the same thing to men about their testicles?
THANK YOU SO MUCH for your educational video. It blows that erroneous notion into the stratosphere. What really scares me is that less informed women will believe that baloney (heck, I almost did) and proceed to the OR.
I will alert others to your site and support your work in any way I can.
By the way, if you know of a good myomectomy surgeon in the NYC area, please let me know. I met a wonderful one, but he does not take private insurance–yet another dilemma. Once again, thank you!
Thank you Nora for setting things straight! Awesome job! I too was suspicious (and taken aback) by June’s post when I read the comments:
“no I do not have my female parts any longer but I do not dwell on that. I believe that I have a greater purpose to fulfill than worrying about what could have been. Again that is for me but may not be for you.”
To me this is an insult to women who have suffered so much after being amputated. None of us live meaningless lives dwelling on what could have been. Telling our stories serves a greater purpose in that we are educating women contemplating this surgery about what to expect and what can happen. We are providing information that many doctors will not and did not tell us and we are not going to suffer quietly. And all of us are working very hard to find relief and some semblence of a normal life. I certainly don’t sit around all day feeling sorry for myself. And I don’t “choose” to dwell on what happened to me. I also have a job that does not involve deceiving others for profit. The information provided here is totally free and raw, not sugar coated with promises.
The type of language used in June’s post is typical of the happy hysterectomy stories that are shoved down our throats all too often, or typical of women who think they are so positive and tough and forward thinking and have totally overcome menopause and the devastating effects of hysterectomy. Whether I ever get to that point or not (which is doubtful…at least the part about overcoming what this surgery does to your body), I will not rub it in anyone’s face with snide comments.
Nora W.Coffey, HERS
I followed my intuition about June’s post and decided to follow the money by going to June’s website. Here’s what I found:
“When you share the life-changing BLANK products and opportunity with people, you can make money in four ways:
1. RETAIL PROFIT on the sale of products
2. VOLUME BONUSES as you accumulate PV (purchase volume) in your business
3. LEADERSHIP BONUSES — when you show others how to build a business just as you’ve done, you can also earn LEADERSHIP bonuses based on a percentage of their volume.
4. GOLD bonuses — you can earn additional, immediate GOLD bonuses, while you start to build long-term residual income.
The GOLD Program is simple: it starts with you becoming a GOLD today, then sharing the program with everyone.”
Please be advised HERS blog is not a vehicle for corporate, commercial business. Like gynecology, women are their prime target market. Let the buyer beware.
June,
This is an excellent opportunity to discuss the important issue of distinguishing between sharing a personal experience and the effect it has had on your symptoms as opposed to telling women that your life has been restored (your body would have to be restored for your life to be restored) and that you can help them restore their life too.
Women who are considering hysterectomy may be left with the erroneous and dangerous impression that someone, somewhere, is undamaged and unchanged by have had their female organs removed. It is an anatomical, structural, and physiological impossibility that any woman is not permanently damaged by hysterectomy.
No one at HERS is offended by your comments, we are alarmed by them. Please feel free to share a personal experience with natural remedies without promoting them as a safe or efficacious restoration of health. Your own personal experience is welcome but this site is not a platform for promoting products.
Your way of managing your feelings about having your female organs removed may be to “not dwell on that” but HERS encourages women to voice their experiences loud and clear. Every woman and man is needed to stop this from being done to another generation of girls and women. Your support of HERS legislative initiative to pass a law that will compel doctors to provide HERS video “Female Anatomy: the Functions of the Female Organs” to every woman before she is told to sign a hysterectomy consent form is imperative. If you pretend this is not being done to women or that it is not damaging and destructive you become part of the problem. If you support Hysterectomy Anatomy Video Education (HAVE Law) are part of the solution. No information? No Consent!
You are absolutely right. There is no way to undue what has been done. You are right, doctors are doing hysterectomies to make money. You are right about the other things too. I did not write any of these things to offend anyone or to downplay the horrible things that have been done. We live in a society of greed. That is the bottom line. The drug companies are overrunning doctors now so that they only see one side. Thank goodness some are seeing the right side. For us it is too late. I chose to get off of HRT because the evidence does not point to it protecting our bones, heart, or anything else. But I made that choice alone, not because my doctor did not try to talk me out of it. I also understand how mad you all are and so am I for what happened to me. I think about it every time the subject comes up. But I also know that I could not go on the way I was and I needed to find some answers so that I could live out the rest of my life without all the horrible symptoms on the other side of hysterectomy. Every time I see my GYN she offers me more estrogen and I tell her no. All I was saying is that I have found that some natural things have made a huge difference for me so that I could go on living my life without all the anger. I cannot live that way. All I was saying for you is that you can get relief from most of the menopausal symptoms created from this mess. It has given me my life back…no I do not have my female parts any longer but I do not dwell on that. I believe that I have a greater purpose to fulfill than worrying about what could have been. Again that is for me but may not be for you. You all have to choose for yourself. Again, I never ever try to offend anyone and I apologize if I have offended anyone.
June,
It’s great that you feel better, whatever it is that you are doing that has helped, as long as it is not damaging.
But this is the kind of post that rings alarm bells here at HERS.
There is no “cure” for a surgically shortened vagina, the loss of uterine orgasm, the diminished blood flow to the lower pelvis, legs and feet, the loss of sensation in the vagina and external genitalia.
There is also no “cure” for castration, the removal of the ovaries. There are no pills, patches, injections, or implants that provide the many different kinds of estrogens, progestins, androgens, and other substances produced at the time they are needed, in the amount the are needed, and then released directly into the blood stream in a pulsatile fashion. There is no cure or remedy for the 3 times greater incidence of heart disease when the uterus only is removed and the 7 times greater incidence of heart disease when the ovaries are removed.
At best it is misleading and false to tell women that you can “restore their life too” when that is as impossible as it would be to restore a man’s life after his penis and testicles have been amputated. At worst your statements may make women feel that the consequences of hysterectomy are of little or no concern because someone has a remedy. That makes these statements dangerous to any woman who thinks that she will be unchanged or better after her female organs are removed. Hysterectomy and female castration are damaging, destructive surgeries. There is no remedy and it cannot be undone. The adverse effects of the surgery are permanent.
Hi June,
Where should we e-mail you?
My heart goes out to each and every one of you as I have been through the same thing. While looking for something else today, I ran into this forum and my heart just sank for each one of you as I read your postings. I just want you to know that I have walked in your shoes and there is hope. Let me share a little with you. I had a complete hysterectomny is 1996. I was 42 years old. My children were 7 and 2. The reasons for my hysterectomy was my mother died from Ovarian Cancer at 52 years old but the main cause was a prolapsed uterus (very painful if any of you have been through that one before. My mother was secondary. They took my ovaries because of my Mom’s cancer. So the risk was there for me. During surgery I was put on an estrogen patch with no choice. I thought I had asked all the questions. I had prayed about it, and thought it was ok. What I was never prepared for was the other side of the surgery. All was well during surgery and my recovery time was about 2 weeks more than they thought. I gained 15 pounds in 2 weeks and all I was doing was sleeping. Then the pounds mounted up to 35 which I have thankfully finally leveled out at this point and am working on getting rid of them now. About 1 year after my surgery I began experiencing some unusual symptoms to which the doctors had no clue. I felt like all the calcium had been sucked out of my bones from the birth of my last child just before hysterectomy. I begin to have panic anxiety attacks that parallelized me from driving anywhere. I almost blacked out on a major highway. I became dizzy all the time and anxious about everything. I had been under high powered stress right before out move back to where we live now. During that time as my husband had been transferred and I was left taking care of my two girls plus holding down a job and a house on the market for a year. It was overpowering for me. I know what the military wives go through. My blood sugar was bouncing for some unknown reason. I was new to the internet at that time so I began searching for answers again since no doctor knew what was going on. After a few months of searching and praying for an answer to give me back my life, the answer came. First, I looked up the side effects of the estrogen I was taking. And there were several answers right then. Rapid weight gain, blood sugar issues, and others. As I began to research more and more, and mentioned it to someone that I had just met at my new church, she sat down with me and said that she had something that might help. Wanting answers and my health back, I met with her. She helped me understand a little bit more about menopause and offered me a true gift that has given me my life back. I got some immediate results and more took longer because I was still searching for the core of the root of the problem, not masking the symptoms. It was 7 years before I really knew exactly what happened to me, but I am thrilled to have my life back. I am a high estrogen women so when my estrogen line was cut off, everything went haywire. I recovered and went back to a full schedule. The weight gain has stopped, my bone density is back in the normal range, and I run like crazy all the time. I still have a minor issue I am working on. At 53 years old, that is not bad! I just want you to know that there is hope and something out there that can help you get back on track like it did for me. Since I am new to this post, I don’t think I can say what I am doing, If you would like to email me separately,I will be glad to help. Since I have been there and know where each of you is, my heart’s desire is to help you restore your life too.
The more I learn about unnecessary hysterectomy/castration and how many women have been tricked by deceitful medical information the more I am sickened by it.
When I read things like, mimimally invasive hysterectomy, it would be funny if it wasn’t harming millions of women every day.
How much money do you think the gynecologist industry would gain from hysterectomy/castration if they were forced by law to tell the truth in medical terms?
Minimally invasive sex organ removal, severing the nerves and sewing the vaginal cavity into a closed pocket, permanent loss of uterine orgasm, permanent body hormone and female endocrine system chaos.
One has to wonder what all of this says about the status of women. When in spite of the historical facts, medicine has sought to maime women either surgically or chemically for all manners of justifications.
