Hysterectomy and Female Castration: the Enablers Part III
Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia
This is the third part in a series of Posts to highlight omissions of fact and misinformation about hysterectomy currently being provided to women on hospital, doctor, and medical school websites.
In Part I of this series we investigated some of the errors, omissions, and contradictions on the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s (UPMC) website. To read Part I (and comments from women around the country) click here. And in Part II we highlighted the seriously deficient online patient education product known as “X-Plain” at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. To read Part II click here.
Part III of this series highlights Emory University Hospital’s website. As you will see, Emory provides little of the basic information that women need in order to make informed decisions about hysterectomy, while directing them to visit other websites that contain gross misinformation that is potentially damaging to women.
This is a frightening trend in hospital websites all over the country. Hospitals and doctors point their patients to some other source of hysterectomy misinformation (such as the Patient Education Institute’s product X-Plain, obgyn.net, or acog.org), thereby washing their hands of accountability for omitting the requisite information for hysterectomy informed consent on their own websites. The stated purpose of these sites is to provide information to women who’ve been told they need the surgery, but they don’t inform them of the consequences that women need to know. Instead of providing correct information, they potentially put women into harm’s way.
“The Emory Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics,” they tell visitors, “is dedicated to providing health information and education to women in the Atlanta community, the region and the nation.” But we couldn’t find any hysterectomy patient education materials on their website that educate women about the consequences of hysterectomy—the most common non-obstetric surgery performed in the United States. The “.edu” suffix on their website URL indicates that Emory is in fact an educational institution, so what better place for them to do so than right on their own hospital website where they make the claim?
The reason we selected Emory, Gundersen, and UPMC as the three hospital websites to be investigated isn’t because they’re the only hospitals providing misinformation and omissions of fact. On the contrary, they were chosen because these three websites are typical of patient education information published on hospital websites throughout the country.
In the top right corner of the Emory University Hospital home page (http://www.emoryhealthcare.org/departments/EUH/), click on “SEARCH.” Type in the search term “hysterectomy” and then click on “search now.” You’re taken to a page with a long list of press releases and articles.
The first press release we came to on the list was dated June 2, 2004. It goes into great detail about how “vaginal hysterectomies are more advantageous” than abdominal hysterectomies without any reference to the consequences of removing the female organs. What they don’t mention is that many of the most devastating adverse effects are the same no matter how the uterus is removed. Click here to watch “Female Anatomy: the Functions of the Female Organs” for information that every doctor and hospital should provide to every woman who is told she needs a hysterectomy.
The next link on the list takes visitors to an online article titled Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE). Even the title of this article is misleading. First, it’s not the fibroid that’s occluded with embolic material, it’s the uterine artery. It’s convenient for doctors and hospitals to refer to it as UFE, because Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE) alerts and alarms women that something is being injected into the artery—their vascular system. The reason doctors began calling it UFE is to make it sound more benign than UAE. They don’t tell women that the embolic material injected into the uterine artery has been found to migrate to the ovaries, uterus, lungs, and other vital organs. For this reason UAE should be contraindicated for women who want to have children. When the embolic material and/or radiation causes the ovaries to cease to function, it results in a de facto castration.
Second, it’s odd that an article that seems to want to educate women about “What are uterine fibroids?” falls under the title of one of the most dangerous treatment options. Women might expect that the patient education materials of a teaching hospital would label this section “What are fibroids?” with UAE mentioned only as a treatment option with serious potential adverse effects, including death, loss of ovarian function, necrosis (death of the tissue) of the vagina, labia, bladder, bowel, and kidney.
Further obscuring the facts, Emory tells visitors, “Symptomatic uterine fibroids trigger approximately 150,000 hysterectomies each year.” In fact it’s the fear that doctors instill in women regarding benign conditions such as fibroids, along with misinformation about treatment options, that “triggers” hysterectomies. The number of hysterectomies performed for fibroids each year in this country is more like 400,000, but fibroids can’t pull the trigger on hysterectomies. Only doctors can pull that trigger.
Finally, the only reference to hysterectomy in the UAE article is one that uses language reminiscent of the U.S. Army’s recruitment theme—Emory claims that their “goal is to help you to live the best as you can be.” We would no more recommend that you search for all that you can be on an operating table than on a battlefield. The best that you can be is whole and intact, far away from anyone who wants to damage or remove your sex organs.
