I Think I Need A Hysterectomy, But I am So Close To Menopause... What do I do?
I want to talk to women who are debating a hysterectomy but are very close to menopause. There are many reasons why women have heavy bleeding that is really affecting the quality of life. The top three that come to mind are fibroids, endometriosis and adenomyosis, which is essentially endometriosis gone rogue.
Now, there are women who are suffering from these causes but are very close to menopause. So they may be 50 or 51, but they're still getting their periods and they're thinking, “man, if I was only in menopause, at least the hormones would go down and I would not be suffering from these issues anymore.” But the thing is, we don't know when they're going to reach menopause.
The average age of menopause is 52, but there are certainly women who are still bleeding at 54, 55, and 56. So women at the cusp of this time frame, where they're right around menopause, have a very difficult time making the decision about whether to pursue a hysterectomy.
So here are some of my thoughts, my top three thoughts on this.
Are your symptoms something you can continue to live with? Some women say these symptoms of bleeding and fatigue are taking over their life. They can't get anything done. They're in bed wearing diapers during their period, and they can't go on trips, and it's really becoming a big issue for their quality of life. Or are you somebody who is like, “well, yeah, it's heavy, but it's three days and I can get over it.” So think about how badly it's affecting your quality of life.
What is your tolerance for surgery? Are you somebody who is healthy and thinks you can pretty much bounce back from surgery quickly? You've got the time, you can take the time off of work, you have the family support, etc?
Or are you somebody who has your own business and it's very difficult to even consider taking six weeks off or eight weeks off, or you don't think you have the support or you have multiple medical problems and surgery is not going to be easy for you. So which one of these patients are you? So that's the second thing to consider.
Whatever you do, make sure you have a great team supporting you. Make sure you are seeing a gynecologist who is going to give you all of the medical options as well as the surgical options and the options to do nothing and just see how your symptoms go and how you want to handle it.
So these are the top three things that I would consider.
Your tolerance for the symptoms and how they affect your quality of life.
Your tolerance for the surgery.
Having a great gynecologist on your side as you navigate this decision.
So if you are in California and you're looking for a compassionate gynecologist who can walk you through all the options and/or perform your hysterectomy, call my office 925-744-7473..!
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