We’ve gone from radical mastectomy to “preventative” mastectomy, from DES, BCP, ERT/HRT to birth control that suppresses menstration entirely. And of course, the reason we are all on this blog – hysterectomy for ANY normal variation of the female reproductive/sexual organs. Variations that don’t end life, sexual/reproductive function, or the ability of balanced body chemistry as does hysterectomy. But there have/are very sound rationally articulated justifications for all of this medical castration and sexual mutiliation of women. Arguments that are seen as more logical than the experience of the women on this blog, right? Or why else would these arguments be entertained or debated.
HERS has painstakenly provided yet additional evidence of the premeditated actions of the medical community. From the specialized knowledge of anatomy, to the research that bores out the consequences, to the standard of care guidelines, to the information provided on hospital sites analyzed here, and the “Female Anatomy” video explaining the massive internal destruction necessary for removal of female organs.
Yes from HERS’ work no doctor can claim ignorance or innocence in this matter. From the women on this blog, one has to ask “is it possible to receive safe medical care post-hysterectomy”?
I maintain “no”, unless a doctor is first willing to go on record to admit your ills are the natural consequence from removal of your sexual/reproductive organs. So far, I have not found any woman who has had that experience. So for me, I don’t plan on letting another doctor touch me for the remainder of my life for my own protection.
For the protection of other women, I will continue to work with HERS and continue to inform other women of my experience leading to and post surgery.
Hello Gracie,
Thank you for your reply, I am sorry it has taken so long to reply back, been quite busy and my laptop has been acting up. I may be without the Internet for a few days here, not sure yet.
First of all, good luck with your law suit, please keep us informed. My law of statues has run out for as I had stated, I have been dealing with other personal issues in my life. One being a foreclosure on my home and some other serious problems.
Also thank you for the information regarding my friends wife. They don’t live here in Wisconsin. He is a photographer friend of mine in Ohio. I will forward him the information. Her D & C is set for early June. I will make sure to get this to him as soon as possible.
I didn’t have my ovaries taken out…but believe me the LAVH alone did enough damage. I have been battling symptoms of menopause for three years, along with some other health issues both mentally and physically. Now I am in full menopause.
I feel for all the women who had a full hysterectomy. I feel for all of us, for we have suffered tremendously in one way or the other whether we had a partial or full removal of our female organs.
Regarding family or friends, no family, except a husband and sadly enough are marriage has been over and we are going to be going through a divorce. Not many friends, the couple good ones I do have, already signed the petition when it first came out.
A large number of photographer friends have already signed it, for I have modeled part-time. I even posted the petition on my modeling sites. I don’t know really how many off the site signed it that I don’t know. But every signature is of great significance. The little family I have left is in Chicago and really all that is left is a mother, who doesn’t fully understand, and a cousin who did sign the petition. The rest of my cousins are spread out and well another story. Our family isn’t close anymore.
Good luck Gracie, please stay well.
Anonymous thank you. I am familiar with the Wisconsin Circuit Court site. Nothing came up. I know IL doesn’t have public records available. I do remember hearing something about a site that you can look up physicians. Will have to check that out…if anyone comes across it, please post it on here.
Anonymous, I agree with you 100%! Every women should be entitled to a pain and suffering settlement. Once the “Have Law’ is passed maybe this will be possible.
I am happy to announce that another woman and I have connected on MySpace. I am proud to call this woman my friend. I am also so very grateful to her for all the time she has taken to post as much information as possible concerning unnecessary hysterectomies, endometriosis etc..you name it this woman has dedicated her time to bring awareness to the many conditions woman face. And the nightmares we live with. Her information is now linked to MySpace.
Well wishes to all, this nightmare has to end. WE HAVE TO JOIN TOGETHER SIDE BY SIDE, STATE BY STATE AS IF WE ARE HOLDING HANDS, ACROSS THIS NATION TO BRING THIS LAW INTO EFFECT!
I have some ideas and will be contacting Norah as soon as I can.
I also have a model friend who may be able to help raise more money for the foundation. I will hear more news on that in May.
Thank you once again.
Janie~
The medical facts are clear and the medical records of 22 million women on record, don’t lie.
Every women who has the medical records proving no medical cause for organ removal should be entitled to a pain and suffering settlement.
Wisconsin has an open records law. The web site is wcca.wicourts.gov. On this web site it shows what my doctor has been charged with. There are two medical situation done by her. One is only for 163.00 dollars. But this shows that she has had people complain about her. When I look at the medical records web site it shows nothing. I don’t know what states have a public records, but there is another place to check out doctors.
i was wondering about my past hysterectomy. why i have loss of sexual pleasure. i don’t worry about pregnancy but don’t have orgasms like i use to. maybe they did something to me like cut nerves or something. i’m not lubricated like i use to be. can you at least tell me what to do.see a specialist or recommend something. please please help me.
I just found yet another study about the benefits of our reproductive organs beyond childbearing. Do a Google search typing “Scientists say menstrual blood can repair hearts” to learn more.
How can our bodies heal themselves when important components are being stripped away as in hysterectomy? As more and more studies prove the importance of our sex organs for health and quality of life, it will be less and less possible to argue that hysterectomy for benign conditions is not a crime…
Hi, I had a complete hysterectomy about 10 months ago, and have been experiencing joint and muscle pain/stiffness starting 9 weeks out which has been getting worse. Is there a doctor or place where I can get information about how others have treated similar problems and their success stories? Thank you.
MY mother had a total hysterectomy 2 years ago. She is not the same person. She has severe memory loss, major personality changes, she feels crazy, she has a hard time socializing, bowel changes, sexual noninterest, and this is all causing our family to fall apart. I am desperate for help. Ever since the surgery one side of her lip is droopy, and on that same side her one pupil is always dialated. Please give me some information that we could do to get my mother and family back to as normal as possibel.
i had a complete hysterectomy and a bladder tact in 2001 , now i feel use less to my self i;m divorced i do not date , i live alone no energy no sex drive, over weight, on depression pills every day living alone, is this what i should feel like at 56 years old please please help me
Janie from Madison, Wisconsin, Not only do they take our sex organs, then the doctors tell us we are all nuts because they NEVER HEARD OF ANYONE WITH PROBLEMS AFTER THE SURGERY! We all know this is a lie.
Every woman on these three enablers sights wished they would have run out of the hospital if we had it to do over.
When you have your ovaries removed you will go into instant menopause and doctors know this BUT, remember, the less we know the better it is for the doctors.
They do not have to research regarding this surgery, they already know the consequences but, as long as they can get by with castrating women, it will continue until a law is passed.
I sued Dr. Jerome Gundersen and Gundersen Clinic of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, but, most juries will believe the doctor because HE IS THE AUTHORITY IN CHARGE.
Tell your friend a DNC probably isn’t a good idea and most likely isn’t necessary. My niece went to several doctors who I am sure wanted to do a hysterectomy and castration on her because none of them mentioned any alternative surgeries. She called the Hers Foundation to find a doctor close to her who would just remove the polyps on her uterus. They did not give her a DNC. It is the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa, Dr. Ginny Ryan of the Women’s Fertility Center. You can go online and look her up. Please go with your friend’s wife to the doctor for protection. I did with my niece and my sister who I made sure didn’t have this barbaric and unnecessary surgery.
You never need a hysterectomy and castration for fibroids, cysts or polyps.
Have your relatives and friends from Madison, Wisconsin, go online and watch the DVD ‘female anatomy’ and sign the petition to end this abuse on women and their families.
It has been three years since my LAVH in Madison, WI, St. Mary’s Hospital.
I still am not the same woman that I once was. I never have been since my uterus was taken unnecessarily. As I have stated before, I thought I was literally going crazy, until I found the Hers Foundation. I wish I could turn back the clock, for I would RUN out of that hospital, faster than a bolt of lightening.
Menopause is in full swing now. It has been creeping up for the last three years. The hot flashes are awful, with the lack of sleep. I cannot function some days. I went to a P. A. T. for help. She looked at me as if I am nuts. First, she says, that I cannot be in menopause. I am 48, and had a LAVH, where are these physicians and P. A. T’s getting there education? Don’t they ever research anything regarding hysterectomy on the Internet? I knew more than she did. This is a darn shame. I have come across so many articles via the Internet stating a woman can start menopause symptoms as early as their late thirties. And I had a LAVH!!! Red flag, menopause.
I requested blood work for I have so many other symptoms along with the hot flashes. I wanted to be sure that nothing more serious was going on. I wanted my TSH levels checked, a full CBC and my FSH levels. I finally got her to run the tests and have them sent to my regular physician, who by the way told me two years ago, all my adverse effects were from this hysterectomy. I could have sued. I am now past the three-year mark, the law of statues has run out. If it weren’t for all the other stress in my life, which I posted in another blog, maybe I would have had the time to find an attorney to take this case. You would have to read what I have been through, unreal and this surgery has not made my life easier at all!
All my blood work came back fine, except my FSH levels, so now on top of still suffering the many effects of this hysterectomy, I have menopause to deal with, just great! I know I am not alone here. It brings some comfort, but can’t bring my life back.
My medical records are here. Sad, there were other alternatives to this hysterectomy. My uterus was taken for Menorrhagia (heavy menstrual bleeding). No good reason to have ruined my life. I wish I had found the Hers Foundation before I had that surgery.
I am now on my own trying a progesterone crème, which I read, that some woman have had success with. I am crossing my fingers it helps taper off the hot flashes. The crème is called “Renewed Balance”. A doctor put many years of research into alternative hormone therapy. If anyone wants more information on this, please contact me on here.
