How to help friend - any ideas?

If having your ovaries would save you the complete hormonal upheaval
that goes with removing them, why would they ever remove them? My MIL
had a hysterectomy after DH was born (she was only 27) and she went
through menopause afterward and she said it was horrible. Couldn't they
just remove what they absolutely HAVE to remove and leave everything
else alone? She had this operation 34 years ago so perhaps they didn't
know any better? Just wondering.

Wendy

Wendy wrote:

If having your ovaries would save you the complete hormonal upheaval
that goes with removing them, why would they ever remove them? My MIL
had a hysterectomy after DH was born (she was only 27) and she went
through menopause afterward and she said it was horrible. Couldn't they
just remove what they absolutely HAVE to remove and leave everything
else alone? She had this operation 34 years ago so perhaps they didn't
know any better? Just wondering.

It depends on the situation. For some illnesses, the ovaries (one or
both) can be left in. Other times, everything has to go.

In message , Wendy
writes
If having your ovaries would save you the complete hormonal upheaval
that goes with removing them, why would they ever remove them? My MIL
had a hysterectomy after DH was born (she was only 27) and she went
through menopause afterward and she said it was horrible. Couldn't they
just remove what they absolutely HAVE to remove and leave everything
else alone? She had this operation 34 years ago so perhaps they didn't
know any better? Just wondering.

For one thing, it depends on what the original reason was for the
hysterectomy - in some cases of cancer or infection, they'd have to do
more extensive surgery. For another, ovarian cancer is a killer, and if
a woman is close to menopause anyway or if there's a high familial risk
of ovarian cancer, she might, herself, prefer to have the ovaries
removed to eliminate any cancer risk in the future. After all,
everybody goes through menopause eventually, so leaving the ovaries in
won't prevent it (although it's likely to be gentler if it happens
naturally). Also, HRT is now a lot better than it probably was in your
MIL's day.

That said, I think you're probably right about the reason in your MIL's
case. These days, I can't imagine any obstetrician wanting to remove
ovaries from a 27-year-old unless there was some really unavoidable
reason. To go back to the OP, it's also highly unlikely that this
friend's ovaries would have been removed. But just having a
hysterectomy can sometimes trigger a menopause earlier than would
otherwise have been the case - not even necessarily right after the
surgery, but maybe some years later. I wouldn't go into that when
talking to her, though. :-(


All the best,

Sarah

--
"I once requested an urgent admission for a homeopath who had become depressed
and taken a massive underdose" - Phil Peverley

My MIL had a hysterectomy because she was losing a lot of blood after
having DH by c-sec.

Wendy

(Wendy) wrote in message ...
If having your ovaries would save you the complete hormonal upheaval
that goes with removing them, why would they ever remove them? My MIL
had a hysterectomy after DH was born (she was only 27) and she went
through menopause afterward and she said it was horrible. Couldn't they
just remove what they absolutely HAVE to remove and leave everything
else alone? She had this operation 34 years ago so perhaps they didn't
know any better? Just wondering.

Wendy

I guess it depends on why she had the hysterectomy (cancer, infection
etc). Even if they left one ovary in she could have avoided menopause.
My mum had a hysterectomy in her early thirties but she kept one
ovary. Then went into menopause in her 50s.

Elle

Wendy wrote:
My MIL had a hysterectomy because she was losing a lot of blood after
having DH by c-sec.

Wendy

I think that is why my friend had one. I know she needed 8 units of blood
during the op, and had to have another 2 a week later.

Cathy

This must be very hard for your friend. I have only talked with my
MIL a few times about her hysterectomy and it sounds like it was a very
traumatic experience for her.

Wendy

I'm not understanding why the assumption she's upset about this. You said
they were only having 2 children, and that's what they have right? Had I
needed a hysterectomy after my 4th c-section, as long as I kept my ovaries
for the hormones, I wouldn't have minded.

If she's that good a friend, ask her about it.

Sophie
mom of 4

Sophie wrote:

I'm not understanding why the assumption she's upset about this. You said
they were only having 2 children, and that's what they have right? Had I
needed a hysterectomy after my 4th c-section, as long as I kept my ovaries
for the hormones, I wouldn't have minded.

If she's that good a friend, ask her about it.

Sophie
mom of 4



Maybe it's just because a hysterectomy itself is traumatic. All the
women I know who have had one were done having kids, and they all found
it fairly traumatic (because it was so much more painful than they
expected). My aunt just had one done last year, and even though she was
begging for it (problems with endo that she just couldn't take anymore),
she was still shocked after it was done. I asked her which was worse, a
hysterectomy or a c-section (she's now had both). She laughed and said
"uh, hysterectomy, for sure!!!!!!" (I honestly didn't know because I
figured that an emergency c-section like hers could quite possibly have
ranked up pretty high on the pain-o-meter ;-), especially since she also
developed a pretty bad infection afterwards)

Maybe it's just because a hysterectomy itself is traumatic. All the
women I know who have had one were done having kids, and they all found
it fairly traumatic (because it was so much more painful than they
expected). My aunt just had one done last year, and even though she was
begging for it (problems with endo that she just couldn't take anymore),
she was still shocked after it was done. I asked her which was worse, a
hysterectomy or a c-section (she's now had both). She laughed and said
"uh, hysterectomy, for sure!!!!!!" (I honestly didn't know because I
figured that an emergency c-section like hers could quite possibly have
ranked up pretty high on the pain-o-meter ;-), especially since she also
developed a pretty bad infection afterwards)

Interesting. I wouldn't have thought a hysterectomy would have been any more
painful than a c-section.