Hysterectomy and UC

Sad to hear of your diagnosis...a good thing caught at stage 1.

I had total hysterectomy (bikini incision) at age 39...took 8+ weeks to feel normal. I was flaring mildly when I had the surgery...needless to say it was worse afterward and frustratingly uncomfortable. I went into immediate hot flashes...etc. i enjoyed the 5 days of Demerol, however.

I never regretted it for a second. Re UC...without up and down fluctuations of hormones, there is a plus regarding hormone influence of flares. I did have endometriosis...not all was removed, however, but it's never been an issue.
Timing of my diagnosis, meds and hysterectomy was 4.5 years...so as years went by, my flares improved. My med use of treating earlier symptoms and never being off meds and maybe in combo of hysterectomy was a plus...however, I still flare, albeit mild. Never needed to increase meds.

I've been on HRT...started with premarin for a few years and then onto estradot soy derived patches.

Hugs,
q

I understand.
Have the doctors agreed to your hope of having it all in one go?
Would hysterectomy be done laparoscopically?
q

Seems its a probable go, and I agree with recovery...youll have meds to deal with all issues. The first week would be the roughest...and laparoscopically, a faster healing because of no major incision. The gas that's put into the abdomen is definitely uncomfortable afterward.

q

Oh wow...didn't realise that the gas was such a serious issue. Sounds a perfect plan re vaginal removal. Were your niece's ovaries removed as well?

q

Sorry to read that you now have a breast cancer dilemma besides to deal with; UC alone is more than enough of a challenge. With any kind of malignancy, one has to address that part of the body first. I think your doctors should help you to decide whether or not lumpectomy is a viable option for you in Stage 1. I know 2 women who've had lumpectomies for small tumors; then 1 had conventional follow-up radiation 5 weekdays for 4 weeks, and the other got the so-called "boob-chute" radiation, in which only the lumpectomy breast is exposed to radiation-- far better as follow-up. You would have a "grace period" for lumpectomy incision to heal before starting radiation follow-up, if prescribed. *** IMO, I don't think it's a good idea to operate on the pelvic organs at the same time!!!!!! None of these procedures are a walk in the park. I say that having needed TAH a while back for endometrial malignancy (early stage), also knowing women who've had bikini incision or intra-vaginal hysterectomy. The intra-vaginal worked well for a 38 year-old whose problem was benign fibroids bleeding over many years; she was otherwise very healthy. Still, she needed a month to recuperate from the procedure. A very important consideration with hysterectomy is preserving normal bladder function. The surgeons will tell you that removing a uterus does not change the position of bladder or colon/rectum, whereas it can in reality affect the pelvic floor muscles (levator ani), very crucial to a female for staying continent with urine and bms! *** Read on your own about the surgeries involved on American Cancer Society Website and other reliable sources. You could also look up Songlady's posts here around 2017-18 or so when she mentioned getting lumpectomy + "boob-chute" radiation for early stage breast cancer, after needing colon surgery/J-pouch construction. *** Very best wishes for you to arrive at decisions that work most effectively in your situation! Please keep us updated as time permits. / Old Hat (40+ yrs with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)

Hi Old Hat,

Sorry for another note! But I'm just curious if the reason you don't recommend both surgeries at the same time is mostly the recovery? It was my surgeon who said many women get the ovaries removed and breast surgery at same time. My obgyn suggested thy hysterectomy since I have adenomyosis anyway. I've really been holding onto the possibility you'd could all be over by May and I'd be back to my normal life by then. But if I have 2 surgeries that puts me into end of summer, almost taking my entire year to deal with all this. I've had to put my life on hold the past 2 years, no travel and not seeing friends and family as much. The thought of another year of being in hold depresses me so much I'm even sure I could go through with this all.

MN Beach Gal, I would say don't let the surgeon rush you into anything because "many women also have their ovaries removed during breast surgery"! Alot of that double whammy stuff relates to women with hereditary breast cancer. In your case I'm trying to think of a process that gets you through bc treatment w/o causing a UC flare. *** Meanwhile, I just looked at the Susan Love Foundation Website to see what help it could give you while you wait for upcoming office consults at Mayo. (Dr. Susan Love is a pioneering breast cancer surgeon in CA who researched & developed many breast-conserving cancer treatments from the 1970s onward.) You could start on this website with the section "Breast Cancer Explained" because under that heading there's a section "Newly Diagnosed". *** A longtime best friend of mine got DXed with bc in early 2000s a few yrs after taking the since-discredited HRT drug Prempro. In hopes of helping her to cope I read Dr. Love's Breast Book, and found her attitude toward bc treatment realistic and comforting at the same time. My friend has done generally well over time and leads an active life with regular mammo check-ups. At 1 point a consulting MD offered her an oral trial drug that was supposed to decrease her chance of bc recurrence by 8%. She looked into its potential side effects and determined that their risk factor made the 8% decrease possibility not worth her while. *** From my own experience undergoing TAH surgery while managing to stay in UC remission, I found it most helpful to accept the absolutely necessary medical interventions but to question whatever might complicate my post-surgery recovery. In my case, it turned out to be the hospital's insistence that I had to self-inject an anti-clotting med daily for 4 weeks post-discharge. (On grounds that IBDers are more prone to blood-clotting post-surgery.) Well, every time the staff had injected me with that anti-clotting drug in hospital, I would gag & vomit within 10 minutes, even when my stomach only had water in it. Then as soon as I returned home, I phoned my gastro to ask whether I could omit using the anti-clotter. Gastro replied that I should be able to omit as long as I stayed up and moving about daily-- that was my essential way to avoid clotting. And it worked! / Old Hat (40+ yrs with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)