Also, I am including a link I found of medical clinicians who specialize in menopause statewide. If I don’t get any relief, I may go make an appointment with one here in Madison. That should be interesting. I would love to see what she thinks of my hysterectomy. Of course, they all stick together in this money making market.
http://www.menopause.org/Portals/0/Content/PDF/cliniciansus.pdf
I am on my space and have posted bulletins to support the Hers Foundation. I used to model part-time, I just stepped down due to another problem stemming in my neck due to what should have been a fatal car crash. Sometimes, I wonder why I survived. I have many friends on there. By coming out with my story, not in full detail, for it is painful, I have received much support. If anyone is on my space. Post bulletins for funding.
I am doing all I can as time allows to bring more public awareness to this cause. I have posted flyers in elevators, on tables, magazines; I have taped flyers in woman’s bathrooms, anything to bring awareness.
I am also including my link to my space. I am set to private so if any women out there want to be added as my friend. Please send me a note with the request.
http://www.myspace.com/mariejanie
WE need to do all we can to get the “Have law” passed. To the one woman who wrote that we should be able to go back once this law is passed, and sue are doctors I totally agree with you.
WISONSIN WOMAN JOIN TOGETHER! WOMAN OF ALL STATES JOIN TOGETHER AS ONE TO GET THIS DONE!
Also, I want to once again thank the Hers Foundation and the woman who posted about doing a polypectomy to remove a polyp. I have a friend’s wife, who is going in for a D & C for a polyp was found. He has been supportive of me and the Hers Foundation. I want to do all I can to help him as well, if it is suggested for her to have a hysterectomy.
Blessing to all,
Janie
Mutilation, noun: 1.) deprivation of a limb or essential part especially by excision, the mutilation of a body part. 2: an instance of mutilating. (Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary.
Mutilation or maiming is an act or physical injury that degrades the appearance or function of the (human) body, usually without causing death. (Wikipedia)
Use as punishment: Wikipedia. Maiming, or mutilation which involves the loss of, or incapacity to use, a bodily member, is and has been practised by many races with various ethical and religious significances, and was a customary form of punishment, especially applied on the principle of an eye for an eye.
The World Health Organization:
Definition: Female genital mutilation comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
The World Health Organization:
“Extensive work by local, national and international actors over the past two to three decades has resulted in progress on several fronts. The practice is internationally recognized as a violation of human rights, and many countries have put in place policies and legislation to ban it.” “WHO is working on several fronts to contribute to the elimination of female genital mutilation. International and national advocacy is important. Together with ten other UN agencies WHO has developed a new Interagency Statement on Eliminating Female Genital Mutilation that will be launched in early 2008.
See the World Health Organization, for other: Harmful Sexual Practices.
My medical records show no medical cause for my mutilation, none. But in fact I am mutilated and it is legal in America. Can any lawyer in America tell me why I have to suffer with female genital mutilation for the rest of my dying days for no medical reason, just lies. I am suffering to the point of having nightmares that wake me up to find myself in torturous physical pain. Can’t the lawyers of this country stop this?
To unable to have sex:
It is a shock to learn that the surgery you were given is a lie and has rendered you sexless. But the fact is the hormones and structure of a human body are necessary to be sexual. Male or female, we need our sexual organs, all of them, and our natural hormones to be fully sexual. How long is it going to take to make this clear to the public and have the medical industry, fess up.
After having severe migraine headaches, up to four days at a time, I started taking, Vitamin B Complex With Riboflavin, daily. Apparently it has much to do with the, Riboflavin. The vitamin B Complex With Riboflavin has helped to minimize the migraine headaches. The hormones my body has lost are another subject, it is a constant struggle almost two years after being de-sexed. I still have one ovary that the doctors swear is producing a normal level of hormones, but tell that to my body and mind.
I am unable to have intercourse, it’s too painful. I stopped taking estrogen six months ago, it was causing me migrane headaches. I still grieve
the loss of sexual function, I regret my surgery. Is there any hope?
To add to what Anonymous of April 19, 2008 10:00am said.
The cost of one Premarin (conjugated estrogen) tablet, where I live in the USA, costs approx $1.25 (One Dollar and twenty-five cents US). This is the cheapest source I have found, after researching all other options, as I am not prepared to mail order from an uncertain source.
I take one tablet each day for each of the 365 days of the year.
Some US doctors only want to give me a prescription for 30 days, sometimes with a repeat, sometimes without the ability to repeat the 30-day prescription.
Other US doctors have given me a prescription for 90 days, and sometimes I will be able to persuade them to make it a repeat prescription. I am not always successful.
Whether I have Health Insurance or not, is irrelevant. Each of these doctors I consult, get paid for the consultation visit, each time. Most will not issue a Premarin prescription without a consultation visit. No doubt, they are doing their best to abide by the American Medical Association standard of care, etc. They are also protecting themselves against any possible malpractice lawsuits etc.
My castration surgery was done to me 36 years ago, when I was 24 years old. Do those of you contemplating this surgery consider whether or not you can afford this? You can never know before the surgery what your estrogen needs will be after the surgery. Every woman is different and no doctor can give you a guarantee on this. However, it is reasonable to assume the younger you have this castration or hysterectomy surgery, the more likely it is that you will need estrogen replacement therapy of some kind.
Why would anyone bind themselves into this outrageously expensive situation when there are better alternatives to hysterectomies and castration?
HERS Foundation gives good guidelines about trying to avoid these surgeries. There are also natural cancer cure remedies tried true and tested, along with other natural healing modalities available. Not because someone did not fully benefit from a Naturopathic practitioner, does it make this a non-viable, possible solution for someone else.
There can be many reasons why someone does not benefit from a particular treatment. One thing is guaranteed. There is no ‘cure’ for castration or hysterectomy. Those are both permanent, non-reversible medical procedures. Seeking a solution after the fact, is a total waste of time.
However, there is some minimal relief to the myriad of after-effects suffered by these castration and hysterectomy victims, to be found in some palliative treatments like Five-Element Acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, and also in some Dietary recommendations and treatments including lifestyle recommendations determined by your blood type, etc. etc. Many have benefited from these healing modalities and would agree it is better than taking prescription drugs for the after effects of castration and hysterectomy.
I take one Premarin tablet daily, and use Nutritional Supplements and Acupuncture and other healing modalities to help me get through each day. It is not easy or cheap. I need to keep making changes, as my body’s needs change. Our bodies have changing needs as we age.
For those who have health insurance now and feel castration or hysterectomy will ‘cure’ their current health problem(s), I ask you to think again. It may not cost you very much now, if your health insurance contributes to your castration/hysterectomy surgery. However, you can expect to have a lifetime of medical bills and discomforts, and much medical-health trauma, post surgery. I am speaking from my own personal experience. You are not likely to find an MD who will tell you this. He is likely to be male and has no personal experience from which to speak, post surgery. If your MD is female, it is important to ask them if the information they are giving you is from their own personal experience.
There can be any number of reasons why someone does not benefit from ‘Alternative’ treatments.
I am fortunate to have gained some minimal benefits, which alleviate in small measure, some of the discomforts created by my castration surgery, 35 years ago. Nothing is going to ‘cure’ me of the after-effects of castration.
I am barely alive in every respect and continue to search daily for relief of my post-surgery after effects, which are traumatic, to say the least, monetarily as well as physically, emotionally, and on every level.
You are not alone. Many of us feel this way. I know I do. I don’t like feeling this way so much anger towards the doctor. How I feel so stupid for letting the doctor deceive me this way. I don’t know if this is a good word to use, but I think the best “revenge” is word of mouth. We need to tell our story to people and hope they understand what is all involved with these doctors. The more I talk about my problem the better I feel. So talking to someone I think will help. Writing down your feeling helps too. Write down your story of what has happened to you. I keep a journal which help me. Exercise help me to feel better about myself. Seeing you have a young son maybe you could take him for a walk in a stroller so you can get some exercise. I exercise to help relieve the physical and emotional pain I am in. When you help yourself you are helping your son and family. You are not alone feeling this way. Hersfoundation has been a great help for me seeing I am not alone with my physical and emotional pain. All the people who blog here has help me in some way. Shared there feeling or how they cope with life. It is not easy. I take it day by day. Sometimes moment by moment. I don’t know if I helped you. I hope someone else might have a suggestion out there. But this is what I do and it has helps me.
I am so glad to have found some validation as well for what I am going through approximately 1 year since my left ovary was removed due to endo. My doctor told me nothing would be removed except the endo tissue. Now I find myself feeling like a crazy person, and to make it more complex, it happens to occur right when my son is 2 and I thought it was related to my change in work/stay at home. I have been seeing a really good shrink, have seen 5 specialists, etc. and no one has seen the connection. Or mentioned it. Now I know. They have all failed me as much as the woman who did the surgery. You’d think I had a tooth pulled. I have “coped” with the CONSTANT urge to end my life by taking lots and lots and lots of pills (prescribed by these doctors), to the point where I don’t even know who I am anymore. I would not be here were it not for my son, but then I wonder how much I am here anyway given all the addictions. I am trying to hang on, and have to for my son, but the anger is too much and each moment is a struggle. I am so sorry for all of you going through this. The Evil Part of me hopes each and every one of these doctors feels this same hopeless, guilt-ridden, pointless feeling I feel in their futures. Doctors have failed me over and over and over again, as they have so many of us.
A naturopathic doctor can be helpful if you have the money or a cooperative insurance plan. I have neither (yes I do work for a living). I spent my life savings in one year going to a naturopathic doctor trying to get help and find answers. I spent a ton of money on supplements, nutritional counseling, natural hormones etc…I quit going because I ran out of money and my doctor left the practice. My insurance would not pay for any of it and rejected my claims (they had no problem paying for my hysterectomy though). And it did not help me much except to get my yeast problem under control. But at least they didnt push drugs or surgery for every little problem.
