Hi Claire
I'm Mel - I live next door to you in East Sus***. My heart goes out to
you, having read your letter, I will try and give you some pragmatic
advice. In your position I would feel very much the same. I am not a
doctor or any sort of medical expert, but from my own experience and
from what you say, you have not been treated at all well.
In my books having a hysterectomy at your age is something that you
need to be very sure of as once it is done there is no going back. You
are very young for such an operation and you need to be sure you have
answers to the use of long-term HRT and whether you are emotionally
ready to have a hysterectomy. There are medical advances all the time
and if you are having this through the NHS, it is possible that there
are treatments that they do not carry out now that will be around in a
few years time.
My advice would be not to undergo the operation until you feel that you
are being treated properly and are confident that you are ready to live
after the operation with no regrets. I am more than aware of the
problems with the NHS and that it is very difficult to get that sup****t
due to the lack of time doctors can have with their patients. Have you
considered back tracking a little? For a start you might want to
consider going back to your GP and explaining to them what is going on
and that you are not getting the professional advice and sup****t from
the hospital? If your doctor is sympathetic, book a double appointment
and ask them to explain more about your condition and what treatments
are available. You are also entitled to a second opinion both at your
GP's surgery and at the hospital, particularly if you have found the
consultant off-hand. Another option I can suggest is that you contact
NHS Direct. They have nurses there who can advise you about your
condition and what the treatments available are.
I have endo, and found it helped me to find out about the types of
treatment available so that I was sure in my own mind that I was going
down the right route for me. The best web site I found was one run by
the Lancet - the UK medical journal - as they are the major medical
organisation in the UK, I think you can be pretty sure that the
information there is correct. You can find the site at:
http://www.besttreatments.co.uk/btuk/home.jsp
There is also the NHS direct web site too http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/
Claire, I hope that you do find a way forward. You are not alone, and
there are plenty of us who are moved by your email and can empathise
with what you are going through. If nothing else please don't be
pressurised into an operation you are not too sure about - you do have
the right to say that you want to stop and not proceed until you are
fully sure of what you are letting yourself in for.
If I can be of more sup****t, then do contact me.
Best wishes
Mel
Claire wrote:
> Hi, I'm new here, and having a pretty tough time at the moment. I was
> diagnosed with cysts last December, it took til May to see a
> consultant, then was booked for a lap. That never happened, and I am
> now booked for total hysterectomy in less than 3 weeks time. I'll lose
> both ovaries as well as my womb and cervix, and I'm terrified! Every
> time I ask someone for help or advice at the hospital I get told to
> wait til I see the next person, and no-one is able to tell me anything!
> I need to know if anyone has had this, what the effects of HRT are
> likely to be ( I'm 31), how long I'll be off work (am a teacher) and
> any advice on a quick recovery, natural remedies etc. Please help, I
> feel really alone, no-one around me seems to be hat bothered about it,
> and I feel I haven't got anyone to turn to . Thanks for listening,
> Claire, Kent
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