At the ripe young age of 31, my OB/GYN has offered me a hysterectomy (just the uterus, not the ovaries-don't know the term for that) and I am fighting with
myself about it. Every month during my period, I cry and moan and feel like I'm dying, I want the hysterectomy RIGHT NOW! but then my period passes and my
brain tells me it wasn't all THAT bad and that I can live with it-that a hyster is too drastic for my age.
Alright, my (not so) brief history here, ladies!
I have 3 kids and I had increasingly worse hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) with each pregnancy. In between my second and third child, I had a partial molar pregnancy, had a D&C, and spent the next 6 months having weekly blood tests to screen for possible cancer from the molar pg. With my third child, the HG was so bad that I went into labor 23 pounds lighter than my starting weight. My OB told me that another pregnancy may well kill me. So I had my tubes tied the day my third child was born.
From that point on, I had horrid periods. I'd never had much of a problem with cramping, nothing that a few tylenol couldn't fix. I'd always had heavy bleeding, though. I remember being in high school and having a few girlfriends make fun of me for having to use super plus tampons when they were using the slim ones. HA! A slim tampon would last me maybe 10 minutes! lol.
But, after I had my tubes tied, it got really bad. Crippling cramps would put me in bed for a day or two of each cycle. At one point I told my husband that they were on par with end-stage labor cramping. It gets that bad. And there are a few days of each period that I go through a tampon and a full size pad each hour. Not to mention that my periods are now lasting about 10 days.
So, I had my tubes tied in May of 2005. In August of 2007 I was in the ER for testing of a neurological condition and they ran a standard panel, including pregnancy. It came back positive for pregnancy. I became the little teaching tool of the ER that night, with nurses popping their heads in to say "Are you the one?!" Nice.
I actually miscarried that baby 3 days later and had my tubes tied again in November of 2007. While having that done, my doctor took pictures and you could see where a tube had grown back together. She removed both tubes. She also noticed that my uterine wall was very thick.
A few months later, I went back to her again, complaining of these horrible periods. She had an internal u/s done that showed very thick uterine walls (3 days after the end of a period) as well as polyps on my cervix-although I've since found out that cervical polyps aren't really any problem.
At my next appointment, my doctor said she thinks I may have adenomyosis-where the uterine lining grows into the muscle. This can only be confirmed by a dissection of the uterus after having it removed but, she is sticking by her theory.
She said I could try the pill or an IUD but that she does not really want me to do either due to a mood disorder I have. So she offered the hysterectomy.
I went through several months of getting my cardio-clearance, which included an angiogram before they would give me clearance. After that was done, I had a few pretty ok months with my period so I kind of dropped the whole hyster decision. However, now those long, painful periods are back full force. Two days ago I walked my kids half a block to their school bus stop and I had to lean on a sign post to wait for the bus so my legs wouldn't give out. These periods leave me with no energy and the level of pain itself wipes me out.
My problem here is, I'm 31 years old. I'm young. I feel like going for the hyster is blowing this way out of proportion. It would mean my husband had to take a week or so off work, that I couldn't care well for my kids while I'm recovering. And, I feel like it's a surgery that is for women older than me.
Any and all advice/suggestions are welcome. I'm just not sure where to go from here.
**Sorry for typing a book!**
Ruth
Alright, my (not so) brief history here, ladies!
I have 3 kids and I had increasingly worse hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) with each pregnancy. In between my second and third child, I had a partial molar pregnancy, had a D&C, and spent the next 6 months having weekly blood tests to screen for possible cancer from the molar pg. With my third child, the HG was so bad that I went into labor 23 pounds lighter than my starting weight. My OB told me that another pregnancy may well kill me. So I had my tubes tied the day my third child was born.
From that point on, I had horrid periods. I'd never had much of a problem with cramping, nothing that a few tylenol couldn't fix. I'd always had heavy bleeding, though. I remember being in high school and having a few girlfriends make fun of me for having to use super plus tampons when they were using the slim ones. HA! A slim tampon would last me maybe 10 minutes! lol.
But, after I had my tubes tied, it got really bad. Crippling cramps would put me in bed for a day or two of each cycle. At one point I told my husband that they were on par with end-stage labor cramping. It gets that bad. And there are a few days of each period that I go through a tampon and a full size pad each hour. Not to mention that my periods are now lasting about 10 days.
So, I had my tubes tied in May of 2005. In August of 2007 I was in the ER for testing of a neurological condition and they ran a standard panel, including pregnancy. It came back positive for pregnancy. I became the little teaching tool of the ER that night, with nurses popping their heads in to say "Are you the one?!" Nice.
I actually miscarried that baby 3 days later and had my tubes tied again in November of 2007. While having that done, my doctor took pictures and you could see where a tube had grown back together. She removed both tubes. She also noticed that my uterine wall was very thick.
A few months later, I went back to her again, complaining of these horrible periods. She had an internal u/s done that showed very thick uterine walls (3 days after the end of a period) as well as polyps on my cervix-although I've since found out that cervical polyps aren't really any problem.
At my next appointment, my doctor said she thinks I may have adenomyosis-where the uterine lining grows into the muscle. This can only be confirmed by a dissection of the uterus after having it removed but, she is sticking by her theory.
She said I could try the pill or an IUD but that she does not really want me to do either due to a mood disorder I have. So she offered the hysterectomy.
I went through several months of getting my cardio-clearance, which included an angiogram before they would give me clearance. After that was done, I had a few pretty ok months with my period so I kind of dropped the whole hyster decision. However, now those long, painful periods are back full force. Two days ago I walked my kids half a block to their school bus stop and I had to lean on a sign post to wait for the bus so my legs wouldn't give out. These periods leave me with no energy and the level of pain itself wipes me out.
My problem here is, I'm 31 years old. I'm young. I feel like going for the hyster is blowing this way out of proportion. It would mean my husband had to take a week or so off work, that I couldn't care well for my kids while I'm recovering. And, I feel like it's a surgery that is for women older than me.
Any and all advice/suggestions are welcome. I'm just not sure where to go from here.
**Sorry for typing a book!**
Ruth