Women need to know that there are no easy solutions to remedy the aftereffects of hysterectomy and that it can get very expensive. Most compounded bioidentical hormones either are not covered by insurance or will not be (many women are reporting that their insurance plans are dropping coverage now for the compounded hormones due to the FDA law trying to ban the use of estriol in the USA). Many of the hormones, supplements, treatments, etc that we will need because our sex organs and important components of our endocrine system were removed, we will need for a lifetime. To women contemplating hysterectomy: Are you prepared for this expense?
Did the naturopath help you with regaining your sexuality? Did the naturopath improve your desire for sex? I feel like a eunuch!
Or what exactly did the treatment with the naturopath improve?
To all the ladies looking for help. Try a naturopath to get your body back in balance. I’ve had a lot of success with it.
I had a hysterectomy but before hand I asked my doctor if my libido would be the same….his comment, “It will remain normal and if not it will all be in your head”. Well, guess what he was dead wrong!! I have been on a down hill course ever since…it took me 1 year to get over the surgery it self!! Now I am seeing a doctor (after many treatment of various hormones and several different doctors)who is using hormonal implants. My tests were so low for hormones I guess I was running on zero!! All the statements you provided me (under adverse effects data full hysterectomy are true!!)…..I am not the women or person I was previous this surgery……..but I trusted this man with my health. It has been a night mare to say the least. I am on a bio-identical hormone treatment plan with the pellet therapy inserted under the skin but it doesn’t help. Can you suggest any other forms of therapy that work for a person like me? If I could go back in time I would have never had this procedure done and I will tell every one who is contemplating it to get another opinion and then again another! If anyone has any resources that may be helpful to me I certainly would be thankful. I’m sure there are hundreds if not thousands of women in my prediciment,………….do you know how they have coped or what treatments have they benefited from?? I need all the info I can get…..I am very desperate for any answers!!
Complete hysterectomy Aug. ‘03. Cancer inside ovary, no other cancer found. No need for further treatment. Giving no information on what to expect.
Doctor at E.R. where I went for pain said all problems were from complications of Hysterectomy.Big drop in hormones causing vaginal issues. Blockages that were causing pain. etc. If I had known it was in realm of “NORMAL” would have not been so frightening.
Per E.R. suggestion I researched complications of hysyerectomy and found your site. I wish I had found you before. It has all been so frightening. The fear of dying before surgery and feeling so out of controll and sick after it. Will it ever be over? Will I ever feel normal again? What IS normal now?
male in mich
To the “hubby of destroyed wife” I’m sorry to hear of your plight. It is sad indeed. My wife denies that the hysterectomy caused all her health problems and simply refuses to hear about any of it. She has all the classic symtoms and I just cope. She has been in menopause for nearly six years since her surgery. I clear the house many times and live a miserable life with many days just attending to my hobby for my own benefit(sanity). What they do to marriages/relationships with this cruel and senseless procedure is criminal. I would like to castrate the doctor who did this to us. My wife doesn’t see him anymore(he couldn’t help her with the problems). Her new doctor can’t help her either and just steals her money and gives no relief. What a circle of deception.
I HAD A HYSTORECTOMY A YEAR AGO. SINCE THEN MY LIFE HAS CHANGED DRASTICALLY. I HAD MANY COMPLICATIONS DUE TO THIS SURGERY INCLUDING PULMONARY EMBULISM AND PUDENDAL NERVE DAMAGE. I TRULLY WISH I NEVER HAD IT DONE. I HOPE ANY WOMAN READING THIS WILL BE WARNED THAT YOUR LIFE WILL BE RUINED IF YOU LET A DOCTOR DO THIS TO YOU.
I learned more about hysterectomies from 5mins. on this sight than in the 2 months prior to having the surgery.I now have an idea as to why I have some of the problems I have. Keep up the great work.
For those of you who have or are considering going to one of the many sites where you can rate your doctor anonymously and speak the truth about what they have done to you (and warn other women) and how you were treated regarding your hysterectomy, please be aware…
I did just this a few months ago. Last week I went back to check on the listings under my doctor where I had posted and rated him. Someone posted after me contradicting every single point I made and stating how compassionate and wonderful this doctor was and how he would never push a woman into a hysterectomy. I am 99 percent sure the person posting that was my doctor himself, to sabatoge my rating and make himself look good. But he can not erase the facts, nor anyone else who wants to try to silence me. I was a patient of his for less than one year for endometriosis, we tried only two other methods of treating the endo, and I was hysterectomized and castrated by him. I still have in his writing his answers to my questions about hysterectomy during the meeting that he persuaded me that hysterectomy was the cure for endometriosis and my best bet. If he was so freaking compassionate and would “never push a woman into having a hysterectomy”, then how did I end up hysterectomized and castrated by him so quickly in the course of my treatment? If he was so compassionate and caring, why would he agree to do this to me even if I had wanted it? No morally sound doctor that really knows the truth about the damage hysterectomy and oopherectomy does to a woman would ever perform this surgery unless it was for a life threatening condition. Case closed.
It has been many years for me now since I was medically mauled and had my uterus and ovaries removed in less than an hour’s time. Did you know that hysterectomy is called the “golfer’s” surgery? It is called that because the surgeon can do one, make a great sum for the day and, yeah, you guessed it, spend the rest of the day on the golf course.
I wish that I could say that in many years I’ve gotten better but, well, the truth is that I think that you just cope better. You miss sexual enjoyment less, miss the intimate bond with hubby less, miss looking at your children and feeling your very heart contract.. all less. If missing it all less sounds terribly alien, well, I’d have to agree but don’t be too quick to judge me. You see, my mind knew that I loved them still even if I couldn’t feel it the way that I had before. My children were young and they needed me so I made a choice to stay and fight. I’ve been fighting ever since.
Ladies and gents, you got to fight,too! The specialists that do this want to see us broken, see us humbled. Not now, not ever!
To that end, extended vaginal bleeding post op may be serious. Contact HERS for a competent caring medical referral if you can’t find help. The legal time frame that you have to file a suit may dissuade some doctors from finding anything wrong with you.
Folks, all the financial experts advise you to check your credit reports and that is probably a fine idea but I say, first, check your medical records! You may be taken aback at what they’ve written about you. Seems some docs believe in “pre-emptive” strikes. Things that you’re likely to complain about post op, you may be shocked to see shown as troubles pre op. Oh, and while you’re at it? Review your lab/path reports with a handy medical dictionary nearby. I daresay you may come to a whole new understanding of your health.
Here’s another tip. There are medical guidelines for women wanting children and then there are guidelines for those that don’t. Guess which group tends to get the more conservative treatment? Yep, the women wanting children! Let me put it this way, loss of childbearing is a costly legal damage that the gyns can’t counter by saying that you’ll be fine on HRT and/or antidepressants,– or that you were near menopause anyway.Today’s new technologies pave the way for much later motherhood. So, in my lay opinion, there is never a good time to tell a gyn that you don’t want children. And, ladies, permanent birth control has even more pitfalls- both medical and legal. You see, there are patient protective laws regarding sterilization that you lose with tube tying. The gyns actually used to use “useless uterus” (as in, no longer needed for childbearing) as a reason for hysterectomy!
Another tip, take a witness to serious medical consultations. If it is legal, consider recording everything. Better to need and have than to need and not have.
To the hubby who has written, I wish him the strength to support his wife and say to go easy on yourself. You would’ve protected her if you’d known there was a need to do so. You were duped by wolves hiding in sheepskin. The same as countless others. You’re on the right track now in warning others.
(sigh) I do believe that hysterectomy has caused more divorces than money and/or affairs ever could. The actual cost of hysterectomy to society has never come close to being accurately measured…all for the personal “profits” of a few.
To my fellow hysterectomy victims, I again say, “Fight!”
The best way to fight is to warn others- and to support HERS.
For supplements, I use bioidentical estrogen, OTC progesterone, and Omegas 3,6 & 9.
To today’s Anonymous re constipation
I can highly recommend the Five-Element Acupuncture treatments, from personal experience.
Information about this type of Acupuncture is available on the internet.
I believe this type of Acupuncture may have some benefits over some other types of Acupuncture, or perhaps I just got lucky and have the absolute best Acupuncturist.
From the very first treatment I received I started having two bowel movements daily. I made no major changes to my diet or lifestyle.
This benefit also had the effect of relieving the stomach bloating and flatulence that was unbearable for about 30 years prior to treatment. No doctor could help. I spent years using over the counter laxatives and will not bore you with all the failed attempts at other options and treatments I tried, all to no avail.
I had this problem between 30 and 40 years, and it got much worse after my sex-organ surgery.
I started the Acupuncture treatments one year ago. It is like night to day, in how different I feel. I can not recommend this particular Five-Element Acupuncture treatment too highly.
Dear Hubby of Destroyed Wife,
Thank you for supporting and believing your wife. This isn’t easy for us, but to not have your families support would be hard. We need the men to help us fight and get a law passed. Your wife needs your love and support. Doctors need to read what the husbands are saying about this barbaric surgery. None of us deserved what has happened to us.
The whole family is affected by this surgery. We were hysterectomized and castrated without our consent and not given the information about the consequences of the surgery. We were lied to and told this surgery would make us feel better than ever and that it wouldn’t affect our sex life. Women are agreeing to have the surgery based on the little information their gynecologist tells them.
