August 1, 2005

Sometimes we make decisions based on fear. Sometimes well founded fears and sometimes it's an emotional reaction to an unlikely event.

You know the anectdotes, someone has a family member killed in an airplane crash and then never fly until one day they have to and that plane crashes. In fact, many people fear flying because of the wide coverage air crashes get. But driving is a far greater threat to our lives.

Cause of Death.................Lifetime Odds

Heart Disease.........................1-in-5
Cancer................................1-in-7
Stroke................................1-in-23
Accidental Injury.....................1-in-36
Motor Vehicle Accident*...............1-in-100
Intentional Self-harm (suicide).......1-in-121
Falling Down..........................1-in-246
Assault by Firearm....................1-in-325
Fire or Smoke.........................1-in-1,116
Natural Forces........................1-in-3,357
(heat, cold, storms, quakes, etc.)
Electrocution*........................1-in-5,000
Drowning..............................1-in-8,942
Air Travel Accident*..................1-in-20,000
Legal Execution.......................1-in-58,618
Snake, Bee or other Venomous Bite or
Sting*................................1-in-100,000
Dog Attack............................1-in-147,717
Asteroid Impact*......................1-in-200,000**
Tsunami*..............................1-in-500,000
Fireworks Discharge...................1-in-615,488
this list was copied from here

It's easy to look at this list and think that cancer is the thing to worry about. But it's also important to look at all the different kinds of cancer there are. Nearly thirty percent of all cancer deaths are from lung cancer, which is highly preventable.

This long preamble is because the results of another study were announced today that show a definite increase in mortality for women who have their ovaries removed without a clear cancer risk.

Please go read this article if you are considering oophorectomy with a hysterectomy.

It's hard to think of keeping ovaries when people refer to them as "ticking time bombs" when they're not. They're little life vests protecting us from the ravages of time. They keep us young and supple, with keen minds and sassy dispositions. They're heart boosters and bone keepers. I love my ovaries and I wouldn't give them up unless I absolutely had to. They've treated me well, and I hope that I never have to make that decision. For me, there was no decision about keeping them. They're my best buddies.

Posted by Elizabeth M. at 7:55 PM

August 5, 2005

Yes, last year at this hour I was sitting in my hospital room with a very dry mouth and sore throat. Oh, and my uterus was gone.

Now I'm sitting in my living room getting ready to go to a party at a friend's house.

Things have changed since the hysterectomy, things like my bathroom habits and my purchasing decisions. I don't need to plan my life around being able to go to the bathroom once every two hours. I buy light colored clothes and white underwear now. I don't have to worry about running out of tampons and pads and I'm so grateful that in the hottest months of the year I don't have to wear shorts to bed during my period in case I have an accident.

Some things haven't changed. I weight virtually the same (I might actually have more muscle mass now and less fat). My clothes still fit. My husband and I still make love regularly, I still climax, he's still satisfied. My cholesterol is good, my resting heart rate was 61 with my iron levels back at normal. I can donate blood again should I choose.

Last month I didn't have much of a period at all - a little spotting for a day or so and nothing else. I think I'm ovulating at the moment, so we'll see in two weeks if this is the shape of things to come.

I have an appointment with my gyno in a couple of weeks - my yearly exam. I plan on that being unremarkable. The only thing I want to discuss with her is the lack of lubrication for intercourse (I'm not "dry", just not fully lubricated).

I've also started amping up my exercise level. I'm hoping to do the Los Angeles Marathon next spring. My hope is that bronchitis won't strike me down in February like it usually does. Here's to good health.

Posted by Elizabeth M. at 7:05 PM

August 9, 2005

There are a couple of different kinds of hysterectomies, and they're commonly confused:

First is a total hysterectomy where they take both the uterus and the cervix.

Second is a subtotal or supracervical, which leaves the cervix in place.

Now, doctors seem keen to take out other stuff while they're in there. Things like the ovaries and appendix. This is something I just can't fathom. There is a very strong history of doctors being told to "first do no harm." To regard a healthy gland such as the ovaries as something to be discarded in an otherwise healthy woman is just malicious.

I'm not sure where doctors got it into their head to remove healthy ovaries. I've started looking around and there's really no studies to back it up. Statistics say that there will be less ovarian cancer, but that's about it. I mean, we could remove my thyroid to get rid of my already low risk of getting thyroid cancer and put me on thyroid hormones for the rest of my life, but why would we? They don't remove a man's testicles when they do prostate operations.

Why? What led them to believe that this was a good idea?

So, removing the uterus is a hysterectomy. The press gets this confused a lot because doctors seem confused. They say that hysterectomy causes this or that, but in reality it's removing the ovaries in most cases.

Removing the ovaries is called either oophorectomy or castration. That's right, removing the gonads in the either sex is castration. I bet if you went to the doctor and he said he'd like to castrate you while he's there in your abdomen you'd decline his kind offer.