Emory offers other online articles that focus on endometriosis and gynecological services, but none of them discusses the well-documented consequences of hysterectomy.
Back on the home page, if you click on “Departments” and then scroll down to the bottom right and click on “Gynecology & Obstetrics” under the subheading “Women’s Health Services,” you’re taken to a page titled “Emory Women’s Care.” On this page you’ll find the following ad:
Whether the ovaries are removed or not shouldn’t depend upon the surgical approach or symptoms. A symptom isn’t a disease. OBGYN.net is a potentially dangerous website that lures women in by holding themselves out as a reliable source, but then they don’t provide the information that women need to make a decision about their own bodies. And once again removal of the ovaries is made to sound as trivial as a doctor’s whim, when in fact the ovaries are the female gonads and their removal is castration, the same as removal of the testicles is castration. The ovaries produce hormones all of a woman’s life. There’s no age or time in any person’s life when the gonads aren’t needed. It’s unconscionable that this website doesn’t mention those vital facts.
There’s also a subheading called “Conditions that may require a hysterectomy.” They then provide a list of “conditions” that should never require a hysterectomy. In fact, a hysterectomy is never required. If it was required that would mean that you have no choice, that it will be done to you whether or not you agree to it. But even if you have cancer it’s your right to say no to surgery. You have the right to refuse consent.
The link to “Patients stories” directs visitors to a blank page. This may be the best link of all, because on OBGYN.net no news about hysterectomy is good news. And the link to “Patient Brochures” has one brochure, and it’s about Laparsocopic Supracervical Hysterectomy. No helpful information there either.
There was no information about the devastating, predictable, lifelong adverse effects of hysterectomy. Many of the links funneled visitors toward the MedlinePlus website. Visit http://hersfoundation.org/docs/Medline-press-release.pdf to read the HERS Foundation’s press release titled “Medline Plus a Minus for Women.” MedlinePlus (a “service” of the National Library of Medicine) also points visitors to X-Plain which, as we have said, is rife with misinformation that is largely unsupported by anatomical fact.
This is the third part in a series of Posts to highlight omissions of fact and misinformation about hysterectomy currently being provided to women on hospital, doctor, and medical school websites.
In Part I of this series we investigated some of the errors, omissions, and contradictions on the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s (UPMC) website. To read Part I (and comments from women around the country) click here. And in Part II we highlighted the seriously deficient online patient education product known as “X-Plain” at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. To read Part II click here.
Part III of this series highlights Emory University Hospital’s website. As you will see, Emory provides little of the basic information that women need in order to make informed decisions about hysterectomy, while directing them to visit other websites that contain gross misinformation that is potentially damaging to women.
This is a frightening trend in hospital websites all over the country. Hospitals and doctors point their patients to some other source of hysterectomy misinformation (such as the Patient Education Institute’s product X-Plain, obgyn.net, or acog.org), thereby washing their hands of accountability for omitting the requisite information for hysterectomy informed consent on their own websites. The stated purpose of these sites is to provide information to women who’ve been told they need the surgery, but they don’t inform them of the consequences that women need to know. Instead of providing correct information, they potentially put women into harm’s way.
“The Emory Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics,” they tell visitors, “is dedicated to providing health information and education to women in the Atlanta community, the region and the nation.” But we couldn’t find any hysterectomy patient education materials on their website that educate women about the consequences of hysterectomy—the most common non-obstetric surgery performed in the United States. The “.edu” suffix on their website URL indicates that Emory is in fact an educational institution, so what better place for them to do so than right on their own hospital website where they make the claim?
The reason we selected Emory, Gundersen, and UPMC as the three hospital websites to be investigated isn’t because they’re the only hospitals providing misinformation and omissions of fact. On the contrary, they were chosen because these three websites are typical of patient education information published on hospital websites throughout the country.
In the top right corner of the Emory University Hospital home page (http://www.emoryhealthcare.org/departments/EUH/), click on “SEARCH.” Type in the search term “hysterectomy” and then click on “search now.” You’re taken to a page with a long list of press releases and articles.
The first press release we came to on the list was dated June 2, 2004. It goes into great detail about how “vaginal hysterectomies are more advantageous” than abdominal hysterectomies without any reference to the consequences of removing the female organs. What they don’t mention is that many of the most devastating adverse effects are the same no matter how the uterus is removed. Click here to watch “Female Anatomy: the Functions of the Female Organs” for information that every doctor and hospital should provide to every woman who is told she needs a hysterectomy.
