I responded to a request this morning from a journalist asking to hear from women who have had a hysterectomy. I had one, so I thought I’d reply:
I had been an athletic and physically fit person all my life, with the health of a person in their early 20’s.
I tried for 6 years to avoid having a hysterectomy using both alternative and traditional western approaches : stuck with acupuncture needles, ate raw foods, meditated, took drugs, etc.
In 2005, I gave up and had the operation, as I could no longer put up with the lifestyle impositions any more.
It was the best decision I ever made. I’m back to full health and loving it.
Do I wish I had had the operation earlier?
Hell, no! I’m glad I tried all the alternative approaches first just to make sure I wasn’t taking the easy way out. Plus, what I learned about myself (and my mortality) during those six years I wouldn’t trade for anything.
Would I counsel someone to have or not have the operation?
A hysterectomy is a very personal decision each woman has to make on her own. There are many issues that go into making the decision, and some of those are only known to the woman herself. A woman must feel in her heart the rightness of a hysterectomy before she undergoes the procedure, and not let anyone talk her into (or out of) it.
[by the way, visit http://www.hystersisters.com. They were a great source of information, comfort and assistance for me during this period of my life.]