It's time for women to stop having to defend their ovaries - when a woman goes to the doctor for a hysterectomy she's asked if she wants her ovaries taken out, or a doctor checks that she is, and if she doesn't say anything there they go.

Here's today's article about the recent study that supports that ovaries should be conserved.

Posted by Elizabeth M. at 6:57 PM | Comments (3)

August 21, 2005

I'm having a weird cycle this month. Last month I barely bled during my period, yet this month my light bleeding has been going on for almost a week.

I can't really blame my doctor for this, I think there's just something weird about me.

I remember when I was 19 I had a couple of bad pap smears and had to have a colposcopy (a biopsy where they take a little core sample of the cervix). Well, what they found were not cancer cells or hyperplasia, it was just endometrial tissue. It turns out that my endometrium extended just slightly from entrance of the cervix. In most women the endometrium does not extend outside the uterus. In others it does, and can also be found other places outside the uterus, like within the abdomen. This condition is endometriosis.

It wasn't until this week that I remember that my doctor at that time was concerned that I had endometriosis. I had none of the other symptoms (though I went on birth control pills at that time, so perhaps that helped), so I was just told to keep up with the regular paps. I guess the pill helped the endometrium on my cervix to retreat because no other doctor has ever mentioned it again and I never developed any other symptoms and that pathology didn't have any indications.

The result of this is merely that I have a lot more bleeding than a woman without a uterus should. I have an appointment this week, so we'll see how that goes. I don't expect anything to come of it.

Frankly, I still find myself relieved each month when I bleed because it means one more month of my natural hormones. I will be elated should I maintain these cycles until I'm fifty.

Posted by Elizabeth M. at 11:06 PM

August 23, 2005

Today I had my yearly exam.

Since I'm only 39, I didn't need to go for a mammogram. There is no history of any cancers in my family (except for a few skin cancers that were caught very early) so I'm not at very high risk.

Since my paps have been normal and I was HPV negative, it seems that I may not need paps every year either, but since it was so close to my surgery recovery, I took the opportunity.

Mostly I talked to her about my vagina, how I've been dry since about 8 weeks after the surgery. This puzzled her, because the tissues looked plump and healthy and my cycles are perfectly normal (including the continued cyclical light bleeding). Obviously I'm not totally lacking in moisture, just not as much as I used to have (and I still get my ovulation mucous). She wondered what was different, and the only thing I could point to was the metrogel/diflucan treatment last November for that light vaginosis/yeast infection.

She ran some tests, including a very harsh pap (she made me bleed, but she's not sure if it was the cervix itself or if I have endometrial tissue on the cervical opening that bleeds because I'm still on the end of my cycle) and she'll call me next week.

She asked if there was any chance I had clamydia or ghonorrhea - I can't see how, since I've been in the same (faithful) relationship for 14 years. If I do, I've had it for so long, there'd probably have been some other symptoms ... I can't even entertain that thought.

Well, I'll see how the results come out next week. She also gave me a prescription for Vagifem (a vaginal estrogen) that I'll hold onto until we get the results. If I've got some sort of infection, we'll go from there. If not, we'll try a little estrogen boost just to the vaginal tissues to see if that helps.

Posted by Elizabeth M. at 7:30 PM

August 29, 2005

You know how it is, you go to the doctor with something on your mind, even though it's a regular check up and then you totally forget to mention it.

I've had trouble with my incision. It's healed over rather nicely, but there are a couple of spots where my pubic hair is either ingrown or sewn into the incision. There's one little spot at the very left side that got infected earlier this year. Now it's at it again. It's a little swollen right now and there was a bump so I just kind of washed it vigorously yesterday and it burst and bled a little. I can't tell if there's a hair in there or an undissolved stitch.

I should have had the doctor look at it when I was there last week.

Anyway, I'll put some neosporin on it and keep an eye on it.

Posted by Elizabeth M. at 7:24 PM

August 30, 2005

Here we go again.

I got a call from my doctor's office this morning before I headed to work. The nurse told me that my test results came back that I have a yeast infection.

Yes, another yeast infection.

I've only had three others in my life. Once when I had just moved back east and there was an unreasonably humid heatwave going on. I was not used to this and walked around too much wearing tights and gave myself a yeast infection. That was the typical yeast infection, it smelled and had that awful cottage cheese discharge and you can be sure I got myself to the doctor as soon as possible.

The other time was after being treated for a bad bout of bronchitis I ended up with some bacterial vaginosis. And then the treatment for that gave me a yeast infection.

Well, then the third, was after surgery. Here it is, less than a year later and I've got another one. The curious thing about it is that these past two infections have been asymptomatic. Well, last year it caused some burning after intercourse. Now, I have no odor, no discharge and no burning. Makes me wonder.

So, the doctor's office suggested the 7 day monostat treatment (not the 3 day, I'm not sure why), so I'll start that tomorrow after my husband and I have a little fun tonight.

I'll talk to the doctor next week after the holiday weekend about the results of the pap and my other issues.

Posted by Elizabeth M. at 8:50 PM