What would you do? [Female/Medical Info Within]
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[edit] Talked to my gyno today and we decided on trying an IUD, even though I am pretty much afraid of it. But she talked me through the process and she's confident I won't have problems with it. So I guess we'll see. Now I wait for a phone call from them to set up an appointment to have it put in. They're just waiting on seeing whether or not my insurance company will say ok or not.
So I have a choice to make and I'm not sure what to choose. (Info w/in spoiler because of possible eeeeeeew wtf factor.)
graphic info contained within
Some background: I have menhorragia (basically super heavy, long-lasting bleeding) and horrible cramps (which I can't remember the medical name of). It's gotten to the point where I've called off work, skipped activities with friends, and basically missed out on a lot of life while I'm busy being miserable ad in pain at home. At one point, I was changing tampons every hour on the hour. It's horrible. So I started taking birth control pills in the hopes that it would help. Long story short, after trying three types of pills, it didn't work. So now it's been a month since I've taken the pills and I'm having a horrible period again. But I realized something, another point in favor of the choice I need to make. These pills have been making me more depressed and moody, which I didn't realize until I stopped taking them. I feel so much better off the hormones, so I know now that hormone therapy will not be a choice for me again.
That brings me to my two choices.
Choice one is getting a combination of the NovaSure procedure (you can Google it) and a type of tubal ligation which involves putting a metal spring inside my fallopian tupes. NovaSure will burn the lining of my uterus away so that it will never come back and I will have no more periods. The tubal ligation will render me sterile, therefore eliminating the need for hormone pills as a birth control method. The major con to this option is the fact that it might not fully work. I would then have to go in for another procedure. The major pro is definitely the shorter recovery time.
Choice two is getting a complete hysterectomy. The major con for this is the fact that the recovery time is a minimum of 6 weeks. Granted, I have insurance at work where they will cover 1/2 my pay while I'm off for this, so I'd be okay financially, and my parents would help as well, if I needed it. The major pro is that it would all be done and over with and I wouldn't have to worry about anything 'down there' anymore.
I keep flip-flopping between the choices. I've narrowed it down to these two, out of all the other choices, because for various reasons, the other options don't work for me. I'm afraid of the pain on both of them though. I'm a big baby when it comes to pain. And I'm worried about the recovery time and missing work. The no-child thing is perfectly fine by me. I've never wanted children and I do not see myself magically wanting them in the future. I've know I didn't want to be a parent since I was a child myself. I've made an appointment with my gynocologist to talk about both options. I know my insurance covers both (at least for now). I'll talk to my boss (who is thankfully also a woman, and a really nice one at that) once I have more of a concrete idea of what I'm going to do - I'll need to give her time to find someone to temporarily cover me. I'm just kind of freaking out over everything this will mean for my life and I don't know if I'm ready for it, but I can't keep going on like I am. It's really becoming unbearable.
Long, disgusting story short, I need to choose between two gynocological procedures and I'm not sure which to choose: NovaSure + tubal ligation or complete hysterectomy. I know this isn't a medical advice superpower, lol, but I'm here a lot and I know there's a lot of different people here who might have a thing or two to say that may help me.
So. Have at it.
It's completely up to you, but I would go for the hysterectomy. The idea of having an organ inside me that's just sitting there not doing anything, damaged so much that it's not fulfilling its purpose, kinda skeeves me out. The recovery time does seem daunting, and extensively missing out on work always sucks, but once it's done it's done. Your employer will understand (that's good she's also a woman!) and will be happy for you, too, and also probably relieved that every month won't be hit-or-miss whether you'll call out or not!
You could also donate your uterus to science, right? That'd be kinda cool!
Also, if you've been living with this much pain for this long, surgery recovery will be like a piece of cake. You're a badass and never forget it!
Thanks for your reply. Now that I think about it, it kind of skeeves me out too, the idea of a random organ just kind of chillin' in my body. I wonder if I could donate my uterus...I'll have to ask my doctor about that. It's too bad I couldn't find a transwoman who could have it. I'd like to know it has a purpose other than causing me misery, lol.
I've been wanting to get a hysterectomy for a similar reason forever. I was told that because i haven't had kids, my insides might not be big enough for them to work around. Idk if that was just the doctor refusing to perform a hysterectomy on me bc of my age and lack of kids, but I would look into that and see if there are any complications around that. As for the other one, although there is a shorter healing time i feel like a lot of things could go wrong over time. if the spring falls out of place or if your body starts to heal around it that could cause some complications. it even may be possible the lining grows back? i don't know, just seems like something that would happen to me lol
Personally, if i could afford the time off, I would go with the hysterectomy.
also im not sure if uterus donations are really popular. bet it has lots of nutrients in it if you were to eat it though.... sorry i was just thinking about that one time Kim K pranked her family by cooking them a meal with her placenta in it lmfaoooo
Just be ready to face a lot of side effects when it comes to having an hysterectomy. I'd suggest you to Google if you haven't already. You will have to take hormonal therapy to replace what your uterus does in your body.
How old are you, if I may ask? The hysterectomy will cause instant menopause and this will have a large effect on your body, as has been mentioned above. For instance, your bone density will be affected. It may be like aging very fast, causing changes in your hair/skin thightness/etc (but you need to ask the doctor about the details). This is why you need to take hormones to compensate for this the rest of your life, probably. If you are young, that is a long time and the changes may be really big, but if you're close to menopause already it may feel more "natural". I think itś something to take into account when deciding.
Lisa
What I was going to say. I know two people that had hysterectomies. (One for medical reasons, one for emotional health reasons) and they both have to take hormones now, and it can really make your body chemistry go wild. She also got, ahem, 'excited' at uncomfortable times.