The next link on the list takes visitors to an online article titled Uterine Fibroid Embolization (UFE). Even the title of this article is misleading. First, it’s not the fibroid that’s occluded with embolic material, it’s the uterine artery. It’s convenient for doctors and hospitals to refer to it as UFE, because Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE) alerts and alarms women that something is being injected into the artery—their vascular system. The reason doctors began calling it UFE is to make it sound more benign than UAE. They don’t tell women that the embolic material injected into the uterine artery has been found to migrate to the ovaries, uterus, lungs, and other vital organs. For this reason UAE should be contraindicated for women who want to have children. When the embolic material and/or radiation causes the ovaries to cease to function, it results in a de facto castration.
Second, it’s odd that an article that seems to want to educate women about “What are uterine fibroids?” falls under the title of one of the most dangerous treatment options. Women might expect that the patient education materials of a teaching hospital would label this section “What are fibroids?” with UAE mentioned only as a treatment option with serious potential adverse effects, including death, loss of ovarian function, necrosis (death of the tissue) of the vagina, labia, bladder, bowel, and kidney.
Further obscuring the facts, Emory tells visitors, “Symptomatic uterine fibroids trigger approximately 150,000 hysterectomies each year.” In fact it’s the fear that doctors instill in women regarding benign conditions such as fibroids, along with misinformation about treatment options, that “triggers” hysterectomies. The number of hysterectomies performed for fibroids each year in this country is more like 400,000, but fibroids can’t pull the trigger on hysterectomies. Only doctors can pull that trigger.
Finally, the only reference to hysterectomy in the UAE article is one that uses language reminiscent of the U.S. Army’s recruitment theme—Emory claims that their “goal is to help you to live the best as you can be.” We would no more recommend that you search for all that you can be on an operating table than on a battlefield. The best that you can be is whole and intact, far away from anyone who wants to damage or remove your sex organs.
Emory offers other online articles that focus on endometriosis and gynecological services, but none of them discusses the well-documented consequences of hysterectomy.
Back on the home page, if you click on “Departments” and then scroll down to the bottom right and click on “Gynecology & Obstetrics” under the subheading “Women’s Health Services,” you’re taken to a page titled “Emory Women’s Care.” On this page you’ll find the following ad:
It’s cruel irony that a website that women come to because they were told they need a surgery to remove their female organs (which they will have to pay for), are confronted with an ad offering to pay them to allow a doctor to extract their eggs. Rather than provide visitors with information about the adverse effects of the most commonly performed non-obstetric surgery in America and the fact that the ovaries will be removed from 73% of those women, they choose to give space to advertising their egg “donor” program. And here the medical euphemisms continue, because it’s nothing like a donation.
Women are paid a lot of money for their eggs because the process is invasive, risky, and often very painful. To stimulate egg production, women are given dangerous drugs to hyper-stimulate their ovaries. The side effects of the drugs range from thinning of the bones to cognitive loss. And once the ovaries are hyper-stimulated to produce an abnormal quantity of eggs, the hyper-stimulation sometimes continues after women stop taking the drugs. The result is that the drug-induced hyper-stimulation puts a woman at risk for ovarian cancer. Cancer of the female reproductive sex organs is one of the main scare tactics that doctors use to get women onto operating tables. And it’s one of the main reasons why women seek out websites like Emory’s only to be bombarded with advertisements for quick money. If women answer this ad they’ll be subjected to a procedure that will increase their risk of ovarian cancer.
People don’t get paid to donate. It’s not a contribution, it’s a business transaction, and the product is women’s eggs. It’s objectionable to disguise it as such…especially when Emory fails to provide the one thing they claim to make available to women—patient education. Why not simply ask visitors, “Are your eggs for sale? If so, we’d like to buy them. And we’re willing to pay a handsome price because it’s a frightening, painful, and potentially fatal procedure for both you and the woman who your eggs will be later injected into.”
People don’t get paid to donate. It’s not a contribution, it’s a business transaction, and the product is women’s eggs. It’s objectionable to disguise it as such…especially when Emory fails to provide the one thing they claim to make available to women—patient education. Why not simply ask visitors, “Are your eggs for sale? If so, we’d like to buy them. And we’re willing to pay a handsome price because it’s a frightening, painful, and potentially fatal procedure for both you and the woman who your eggs will be later injected into.”