Someday this surgery will be against the law and I can’t wait. We owe Nora and the Hers Foundation so much for their endless work educating the public and advocating for a law that will compel the doctors to provide the DVD ‘Female Anatomy’ to every woman before she signs a consent form.
A year after my hysterectomy (which was October 1981) my bowels stopped eliminating. M.D.s were no help. With the help of some chiropractors, I got them working again, but they were not “normal.” Now they have worsened considerably, I feel myself filling up more and more, and I don’t see the earlier options open to me. What can I do? Has anyone experienced this awful problem?
It’s been over ten years that I’ve had my hysterectomy and I’d never thought I’d be sicker now then before. I would like to learn more about the before and after the hysterectomy so I could get a better understanding of what my body was going throw before and now after. Thanks to everyone here I finally know that it’s not just me or that I’m not trying hard enough. Nothing I do works and at least I know why now. Every single woman should tell the truth about what a hysterectomy does to your body so that it doesn’t happen to them.
To the woman who was diagnosed with a fibroid. How heavy is the bleeding? What age are you? You might be going through menopause and your fibroid or fibroids will most always shrink after menopause. Sometimes you don’t have to do anything, especially having a hysterectomy and castration. This is what I had. A pea-sized fibroid and was easily talked into this surgery.
Your doctor is trying to convince you that you need this surgery and you do not. I am sure you do not want to have a life like the rest of us on this blog.
How many myomectomies has he done? It sounds like he hasn’t done very many that he is telling you you need two surgeries. WHY???? If you decide on a myomectomy, please find a doctor who is trained in doing myomectomies. Not many doctors are and they find it just easily to take our sex organs. Find another doctor and fast! This doctor only has hysterectomy on his mind.
Anonymous with fibroids,
You never need a hysterectomy for fibroids, and you can undergo a myomectomy in one surgery, not two. I suggest that you go to the link about fibroids on this page (top right you’ll find a list of links).
You can also fill out a contact form on HERS website at http://www.hersfoundation.org.
I was diagnosed yesterday with a 5cm(submucosal)fibroid and told due to location(top of uterus) I have very little in treatment options. Myomectomy could be performed in two surgeries, with high risk bowel perforation. I can take BC pills to control the bleeding, not stop growth or hysterectomy leaving the cervic and ovaries. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Everyone wants to know how to get their life back. I am sorry this has happened to you because you will never have the life you had before this surgery. Now you have a completely different life and body.
If your husband hasn’t gone on line to read the women’s comments, he needs to do that now to understand what is happening to you. They have taken the organs that we need for our well-being, mood swings, happiness, zest for life, mental and emotional feelings and our sexual feelings. The doctors all know by taking our sexual hormone producing organs (uterus, ovaries and cervix) it destroys our lives and our family lives.
I had my hysterecotmy/castration almost 20 years ago and am still sick and always will be, but you will somehow learn to live with it. I am on all herbal products (especially Omega 3) and mostly organic foods. I exercise and watch my weight. I definitely know how you feel about crying and not caring how you look, but starting today, you will get up, fix yourself up and put on a smile. Get out there and take a walk with your husband.
AND, stop going to a OB/GYN for your check-ups because they are trained to do only surgeries. Stop getting tests done because all you are doing is giving the hospitals and clinics more money. I had every kind of test there was because I wanted to know why I was feeling so sick until I found the Hers Foundation and found out that my surgery was the cause of all my problems.
I have to tell you I was also a mess after my surgery even to the point of taking my life, but I had two young boys and a very caring family and just couldn’t leave them, so I do know how you are feeling, but by writing each other and taking one day at a time, we will get through this together. There are a lot of women you can talk to.
Get yourself healthy and then fight with us to get a law passed so this doesn’t happen to other women and their famiies.
I was also looking for answers (actually the answer) after surgery. That is how I found HERS, but ladies, I think we already know the answer… and it is, there is not one. The issues we are all commonly dealing with come but from one source, removal of the female reproductive/sex organs.
We have all run from doctor to doctor, tried multiple regimens of hormones and supplements only to still find we are not restored to our pre-surgical selves. Can it be that there is some group of doctors out there that is not following the status quo gold standard treatment post-hysterectomy, that is successful in restoring the lives of women. But each of the women who have come across this blog, although we come from different cities, states, resources, etc. – just haven’t found them yet.
No ladies, this is life post-hysterectomy. This is the consequence of removal of female organs. Although we came to surgery under a number of pretenses, you got to wonder – what could be more abnormal than this? Would not fibroids, or cysts, or endometriosis, all be less abnormal than removal? I know I’ve had eczema since being a child, but removal of my limbs would be more abnormal than
the eczema, no matter how annoying of unsightly the eczema outbreak appears.
I spent several years going from doctor to doctor, looking for answers, and looking to understand. It always amazed me when the doctor would comment on why I had a hysterectomy. When I replied “for fibroids”, the next question would be yes, but why?? Initially, I didn’t understand the question, but after seeing a couple of doctors, it became clear. They wanted to hear the horrifying existence I was living pre-hysterectomy with my fibroids. Unfortunately, for me, that existence didn’t come until post-op.
Thanks for the L-Lysine suggestion. I have been taking the vitamin, B-complex with Riboflaven, daily,
for terrible headaches, it seems to help.
It is still impossible for me to function normally over a year and a half after being so physically assaulted by sex organ removal.
I have severe atrophy in the labia, clitoral area now, it is so gross.
Every day I struggle physically and mentally, I am not even close to the women I was.
Mattie
The loss of collagen as well as the loss of the body’s collagen making ability has been mentioned as one of the consequences of losing some or all the female sex-organs. I believe this is because of the sudden (through surgery) and ongoing loss of the major estrogen-producing organs through surgery or the ageing process.
It is reasonable to assume this loss of collagen will contribute to the thinning of the walls of the vagina, the venous system as a whole, the thinning of the walls of the digestive system, including the lining of the walls of the stomach etc. Hence the painful intercourse, stomach bloating, constipation etc. etc. Also, the appearance of thinning, dry, flaky skin to the face and body post sex-organ surgery.
I am a small to medium build so I take an over-the-counter 500MG table daily of L-Lysine, one of the essential amino-acids used to promote production of collagen which aids in the health and protection of skin.
There are many more essential amino acids we could add to our daily regime, to aid in the production of collagen. I have started with this one and found it minimally helpful.. We will not find anything to reverse our new ailments, post-surgery. We can only seek palliative aids to help us get through our most traumatic experiences.
These aids often work for a while, then lose their effectiveness. I tend to stop and start, when this happens.
Our bodies are not functioning normally, post-surgery. We will not get the same benefit from supplements etc., that a whole body would. We only have a part of our body trying to cope.
I keep trying. Good luck.
I’m in the process of suing. All I want is to put the frighteners on these despicable cowards and to find out why I had the surgery done and was tricked into signing a consent form. I read on a forum http://www.patientprotect.org, which deals with patient problems within the NHS, that many women are used as practice specimens for less experienced surgeons. This was reported to have come from the mouth of the head of the RCOG. I have a strong suspicion that this is what happened to me.
I can understand the frustration of some of those who are posting and asking for the return of their sex life. However it’s difficult to replace exactly the feelings you had pre surgery. Your body was able to do that naturally. Man (for it usually is a man) has come up with a poor alternative known as HRT. I would suggest to start with a low dose confined to the genital pelvic area. This will lessen some of the discomfort and allow greater movement and exercise. I strongly urge you to overcome your distaste of the new orgasm you are now experiencing and to keep masturbating and having penetrative sex (at first with a smallish vibrator and plenty of lubricant). The inference I’m giving is that you must use it or you lose it. You need not do this with your partner at first. It’s like you are with a new body now. Give yourself time to get adjusted. If your partner is forcing you to have sex and is being impatient remember this. No loving partner should do this. Open channels of communication and tell them honestly that you dislike your new body and feel that he/she will too. If talking fails then seek professional help and ask family to help too. I hope that this helps. I’m not a medical person but then most medical people will never suffer the consequences of such a life changing surgery and so are really not qualified to give advice.
Of course what should really happen is that no woman should ever go through what the majority of those posting on this forum have. This forum is a wonderful instruction to those contemplating the surgery not to do it. The harmful effects are irreversible.
Greetings from Australia.
I had a hysterectomy in September 2006. I have lodged a complaint against the doctor who performed the surgery citing that I was coerced into surgery to remove my uterus, cervix, left fallopian tube and ovary after being provided with misleading information about the severity of my condition (fibroids) and the non-availability of alternative treatments.
The fact that I signed a consent form is now a moot point as the general attitude is: “OK, there was no medical necessity to perform this surgery but too bad, you signed the consent form and after all, most gynecological surgery is elective and performed for non life-threatening conditions.”
I should point out here that I had a high level of private medical insurance. I earnestly believe that if I didn’t, I would never have had to endure an unnecessary hysterectomy.
I signed the consent form based on the doctor’s insistence that:
– there were no suitable or available alternative treatments for uterine fibroids;
– the uterine fibroids posed an immediate and increasingly serious risk to my health and well being;
– if I didn’t have the hysterectomy as soon as possible, it was inevitable I would only end up having to have it done in a life threatening emergency situation because I could become severely anaemic and / or haemorrhage and would need blood transfusions to save my life;
– my ovaries and cervix would only be removed if they were affected by serious disease such as cancer; and
– I would feel a lot better after my operation.
The doctor was a patronising little joker who had referred to my “nasty uterus” and inferred it was a diseased and useless organ, which I no longer needed and would be better off without. But foolishly, despite my reservations about his manner, I trusted him because he was after all, the doctor. How wrong I was. Needless to say, just as I later found out that my fibroids were a benign condition, the post operative pathology showed that there was nothing wrong with my cervix, fallopian tubes or ovaries but still out they came!
