Why Many Women Unnecessarily Get a Hysterectomy
Lack of understanding of noncancerous uterine fibroids can lead to surgery.
By Ruben Castaneda, Staff Writer |Jan. 18, 2018, at 11:19 a.m.
According to one study, more than 400,000 hysterectomies are performed annually in the United States. (Getty Images)
Kim Fenoglia didn’t know what to expect when she went to her doctor to deal with her painful and unusually heavy bleeding during menstruation. An ultrasound revealed that small uterine fibroids, noncancerous growths, were the cause of her discomfort. Her physician prescribed a hormone, which alleviated Fenoglia’s symptoms for a couple of years.
But the pain returned, worse than before. So did the bleeding during menstruation; it was so heavy that some days Fenoglia had to run to the bathroom every 10 minutes to change feminine products. It got to the point that Fenoglia was bleeding three out of every four weeks, and she became anemic. Fenoglia’s gynecologist recommended a hysterectomy – surgery to remove her uterus. She thought that option was drastic, given that it would entail weeks and maybe months of potentially painful recuperation, and risks of complications like early menopause, the need for hormone replacement treatments and infection. So, she sought a second, third, fourth and fifth opinion. “It was really frustrating,†she says. “Everyone wanted to do a hysterectomy.â€
https://health.usnews.com/health-care/patient-advice/articles/2018-01-18/why-many-women-unnecessarily-get-a-hysterectomy