For women who are about to have (or have had) the door shut on the option of having children, it’s extremely insensitive to advertise the hope of pregnancy and childbirth on a site where women seek information about hysterectomy.
As we said, this investigation into Emory’s website is Part III of a series. What was remarkable about Part I was that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) website contained glaring contradictions. Although we informed them of numerous anatomical errors on their website, and although UPMC did drop one of their hysterectomy pages to eliminate the most glaring contradictions, they continue to provide potentially damaging information to women. What was remarkable in Part II of the series was the Gundersen-Lutheran Hospital’s patient education tutorial called X-Plain. X-Plain requires women to answer questions falsely in order to proceed through their error-riddled tutorial. They have ignored letters from HERS informing them of their misleading information, but they continue to misinform women with the same potentially damaging information. And now what stands out to us in Part III is that Emory claims to provide information about hysterectomy but actually provides almost none at all. What’s remarkable isn’t the startling misinformation we found on the other two hospital websites, but the extent to which Emory promotes invasive procedures while directing visitors to look elsewhere for facts that they obviously have no intention of providing to women on their own website that gushes with recommendations for surgery.
As we said, this investigation into Emory’s website is Part III of a series. What was remarkable about Part I was that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) website contained glaring contradictions. Although we informed them of numerous anatomical errors on their website, and although UPMC did drop one of their hysterectomy pages to eliminate the most glaring contradictions, they continue to provide potentially damaging information to women. What was remarkable in Part II of the series was the Gundersen-Lutheran Hospital’s patient education tutorial called X-Plain. X-Plain requires women to answer questions falsely in order to proceed through their error-riddled tutorial. They have ignored letters from HERS informing them of their misleading information, but they continue to misinform women with the same potentially damaging information. And now what stands out to us in Part III is that Emory claims to provide information about hysterectomy but actually provides almost none at all. What’s remarkable isn’t the startling misinformation we found on the other two hospital websites, but the extent to which Emory promotes invasive procedures while directing visitors to look elsewhere for facts that they obviously have no intention of providing to women on their own website that gushes with recommendations for surgery.
On that same Emory Women’s Care page mentioned above, there’s a list of options on the left. If you click on the fifth one titled Patient Education you’re taken to a page that claims that they provide health information, but you won’t find any information about hysterectomy, in spite of the fact that it’s called Patient Education. On the bottom of that page, visitors are given three options for information about hysterectomy:
1. the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
2. the Universe of Women’s Health
3. a phone number at Emory
1. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ website (www.acog.org) sounds reliable enough, but what do visitors to Emory’s website find if they follow the link and are redirected there? Researching ACOG’s site for hysterectomy revealed a list of links to printed “educational” materials. The first one is “Understanding Hysterectomy.” It can be purchased from the ACOG website, but the minimum order is 50…with a discount for ACOG members. Click on the link and it takes you to this brief summary:
“Understanding Hysterectomy Description"
"Hysterectomy—removal of the uterus—is a way of treating problems that affect the uterus. Many conditions can be cured with hysterectomy. Because it is major surgery, your doctor may suggest trying other treatments first. For conditions that have not responded to other treatments, a hysterectomy may be the best choice. It depends on the effect of the condition and the surgery on your life. You should be fully informed of all options before you decide."
"This pamphlet explains:
* Reasons for having a hysterectomy
* Ways hysterectomy is performed
* Risks of hysterectomy
* Recovery after surgery”
1. the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
2. the Universe of Women’s Health
3. a phone number at Emory
1. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ website (www.acog.org) sounds reliable enough, but what do visitors to Emory’s website find if they follow the link and are redirected there? Researching ACOG’s site for hysterectomy revealed a list of links to printed “educational” materials. The first one is “Understanding Hysterectomy.” It can be purchased from the ACOG website, but the minimum order is 50…with a discount for ACOG members. Click on the link and it takes you to this brief summary:
“Understanding Hysterectomy Description"
"Hysterectomy—removal of the uterus—is a way of treating problems that affect the uterus. Many conditions can be cured with hysterectomy. Because it is major surgery, your doctor may suggest trying other treatments first. For conditions that have not responded to other treatments, a hysterectomy may be the best choice. It depends on the effect of the condition and the surgery on your life. You should be fully informed of all options before you decide."
