Hysterectomy thoughts and Changing the medical world's view

Submitted by csf on May 4, 2011 - 12:00pm
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I am not saying I agree or disagree with the following statement but thought it important to throw it into general discussion.

With a simple nod of her head to my statement that the majority, if not all hysterecomties fail and/or lead to further operations, my doctor agreed.

She said THE reason for it, though, she believed strongly, was because "general practitioners," and gynecologists and obstetricians are saying they can do these operations. She said it is her strong belief they have no business performing such operations as hysterectomies, mesh, etc.

She said she had to do those operations twice in her residency. Had to. But felt after that that who is she to be performing such a delicate and important surgery on people. So she said she only recommends women to surgeons who have done these operations SUCCESSFULLY and MANY times.

I told her I understood her point. But I countered that I felt nonetheless, those operations probably hold FOR A WHILE. And that my basic objection is the removal at all. (if there were a true way to hold the organs in place, without any problems, I would not be advocating against it).

Anyway, just wanted to mention my doctor's point that there are many, many gynecologists performing these operations and that she wishes women knew not to let them do it.

(Remember, this was my initial visit. And that after this conversation I went into talk of WholeWoman and that she LISTENED and she wrote down the Web site. She is a wonderful person and I do believe she is a doctor who would understand, and even possibly start talking about it with women).

csf

May 4, 2011 - 12:03pm

In other words, she was saying she feels strongly that any hysterectomy, etc, done by a gyno/obstetrician/general practicioner is doomed to fail. And that yes, indeed there are very, very high numbers of women undergoing these operations with not good outcomes, mesh problems, etc. So at least, she's one doctor who acknowledges things are going wrong because of the medical community, for many, many women.

csf

May 4, 2011 - 12:04pm

In other words, she was saying she feels strongly that any hysterectomy, etc, done by a gyno/obstetrician/general practicioner is doomed to fail. And that yes, indeed there are very, very high numbers of women undergoing these operations with not good outcomes, mesh problems, etc. So at least, she's one doctor who acknowledges things are going wrong because of the medical community, for many, many women.

alemama

May 4, 2011 - 12:16pm

When I first discovered my prolapse one of the things I did was contact the research dpt at the University in the town where I live. I knew that women who were about 20 weeks pregnant did not have uterine prolapse- that the size of the uterus held it in place at that time. I asked if they had ever considered 'filling' the uterus up with something to hold it in place. They had. They had tried filling it with saline solution. The person I talked to said it worked but caused pain and didn't last.
I have often wondered if women with large fibroids do not experience uterine prolapse.

Christine

May 4, 2011 - 12:31pm

It is a very old argument that the skill of the surgeon makes all the difference in the success of these operations (of course that would be true in ANY skilled trade). The literature belies such reasoning. Prolapse surgery is based on fundamental anatomical misconception.

The best chance prolapse surgery would have of working would be to first, perform it in a jackknife position like they do male pelvic surgery. In this way the pelvic interior is falling into its natural alignment. Second, that any suturing would hold the organs toward the abdominal wall instead of causing forces that draw the organs backward. Unfortunately, “ventrosuspensions” were some of the earliest surgical experiments and they come with their own set of risks and failures.

There is no surgical cure for prolapse.

MeMyselfAndI

May 5, 2011 - 7:50am

In this country - If you have cervical cancer they offer you a Hyster. What do they do in USA etc? Is there another way that if you did have it that you could get rid of the cancer and keep the womb or something?

Just wondering. It wouold be nice if there were another way for women who suffer from things like this but meaning they would not have cancer, but also would not have to lose parts of their body they could (possibly) keep?

Anyone?