Hallo!

Gosh I had to log in to write this post as it has been so long! Oh well, here I am!

I’ve been away in England for a few weeks and now I am back and I’m going to have a hysterectomy next week. I thought that I might write a few posts on this as I do know a few people who may be doing the same thing at some point. I have read a few peoples experiences on the inter-webs and I found them super useful, so somebody may find this useful one day too!

I am weirdly pleased about it all really as I’m a little bit late to the party and should have possibly dealt with this a few years ago. Im having a hysterectomy with all of the bits removed. All of them – because they are tiresome. Sometimes people decide to keep an ovary or both and that works very well for them but for me its not the best. My ovaries are kind of like a really bad cafe where you keep getting the wrong order, or not enough and then you have to go home and eat cornflakes. Tiresome.

I have had a 3 year journey towards this point and I think many people have this perimenopausal stage. Some don’t. If you don’t I am super happy for you. I am! I also want to stab you with my fork. Hormones have never been something I excel at. I think I’ve told the story before about my first menstrual period… I had a massive faint in the bathroom and whilst in and out of consciousness heard yelling voices saying ‘Should we call an ambulance!!!!.’ I faint spectacularly and it bothers everyone else far more than me. Im quite well behaved on regaining conciousness really. It’s just wise not to stand up for at least 20 minutes. Tricky, depending on where I am 😉

A few weeks ago I had some iron infusions and so I’m hoping my hair now grows long and luscious! I have also had every blood test we can think of! I have implants for hormones in my tummy, both oestrogen and testosterone. I know! Amazing right! Luckily the doc can just pop them in for me. They are like little pellets that sit in your fat and release the hormone. Very useful. You get these every few months and it can take a bit of time to get the adjustment right (like all hormone treatment) but I think I’m winning. I’m going to have another oestrogen implant as I haven’t got quite enough. Did you know that women also need testosterone? Mine was zero and so I was super tired and had no muscle strength. Now it is good and I have a little more vavavoom! Hurrah! I am being well looked after.

So really my priorities at the moment are:

1. Being super nice to myself.
2. Keeping fit – It’s a good idea to work on your core before surgery and so I’ve been trying to do lots of yoga for that and also lots of pelvic floor exercises – these are important for everyone.
3. Keeping a diary of any fluxes of symptoms –  this is useful so that you can remember what’s been going on as it can be difficult during hormonal flux and flow. Plus your doctor might ask you so it can be super handy.
4. Nutrition – try to be as healthy as you can. I know this can be hard and I can be the biggest culprit for missing meals and vitamins but I am trying really hard to be mindful about that.
5. Trusting that I will be well looked after and that all my health peeps know how the hormone thang works with me and how to adjust things for me. It’s fortunate in some ways that I have had some challenges with different hormone protocols as we now know what works really well. I’m trying to feel some gratitude around that.
6. Looking forward to watching all the Great British Bake Off episodes… my daughter introduced it to me and now I am obsessed! 
7. Collecting some lovely books to read afterwards.
8. Feeling very grateful for all the medical and non medical care I have received throughout this life stage.
9. Going with the flow! 
10. Looking forward to the future 🙂

I shall try and write some posts afterwards about the recovery as this might be helpful for some people. I am having it laparoscopically where they go through the little holes in the tummy and so the recovery should be much easier than the abdomen cut.

Follow along if you are coming up for a hysterectomy at some point yourself or have a friend who is or are just interested. I think it is important that people share experiences about all of these things and I hope to be a positive and encouraging voice.

Much lovage,

Edie x