"This pamphlet explains:
* Reasons for having a hysterectomy
* Ways hysterectomy is performed
* Risks of hysterectomy
* Recovery after surgery”
Although they may refer to women when saying “you decide,” ACOG offers almost no information to women about the lifelong consequences of hysterectomy on their website, which may leave you wondering why “college” is part of this organization’s name. In fact, their own website demonstrates that if ACOG is a college it’s a scalpel school with members who get rich by removing female organs.
2. The second option—the Universe of Women's Health—takes visitors to www.obgyn.net. At the bottom of each page of this website you’ll find pro-hysterectomy Google ads. On the “Select a Topic” drop-down menu on OBGYN.net there are three hysterectomy topics. First is the Hysterectomy Resource Center. Here, the pelvic anatomy lesson offered says:
2. The second option—the Universe of Women's Health—takes visitors to www.obgyn.net. At the bottom of each page of this website you’ll find pro-hysterectomy Google ads. On the “Select a Topic” drop-down menu on OBGYN.net there are three hysterectomy topics. First is the Hysterectomy Resource Center. Here, the pelvic anatomy lesson offered says:
"The uterus, sometimes called the womb, is a muscular organ located in the pelvis. It is approximately the size and shape of a pear. This is where a fetus is carried during pregnancy."
It doesn’t mention that the uterus is a hormone-responsive sex organ that supports the bladder and the bowel or that women who experienced uterine orgasm before the surgery won’t experience it after the uterus is removed. If they did mention those facts and the many other functions of the uterus then women would know that there’s a lot more to lose than the ability to become pregnant. But OBGYN.net, apparently, views the uterus as nothing but a pear-shaped baby bag.
The “Indications” link invites visitors to a page with a video to learn about the different types of hysterectomy. At the bottom of the page visitors are reassured that they’ll be in good company if they have their sex organs removed. They seem determined to make a surgery that is very damaging sound like a walk in the park—nothing to it. There is sometimes safety in numbers, but to suggest that women can feel good about hysterectomy and castration because that’s what OB/GYNs have been promoting to countless other women for years is appalling:
The “Indications” link invites visitors to a page with a video to learn about the different types of hysterectomy. At the bottom of the page visitors are reassured that they’ll be in good company if they have their sex organs removed. They seem determined to make a surgery that is very damaging sound like a walk in the park—nothing to it. There is sometimes safety in numbers, but to suggest that women can feel good about hysterectomy and castration because that’s what OB/GYNs have been promoting to countless other women for years is appalling:
"It is important to remember that you are not alone. In the U.S.there are over 600,000 hysterectomies performed each year, about 1,643 a day. In fact, by the age of 60, 1 in 3 women will have had a hysterectomy. You may be feeling anxious, but remember that there are 599,999 other women this year who will feel like you. In addition, you can take comfort in knowing that recent medical advances have made this common procedure much less invasive."
Less invasive? No matter how it’s done, they’re removing female sex organs. There’s nothing non-invasive about it.
They then invite visitors to click on the link “What is a hysterectomy?” where they say:
"A hysterectomy is an operation to remove a woman’s uterus. Depending on the surgical approach and the woman’s symptoms, the ovaries, fallopian tubes and/or cervix may be removed as well. You should discuss with your physician what will be removed."
Less invasive? No matter how it’s done, they’re removing female sex organs. There’s nothing non-invasive about it.
They then invite visitors to click on the link “What is a hysterectomy?” where they say:
Whether the ovaries are removed or not shouldn’t depend upon the surgical approach or symptoms. A symptom isn’t a disease. OBGYN.net is a potentially dangerous website that lures women in by holding themselves out as a reliable source, but then they don’t provide the information that women need to make a decision about their own bodies. And once again removal of the ovaries is made to sound as trivial as a doctor’s whim, when in fact the ovaries are the female gonads and their removal is castration, the same as removal of the testicles is castration. The ovaries produce hormones all of a woman’s life. There’s no age or time in any person’s life when the gonads aren’t needed. It’s unconscionable that this website doesn’t mention those vital facts.
There’s also a subheading called “Conditions that may require a hysterectomy.” They then provide a list of “conditions” that should never require a hysterectomy. In fact, a hysterectomy is never required. If it was required that would mean that you have no choice, that it will be done to you whether or not you agree to it. But even if you have cancer it’s your right to say no to surgery. You have the right to refuse consent.