Adverse after effects I have suffered and continue to suffer since the surgery include:
– Abdominal and pelvic pain
– Depression
– Fatigue
– Teariness
– Night sweats and hot flushes
– Loss of libido
– Loss of vaginal sensation
– Diminished intensity of orgasm
– Painful intercourse
– Vaginal dryness and blood in vaginal discharge after intercourse
– Loss of abdominal muscle tone (My tummy now protrudes like a barrel and I have no waist at all)
– Weight gain
– Constipation
– Loss of bladder control
And so, far from feeling better after my hysterectomy, I cried for months after the surgery and ended up having to take around 6 months off work. I’m back at work now but only because I can’t afford not to work.
After the surgery, I sought out bio-identical HRT (very expensive and negligible private medical insurance rebate) but I still suffer from mood swings, sweats and flashes and almost a complete lack of interest in sex. I still feel like a powder keg ready to explode.
Anyway, my complaint has now been assessed (and pretty much dismissed) by one of the leading gynecological specialists in my state.
In response to my complaint about the menopausal symptoms I suffered immediately following the surgery, the specialist wrote that this was not due to the damage caused to ovarian function as a result of the surgery because I was left with one ovary and therefore:
“[It] should have been sufficient for (you) to go on producing endogenous hormones and therefore have no significant effect on the onset of the climacteric (change of life). I think it would be safe to assume therefore the cessation of (your) ovarian function was imminent regardless of whether (you) had the hysterectomy performed or not.”
“There is some evidence that conservation of the ovaries is beneficial to women even into their sixth decade. As it happens [the doctor] did not remove both ovaries and therefore the climacteric symptoms which you subsequently complained of would be difficult to ascribe to the surgery which was performed”.
“[One of your ovaries] could have reasonably expected to go on producing endogenous estrogens thereby avoiding any menopausal or climacteric symptoms”. The fact that these occurred so rapidly after surgery leads [me] to believe that “(your) climacteric was imminent”.
As to my complaint that the surgery has resulted in a dramatic loss of libido, loss of vaginal sensation and diminished orgasm which has led to the loss of sexual enjoyment, the specialist stated:
“[There] is no strong evidence in the literature to suggest that a hysterectomy with removal of the cervix and conservation of one or both ovaries has any effect on libido, vaginal sensation or orgasm. It is true theoretically that orgasm may be less intense because the muscular uterus has been removed but the uterus is not the only organ which is responsible for a woman achieving orgasm. There is in fact recent evidence that uterine excision does not affect vaginal sensations”.
“Issues such as loss of libido, loss of vaginal sensation, onset of menopause type symptoms, depression etc are not usually part and parcel of a total abdominal hysterectomy especially where there has been ovarian conservation which there was in (your) case, albeit one ovary”.
The specialist’s comments regarding alternatives to hysterectomy are as follows:
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists:
“…these are potent hormones which frequently have undesirable side effects such as onset of menopausal symptoms and development of osteoporosis with prolonged use. This precludes them for being used for longer than six months at a time therefore they are not suitable agents to treat uterine fibroids in the hope of a cure as they are not curative. They may cause the fibroids to diminish in size and control the symptoms of abnormal menstrual bleeding and therefore allow time for further consideration of other treatment options. However, they are expensive and not commonly used especially outside the public hospital system”.
Androgens:
“His comments concerning hormones similarly apply to Androgens. They have no established role in the management of fibroids.”
Mirena Intrauterine System:
“[There is] insufficient evidence in the literature that these have a significant benefit in the management of uterine fibroids especially in a woman who has a fibroid protruding into the uterine cavity which may be distorted and be unsuitable for use of this particular system”.
Myomectomy:
“…usually reserved for women who wish to preserve their fertility and indeed an abdominal myomectomy which is the usual operation performed with multiple fibroids is a procedure of significant magnitude, almost as great as hysterectomy. Hysteroscopic myomectomy performed through the uterine cervix with a resectoscope is a possibility for the management of sub-mucus fibroids but should only be performed by someone who has sufficient expertise in that procedure”.
Uterine Artery Embolisation:
“This procedure is gaining increased interest but is still only practised in the larger centres and needs more evaluation. Its popularity in the United States is on the increase and it is certainly a technique which is being used in some of Australia’s capital cities but eminent organisations like the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists believe that it should only be used in an experimental setting until sufficient evaluation has occurred”.
Focused Ultrasound Surgery:
“very new technique which is not practised to any extent at all in this country and in fact has yet to be carefully evaluated and assessed in more robust clinical trials”.
Myolysis and Cryomyolysis:
“have still not yet been fully assessed in clinical trials and further information is required about those techniques before they can be recommended for more widespread general use”
In conclusion, the specialist does however concede that:
“It would appear in retrospect that total hysterectomy and left salpingo oophorectomy was not the appropriate operation given the concerns which you now have expressed”.
But then continues:
“However, I would say that in 2006 the vast majority of gynecologists would have advised the course of action which [the doctor] advised”.
Right now, I feel as if I have been gutted again. It’s like I have been told that I am yet another ridiculous hysterical neurotic middle aged woman who is just too stupid to appreciate that having my female organs surgically removed for no good reason is a normal rite of passage for a modern woman.
I don’t want compensation for what happened to me and I have given up on getting even a simple apology from the doctor who mutilated me but I am absolutely determined to tell as many women as I can about my experience.
In the meantime, if anyone knows of any reliable evidence that challenges the so called specialist’s assertions, please let me know.
Regards,
Charmaine Saunders
The medical industry have expanded this word ‘hysterectomy’ and encouraged its broadest meaning and interpretation, to their distinct advantage. It helps to confuse. Confusion can be useful when you wish to conquer and/or you have something to hide.
My own Gynecologist/Surgeon 36 years ago, repeatedly referred to my ‘total hysterectomy’ and informed me this was the generally accepted term for the removal of the uterus and cervix. What is baffling to me, is why should any mention of my surgery be limited to just the term, ‘total hysterectomy’ when it was so much more than that.
The fact is, my two ovaries and fallopian tubes were also removed by this same Gynecologist/Surgeon during the surgery. Apparently there was/is no single word yet coined by the medical industry for having your two ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix removed. So, until then, ‘total hysterectomy’ will just have to do. It is a matter of convenience. After all, these medical wizards don’t have the time to be accurate. All they want is for you to be in and out of their office fast enough to meet their HMO or PPO ‘insurance’ quota for the day.
For the record, all the other approx 15 medical practitioners I have consulted since my surgery 36 years ago, also chose not to be more precise in their terminology with me.
‘Total hysterectomy’ has always been the terminology mutually used in these discussions/consultations.
If the general public is a bit ‘confused’ by the term ‘hysterectomy’ we can all thank the medical industry for this. There is a clear advantage to them for creating some confusion on the issue. For openers, the varied post-surgery, after-effects are not as clearly distinguished and separable if there is some uncertainty about which actual body parts are involved.
Like me, I’ll bet you now accept the word ‘hysterectomy’ to have a much broader meaning than it’s medical designation. The surgical removal of a woman’s uterus.
Thanks to this HERS Foundation website, we can now more clearly understand that having your two ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix amputated, is not just a ‘hysterectomy’.
The words ‘total hysterectomy’, also do not accurately describe the removal of your two ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix.
I am interested in knowing if the medical practitioners consulted by the bloggers on this site bother to use the medically accurate terminology when in consultation with their patients. Please share your experiences with the rest of us. I really would appreciate knowing.
I am 25 and had a hysterectomy in May, 2007. Since my surgery I have experienced many complications the first being a severe staff infection, at first thought to be MRSA. I was hospitalized again and agressively treated with antibiotics. During the first 2 weeks post op I had severe night sweats and insomnia, massive acne breakouts. I have never experienced any of these things before the surgery. I am terrified. I have no sex drive and so far I have not experienced any desire. I feel exhausted and scared. My doctor has said to be patient and let the hormone replacement therapy work. I don’t have time. I find myself thinking that I could just walk out on my husband, our 3 yr old and baby and my husband is very frustrated with my constant anger towards him. I have never felt the way that I do now. I am desperate and I don’t know what to do. Please help if you can.
I had a hysterectomy in August 2005, I still have my ovaries. Recently I have had a number of health concerns from arthritis to urinary incontinence to memory loss, depression, fatigue and the list goes on. I am 29 years old and consider myself way to young to be having these problems, all of which were not an issue until after the hysterectomy. I want to see a Dr., but I do not know where to start and have felt like maybe I was crazy until I came upon this blog. Any info or help anyone can give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you telling the truth and being there for other women like me.
Hi, I am 46 years old, and two years ago I was supposed to have an hysterectomy to remove my “extremely large fibroid uterus”.
But, thankfully, something came up and I cancelled that surgery… I am happy, because I have no pain, no bleeding, NO NOTHING!
I am 30 years old. I am not writing to complain, I just want to know how to solve this one problem. I have had a hysterectomy and I have totally lost my sex drive. I have tried some prescription and over the counter drugs and none of them seem to work. I know there is something out there that can increase my sex drive. that is the only problem I am having. I’ve been like this since my surgery and I am going crazy trying to figure this out on my own. Doctors really don’t try to help. Why not? Can anyone give me some information or advice on how to treat this? You talk about the problems you have but I want to know how to get sex life back.
