My hysterectomy journey part ii

If you haven’t yet, please read about MY HYSTERECTOMY JOURNEY PART I here,

After a month and a half of mixed emotions: anticipation of having no more pain, worry that there is something going on inside me that I have no idea about, fear about having even a routine surgery, shame about the inconvenience my having a surgery places on those around me, and even relief, to some extent, that I will no longer have to worry about uterine or cervical cancer when it is all over, I finally had my pre-op appointment with my gynecologist.

Lucky for me, my doctor is someone that I know on more of a personal level, just because she was a friend of some friends of mine, so I feel comfortable talking to her about all of my concerns, even though my anxiety makes me say I have no questions, when really I have a million.

She reassured me that a hysterectomy is the best possible solution for the pain that I am having, which is also something that is normal after a person has had a uterine ablation. It has been over 5 years since the procedure, which burns out the uterine lining, was performed, and she told me that it is generally 8 years post-ablation that women start to bleed again. In my situation, since I was still not having periods, she believes that I have been bleeding inside, it just hasn’t been coming out, so instead is forming fibroids and causing me pain. While I wish I had understood that this was going to happen eventually when I first had the choice between an ablation and a hysterectomy, it makes sense to me that this is the natural progression of things.

I was offered a chance to keep both of my ovaries, which surprised me. I asked about my left ovary, as I was told it had a mass and I also believe that is the root cause of my pain, and she said that the mass was just a cyst that never went away, and that I can have it removed if I choose to. Because I know that my right ovary will compensate for the hormones, I chose to have it removed. I definitely feel like keeping it will only make the problems worse.

After my appointment, I definitely feel a lot more confident about having the surgery. My doctor also told me that she has performed many of these surgeries, and that every person has been thankful that they did it and have had no regrets. My sister, who had one last year, also told me she had no regrets, so I am feeling much better.

I was also lucky to be able to schedule it for after several things I have going on, so I don’t feel like I am going to miss out during my recovery.

My next post on this subject, unless something comes up beforehand, will be post surgery! Wish me luck and I will keep you updated on the procedure and how I am feeling. Follow Being Grown Up on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest and search Being Grown Up on your favorite podcast provider or at Anchor.fm/kim-stamler. Thanks for listening to my thoughts during this time and if you have any questions or advice, please let me know in the comments. Sign up for emails on my home page! Best wishes XOXO