The link to “Patients stories” directs visitors to a blank page. This may be the best link of all, because on OBGYN.net no news about hysterectomy is good news. And the link to “Patient Brochures” has one brochure, and it’s about Laparsocopic Supracervical Hysterectomy. No helpful information there either.
There was no information about the devastating, predictable, lifelong adverse effects of hysterectomy. Many of the links funneled visitors toward the MedlinePlus website. Visit http://hersfoundation.org/docs/Medline-press-release.pdf to read the HERS Foundation’s press release titled “Medline Plus a Minus for Women.” MedlinePlus (a “service” of the National Library of Medicine) also points visitors to X-Plain which, as we have said, is rife with misinformation that is largely unsupported by anatomical fact.
OBGYN.net has far too many errors and omissions of fact to mention them all in this blog, but suffice to say that the OB/GYNs who wrote it have created a landmine of misinformation at best…which shouldn’t be surprising, because hysterectomy is the goldmine of gynecology.
3. The last option for visitors to Emory’s website who are looking for hysterectomy information is their suggestion to “please call” 404-778-7777. So HERS president, Nora W. Coffey did just that. In fact, Nora made three separate calls, during which she took detailed, verbatim notes.
The first call was made on March 20, 2008. A nurse answered the phone, but she seemed confused by simple questions like, “Can a woman have a uterine orgasm without a uterus?” The RN then put Nora on hold for several minutes so she could get some literature on the subject. When she returned, she read Nora the information that she had found on hysterectomy.
As the nurse read the hysterectomy information to Nora, it sounded oddly familiar. Some of the language she was using was uniquely HERS—it was coined at the HERS Foundation. For example, she referred to the uterus as “hormone-responsive” and referred to women who had undergone the surgery as “hysterectomized,” a verbalization of “hysterectomy” that was coined at HERS to describe the fact that women don’t get a hysterectomy the way that they get their nails done—they’re hysterectomized by doctors. Fortunately she spoke haltingly and slowly, so Nora was able to type up every word that the nurse said. This is verbatim from the nurse:
"The uterus is a hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ, and the ovaries produce the majority of estrogen and progesterone that is available in genetic females of reproductive age. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, of the 617,000 hysterectomies performed in 2004, 73% also involved the surgical removal of the ovaries. In the United States, 1/3 of genetic females can be expected to have a hysterectomy by age 60. There are currently an estimate of 22 million people in the United States who have undergone this procedure."
Most of this information is actually correct, but it slowly began to dawn on Nora where the nurse was getting this information from—Wikipedia.
The next day Nora made her second call to the number listed under Emory’s Patient Education banner. Again she spoke with a nurse who Nora asked a few simple questions. And again the nurse seemed confused by Nora’s questions and put her on hold.
When the nurse returned she said, “Thank you for being so patient. I was just talking with Paula my supervisor and there is a certain area that I can go into and mail you information about the hysterectomy.”
“Okay,” Nora said, “but you can’t give me any information?”
“Well, it’s just that there’s so much information on it we really don’t have the time to be talking all about it. You see what I mean? We’d be on the phone for the next hour.”
“Really?”
This was a curious comment for a “health professional” to make, considering the fact that the HERS Foundation developed an anatomy lesson that is the minimum information a woman needs to make an informed decision about hysterectomy…and that video lesson is only 11 minutes and 45 seconds. The nurse then took the mailing address, after which Nora said, “But I’m disappointed that Patient Education can’t give me any information on the phone.”
3. The last option for visitors to Emory’s website who are looking for hysterectomy information is their suggestion to “please call” 404-778-7777. So HERS president, Nora W. Coffey did just that. In fact, Nora made three separate calls, during which she took detailed, verbatim notes.
The first call was made on March 20, 2008. A nurse answered the phone, but she seemed confused by simple questions like, “Can a woman have a uterine orgasm without a uterus?” The RN then put Nora on hold for several minutes so she could get some literature on the subject. When she returned, she read Nora the information that she had found on hysterectomy.