Thank goodness I found your site although by accident, while searching for replacement hormone therapy! I had a hysterectomy, but my ovaries and tubes were left, just before my 22nd birthday. When I went to a doctor for menopause symptoms, she asked me why I’d had this surgery done. I can only assume it was because sex was painful for me, and I had several cervical infections. I assumed the doctor knew what he was talking about, but he never explained the bad side effects.
I am now 43 years old and within the last 10 or 15 years I have dealt with severe depression, fatigue, change in personality, aching joints, loss of feeling in the vaginal area, difficulty with libido, and difficulty enjoying sex at all, and recently in the past few years bowel problems as well. I have been having horrible hot flashes, and night sweats, and insomnia for about 10 years now. I was given all kinds of different hormone pills, patches, shots, and now 1.25 mg of hormone Estratest . I am hoping this will give me some relief. I just wanted to write and thank HERS for the web site and this blog, it explained a lot of things for me. I thought I was a mess, now I know it may have been a result of the surgery, and especially at such a young age. I have several friends who also were given hysterectomy at a young age. I will pass along this information, as well as the web site. Yes it was a shame to have had this surgery at all, especially at 22 years old. I already had all the children I wanted by then, and had a tubal ligation after my last child was born.
I am a 40 year old, wife and mother that had a hysterectomy in January of 2000. I had a change in personality and I have been having nightsweats (at least 2 a night) for several years along with extreme fatigue, sweet cravings, weight gain from 131lbs to 192lbs, loss of interest in maintaining my household, depression, constant irritability, joint pain, I have trouble recalling things, I have trouble sleeping at night more than 4 hours at a time, then I want to sleep all afternoon, pain when having intercourse, acne mainly on my neck, jaw line and back (I had very little as a teenager), more underarm odor, always cold.
I could go on and on, but the main reason I am writing is I would like to know if anyone here knows what test my doctor should be doing? I am tired of getting the brush off and a perscription for Wellbutrin. None of these women have said what they did to get their life back. Can you help me get my life back on track please.
I am 34 had a hysterectomy back in March. 2005. They left one ovary. I am finding I am so miserable. My mood swings are so bad I can’t stand myself. People have made comments to my husband about me that I don’t seem happy, or I am very grouchy. I can cry at the drop of a hat if someone tells me they don’t like my hair. This is not normal for me because I could care less what people think of my hair. What can I do? What does this mean for me? Does it mean I need to be on estrogen or something? Please any information would be helpful. Please help me!!!
Hubby of destroyed wife,
This is my plea for somebody or someone to stop this insane butchering of the woman of this country for profit.I was married to the most loving , caring & happy wife,before some madman butcher of a so called doctor performed a completely unnecessary hysteretomy on my wife. This operation should be illegal!
Since this operation ,our whole lives have been turned upside down. My wife was the absolute sunshine of my life & I can not believe I left some lying butcher lie & do this horrible thing to my wife. Everyday I helplessly watch the pain & anguish she goes through. I want so bad for her to be well. I realize now that these doctors do not care about the woman they do this to. You tell them what has happened & they just act like they’ve never heard this before. We know now after talking with other people , that this is the standard response & a lie . They know full well what they are doing. Lying & ruining a womans body & health for profit. All I can say now is any man ,wether husband , father , boyfriend or brother do not let this happen to the women in your life. Men need to stand up & talk about this! We need do bring this surgery for profit to and end! Please help support the HERS foundation to bring this to an end. As for me it’s to late , they’ve already destroyed the love of my life. I know the only way I can get back at these bastards is to work at making this operation illegal! Men , It’s time to speak up !
Hubby of destroyed wife…
I recenyly had a hysterectomy on December 13th then had to turn around a have a nother surgery the 17th, due to complications. I had fibroids and endometrosis. They took my appendix also. Everysince then, I have had bad nightmares, lost sleep, had bad memory, depression,started having migraines again, and lost sexual desire. I have tried to talk to my doctor about it, the one that preformed the surgery, but all he has done is ran me through many hormone pills. I am on Premarin 1.25 now but nothing seems to help. If any one found the right hormone pills can you point me in the right direction.
To the young ladies who were given c-sections and emergency hysterectomies. My heart goes out to you. That is just horrible. You should contact an attorney. Most c-sections are unnecessary and dangerous. Did the doctor tell you that one of the risks of the c-section was that you could hemorrhage and need a hysterectomy? I’ve also heard that many times the uterus can be repaired, but they just amputate it because it’s easier and they make more money. You only have a very short time to file a lawsuit in most states, less than two years. It sounds like both of you may have a case that can be pursued legally, even though it’s wrong what they did to you either way.
The trick that is not foreseen when the female patient seeks ‘Specialist’ help from a Gynecologist/Surgeon, is that after this ‘expert’ has removed her two ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix, with all the attached blood vessels, muscles, nerves etc. (and left her with only a vagina), the female patient will then be told by this same Gynecologist/Surgeon that there is no more reason for her to consult with him/her. She should resume her ‘life as usual’, post surgery.
The reason:
These Gynecologist/Surgeons will now claim that any post-surgery health issues their female patient has can not be related to the surgery they performed, simply because the patient only has a vagina now, so logically, how can she be having gynecological-related health issues which need their ‘expert’ attention, when she no longer has her sex organs?
See their logic? HA-HA-HA-HA-HA … Having fun yet??
The post-surgery female patient is then sent on a medical, lifetime-hide-and-seek, by the Gynecologist/Surgeon who performed her surgery. She is repeatedly told by that surgeon that they has done their job of surgery, and now it is the patient’s job to find out why she is feeling like near-death, every day of her life, post surgery, for the rest of her life.
The logic used by these ‘medical’ tricksters is that if there are no more female sex organs, then the new, post-surgery, health problems can not be ’caused’ by the missing female sex organs!!
This is why I warn my female friends and family, and anyone who will listen, that they may have gynecological problems now, but post female sex-organ surgery, they will have a lifetime of much worse health issues to deal with. The trade-off is not seen till it is too late, and these medical ‘experts’ will not tell you the truth. They did not tell me the truth.
The trash being dished out by these super-gynecological monsters to innocent, unsuspecting females seeking their help, is just as low as you can get.
I am really happy I do not find myself to be a colleague among this profession. I see no future for these rascals. Their time has come, they just don’t know it yet. Thank you HERS Foundation for opening our eyes.
I had a Hysterectoy with Bilateral ovary and fallopian tube removal. The Dr. also removed my appendix. This was done October 2007. Iam 27 years old and this has been the worst nightmare. I had Endometriosis and I already had 5 laparoscopys. The Doctor said my ovaries were dead and I had a septic mass. I can not find a HRT that works for me. Iam allergic to some of them and others leave me with rashes, acne,and I just don’t feel good. I was hoping you could please help me. Iam starting to understand that there isn’t any help because I can’t get my uterus and ovarys back. If they were dead I shouldn’t feel different without them. It’s me that’s dead without my ovaries. Don’t Doctors have to tell you this would happen to you before they remove your ovarys and uterus?
Anonymous, Me too. I had an emergency c-section March 2 ’06 and my uteris was ruptured so they took it out. No Dr. answered any questions. Just like you I just wondered what happens to me now. Thanks to all the women for telling what happened to them. I don’t feel so alone now, it really helps alot. I wonder if lots of other women go to the hospital to have a baby and had this happen to them. Please write me again.
I have lost all respect for US doctors, and especially Gynecologists.
If these US ‘medical’ personnel claim to be unaware of the severe, traumatic, devastating and profound changes to a woman’s body, mind, emotion, and spirit after removing the two ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix then they should not be performing these surgeries or recommending them.
It is that simple.
Hi Kay,
I have scare tissue from the hysterectomy. I will have surgery soon, hopefully to fix this. The doctor always says there is a chance of scare tissues coming back. Yes, when I wear clothing that are a little snug my stomach bothers me. Then the pain goes to my back and hips. Then the pain spreads down my legs after while. I am not sure why but I believe it has to do with severing the ligaments and nerves during surgery. I try to stay away from jeans. Other pants like dress pants, seem to stretch and are more flexible. I can get away with wearing these a little bigger then jeans. I have to be careful what I buy now. Dress slacks that stretch are the most comfortable for me. I am sorry for your pain. I don’t know if I helped any. I hope someone else has an Idea out there for you.
These doctors who are doing this horrible lying and tricking and cutting into healthy women,
will…ROT IN HELL WITH SATAN.
I had a hysterictamy in dec 07 because the doctor screwed up while I was giving birth he nicked an artery in my uterus so he gave me a hysterictamy to stop the bleeding so I am wanting to know more about what to exspect and what I can do no body told me anything about it they just sent me on home and I don’t feel the same I’m not me now and sex no no no feeling
is there anything I can do to feel good again
after an iud was removed I have been in pain ever since. never could have children after that. i’m in pain as i set here writing this. i had everthing removed in 1999 and since then have had to have scare tissue removed. my insides have always been real tender. if i wear clothing that is a little snugged i get unbearable back aches. anyone else have these problem wearing snugged clothes?
This will be the worse kind of abuse put on a person once it is out in the public and a law is passed. What could be worse than doctors taking women’s sex organs when they know the effects this surgery has on a woman’s life.
How cruel for doctors to do this and get by with it. I can’t think of anything that is worse than being hysterectomized and castrated unnecessarily.
This crime is going unchecked and doctors should loose their license for practicing this surgery when it is unnecessary which over 90% are.
All women should be able to go back and sue their doctor for a lifetime of misery when a law is passed. Our lives have been taken from us. It is like being murdered except we are walking around without a life in our body.
We all need to do whatever it takes to make the public aware of what doctors are doing to us.
Mattie said…What is stopping this barbaric act of mutilation by deceit called “hysterectomy” from being headline news? It is a gross injustice perpetrated on the women of this country. Does the drug industry own the media? Hysterectomy by deceit “the biggest best kept secret in the medical community”. If you are a women who is still intact you sure are on the right web site, read all of the information on this site and keep your sex organs where they belong, in your body. To all of the women suffering from hysterectomy mutilation, we will stand together to end the lies perpetrated by greedy doctors for profit.
Thank you University of Iowa for saving this ladies uterus by doing a polypectomy to remove a polyp. How lucky you are to live your life with your uterus intact!
Thanks you Hers for educating women across the country.
The doctor who took away my sex organ is Julianne R. Newcomer at Froedtert hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She also has a partner now at the same place, Sumana Koduri who thinks the same way, because I have had her for a doctor also. I was not informed of the after-effects of the surgery. I asked Newcomer about sex after surgery and she said it wouldn’t be any different. Ya right! My sex life has changed. My husband says it is not the same for him either. Believe me it has not gotten better it has gotten worse.
A huge Thank You to Nora W.Coffey and the HERS Foundation for their insightful and enlightening revelations about Emory University Hospital.
Your efforts to help all women who are seeking truthful information before or after female sex-organ surgery is invaluable. The husbands of these women thank you also, as their lives too will be severely impacted by these surgeries should their wives be persuaded to have their female sex organs removed.
HERS, you are our only source of light and truth in a very dark abyss of misinformation and omission of material facts by those in the ‘medical’ industry who claim to want to do what is in ‘the best interest of the patient’.
I remember being given a little pamphlet on hysterectomy with my pre op packet just before my surgery. As if a four page pamphlet could really have prepared me for the trauma of major surgery and the life long consequences I now face daily. I also remember how the nurse who worked with my gynecologist had to sign some form for me to be approved for four weeks off of work for a laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy and possible bilateral oopherectomy (which indeed is what he did). I remember how she laughed and said I really didn’t need that long and to enjoy my “vacation”. I still fume when I read about how much “easier” laparoscopic hysterectomy is. I spent three days in the hospital in constant pain and tears before I could go home. I didn’t have my first bowel movement for seven days after, regardless of all the laxatives and prune juice and everything else I tried. I still have pelvic pain and pelvic floor dysfunction following my hysterectomy. Instant surgical menopause has been absolutely life changing.
To this day I have a very hard time trusting medical professionals and all their “sound scientific standards”. I should have trusted my own instincts and fled.
Thank you HERS Foundation for reading between the lines of the bull that these medical institutions are feeding us.
Elaine
OH MY GOSH.. how can he get away with that? The way I am treated and the bad lies doctors get away with, …I am going to work for the rest of my days on this earth to hold all accountable.. for how they LIE, treat and mislead. .and I know what the ethics codes say “if a professional feels it is in the patients best interest”,
(There is an old saying: “The highwayman demands ‘your money OR your life’, but quacks demand “your money AND your life!”)
Lying to patients has, therefore, seemed an especially excusable act. Some would argue that doctors, and only doctors, should be granted the right to manipulate the truth. A physician can decide to tell as much or as little as he wants the patient to know, so long as he breaks no law. Some physicians might feel justified in lying for the good of the patient, others might be truthful. Some may conceal alternatives to the treatment they recommend; others not. In each case, a great many would choose to be able to lie.
The doctor’s choice to lie increasingly involves co-workers in acting in part they find neither humane nor wise. Informed consent is a farce if the information provided is distorted or withheld. And even complete information regarding surgical procedures or medication is obviously useless unless the patient also knows what the condition is that these are supposed to correct.
Bill of Rights, their right to a truthful diagnosis and prognosis is by no means always respected
The reason why even doctors who recognize a patient’s right to have information might still not provide it, brings us to the argument against telling all patients the truth. It holds that the information given might hurt the patient and that the concern for the right to such information is therefore a threat to proper health care.
I have had a hysterectomy and I have been lied to and mis-informed about my surgery. I have had another surgery 6 weeks ago and this doctor has also deceived me. I found out by getting my surgical report. Thanks to Nora for educating me and her web site, I have become more informed about my health care. I can’t thank Nora enough.
Thanks ladies for educating us all about hysterectomies.
I was able to have a polypectomy for some polyps I had in my uterus recently. The surgery was done at the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City, Iowa. My doctor was Dr. Ginny Ryan.
WOW! The above bloggers have spoken well, and spoken loudly for me too!!! . I agree with everything the above bloggers have written. Thank you. I too am a victim of deceit by the Gynecologist/Surgeon who used the hackneyed ‘cancer’ scare tactic on me at the age of 24, and childless.
Just as long as women continue to be deceived by their doctors that they are going to be ‘fine’ after this surgery and that they are going to enjoy sex better than before surgery because they will no longer have to deal with messy, monthly, menstrual cycles etc., then this injustice and cruelty by doctors to their female patients will continue.
The longer we castrated women keep silent, the longer this will continue to be done to other women. Let us not forget that most of us still have Mothers, daughters, sisters, nieces, cousins, aunts etc. and if these dear relatives of ours are lucky enough to still have their female sex organs, they too are being silently targeted by these cruel, medical predators. These predators are just waiting to pounce for profit, with the next gyne symptom which they may have.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Let us protect those whom we love, while we still have the chance, and while they still have their female sex organs intact!
Cathy and Gracie, my story is very much like yours. As was my innocence, as is my reaction.
When I received information on hysterectomy from Emory, I was sent dated material published by McKesson Clinical Reference Systems—printed on Emory’s own letterhead! I deliberately refer to the mailing as “material” because there is no way that I would go so far as to call it information. There is so much that is factual and germane to hysterectomy that has been omitted, I can now well understand the carefully worded disclaimer that accompanies the material.
Folks, my layperson guess is that there is sound legal reasoning behind why these medical institutions are reluctant to publish their own material. It all comes down to but a single word: liability. They don’t want to tell the truth but neither do they want to be held accountable for their omissions. Directing patients to selected websites is but a clever ruse to try to avoid any legal responsibility for rubbish all the while still petitioning for your “care”.
In my humble opinion, the obvious answer would be to tell the truth about hysterectomy, castration, uterine artery embolization, tube tying, and all the other host of ever profitable procedures reserved for the female gender. Are not these institutions and their staff in our employ supposedly for our benefit? What right have they to parade as experts all the while shirking their sworn duties in deference to their insidious, carefully guarded
conflict of interests?
As citizens, as taxpayers, as patients, we deserve to be told the whole truth…as it is detailed in vast amounts of ancient to present day medical literature … What justifies they’re taking our tax dollars and then palming patients’ educational needs off? Shame on them!
To me, truly informed consent is what is ethically required of the medical profession and it most definitely should be legally required as well! HERS has done their homework for them, they need but avail themselves-and those in their care- of it!!
Simply put, when women are not given truly informed consent, medical advocacy becomes medical assault…and women have been victimized and then abandoned by these so called “specialists” for far too long. I applaud HERS for all that they’ve said and wish only that I could have heard it sooner.
Welcome Emory University of Atlanta, Georgia. You are about to be educated by Hysterectomized and Castrated women from across the United States and even abroad.
You are supposed to be teaching women about the after-effects of this surgery, but you are going to have a lesson in female anatomy and what this surgery does to women, their husbands and their family.
Yet another clinic/hospital and university who is deceiving women into this very profitable and unnecessary surgery. The lies and mis-information you are providing women is so deceitful. Yes, it is so obvious that your intention is to lie and deceive women.
I was deceived and lied to all because of money. I had a pea-sized fibroid which could have been removed by a myomectomy, but no, Dr. Gundersen of Gundersen Clinic in LaCrosse, Wiscosin, the last enabler, took it upon himself to go in and remove my sex organs (the uterus, ovaries and cervix). I was not informed of the after-effects, only that I would feel better than before my surgery AND, SEX would better. I never had any problems with the fibroid, but once seen by Dr. Gundersen, I was made to feel like I was dying or would end up with cancer. I only went to see him for hot flashes (which by the way, never improved after the surgery).
Please listen to the women who will be writing on this blog. Do not listen to your doctor even if you trust him. Watch the ‘DVD’ female anatomy’ then decide if you want to be castrated and end up with a life of problems that will never go away but only gets worse.
It is very important for all women to read what the HERS Foundation has uncovered regarding these hospital advertising websites, the latest being Emory University Hospital. They are set up to deceive women so that their gynecologists can perform unnecessary surgery for profit. Deception and misinformation has worked well for these doctors and hospitals to pull in a huge profit and damage over 600,000 women per year, every year. To make it sound like there is safety in numbers so they can perform more unnecessary surgeries is criminal. The fact that doctors have removed the sex organs of over 1/3 of women in the United States is astronomical and a tragic and horrific crime. That has to be one of the highest statistics of all time (1/3rd of women in the U.S.). Women who still have their female organs need to know that they are being targeted by gynecologists and hospitals for profit. I would have never believed this a couple years ago until it happened to me when I went into the emergency room with lower abdominal pain. All I needed was a minor surgery to remove an ovarian cyst, but instead the doctor lied to me, deceived me and falsified my consent form and amputated my healthy uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and ovaries with no valid medical basis. I didn’t know that I was a sitting duck for an unnecessary surgery. I didn’t know that this type of crime goes on unchecked in the United States. I wish I would have known because I would have fled the hospital and I would probably be intact and healthy today. The HERS Foundation is the only organization who is bringing out the truth about these hospitals, doctors and websites. Every woman needs to know the truth so that she can protect herself from this indiscriminate barbaric surgery for profit.