As the nurse read the hysterectomy information to Nora, it sounded oddly familiar. Some of the language she was using was uniquely HERS—it was coined at the HERS Foundation. For example, she referred to the uterus as “hormone-responsive” and referred to women who had undergone the surgery as “hysterectomized,” a verbalization of “hysterectomy” that was coined at HERS to describe the fact that women don’t get a hysterectomy the way that they get their nails done—they’re hysterectomized by doctors. Fortunately she spoke haltingly and slowly, so Nora was able to type up every word that the nurse said. This is verbatim from the nurse:
"The uterus is a hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ, and the ovaries produce the majority of estrogen and progesterone that is available in genetic females of reproductive age. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, of the 617,000 hysterectomies performed in 2004, 73% also involved the surgical removal of the ovaries. In the United States, 1/3 of genetic females can be expected to have a hysterectomy by age 60. There are currently an estimate of 22 million people in the United States who have undergone this procedure."
Most of this information is actually correct, but it slowly began to dawn on Nora where the nurse was getting this information from—Wikipedia.
Wikipedia is an encyclopedic website that is “written collaboratively by volunteers from all around the world.” They have an entry for hysterectomy, and because some other “volunteer” was supplying Wikipedia with erroneous hysterectomy information that was unsupported by anatomical fact and medical literature, Nora edited the hysterectomy entry to get as much correct information on there as the Wikipedia moderators would allow. But why was this Emory nurse, a medical professional from a teaching hospital, responding to a request for patient education information by reading from Wikipedia? It’s baffling, really. Although Wikipedia does offer some accurate information, it’s by no means a reliable source of information for anyone seeking medical advice. Even still, women who call Emory are ostensibly very likely to get information that is no more reliable than an online encyclopedia written by volunteers from around the world who may or may not know what they’re talking about.
And then, in one of her concluding comments about the impact of hysterectomy on female sexual pleasure, the nurse told Nora verbatim, “But um, uh, it’s always like in a non-medical way that I’ve always heard it’s like taking away the baby carriage but leaving the playpen.”
It’s a common refrain that women have told HERS they’ve been hearing from gynecologists all over the country for more than 50 years—“Don’t worry, I’m going to take out the crib, but I’ll leave the playpen.” In other words, you won’t be able to have children, and you won’t be able to have uterine orgasms, but a pouch will still exist for your husband to insert his penis. Thanks, Emory.
And then, in one of her concluding comments about the impact of hysterectomy on female sexual pleasure, the nurse told Nora verbatim, “But um, uh, it’s always like in a non-medical way that I’ve always heard it’s like taking away the baby carriage but leaving the playpen.”
It’s a common refrain that women have told HERS they’ve been hearing from gynecologists all over the country for more than 50 years—“Don’t worry, I’m going to take out the crib, but I’ll leave the playpen.” In other words, you won’t be able to have children, and you won’t be able to have uterine orgasms, but a pouch will still exist for your husband to insert his penis. Thanks, Emory.
Before the end of the conversation Nora asked the nurse to send her the information that she was reading from. Two days later HERS received a package in the mail from the nurse patient-educator at Emory HealthConnection—it was a 7-page printout with the Wikipedia URL on the top and on the bottom of each page. She merely printed out Wikipedia’s hysterectomy web entry and added nothing else.
The next day Nora made her second call to the number listed under Emory’s Patient Education banner. Again she spoke with a nurse who Nora asked a few simple questions. And again the nurse seemed confused by Nora’s questions and put her on hold.
When the nurse returned she said, “Thank you for being so patient. I was just talking with Paula my supervisor and there is a certain area that I can go into and mail you information about the hysterectomy.”
“Okay,” Nora said, “but you can’t give me any information?”
“Well, it’s just that there’s so much information on it we really don’t have the time to be talking all about it. You see what I mean? We’d be on the phone for the next hour.”
“Really?”
This was a curious comment for a “health professional” to make, considering the fact that the HERS Foundation developed an anatomy lesson that is the minimum information a woman needs to make an informed decision about hysterectomy…and that video lesson is only 11 minutes and 45 seconds. The nurse then took the mailing address, after which Nora said, “But I’m disappointed that Patient Education can’t give me any information on the phone.”
The nurse’s response was a very disappointing, “Okay,” followed by, “What I’m going to give you right now is…let’s see. I’m going to ask you exactly what you would like.”
So Nora repeated her request: “I would like to know what the effects of hysterectomy are.”
Instead of Nora, the caller of course could’ve been any woman faced with the decision of whether or not to have surgery. The fact that the nurse asked Nora what she would like to know is baffling. After all, how does the patient know what they need to know? It’s like a woman asking a doctor, “Would you please tell me what the consequences of hysterectomy are?” and the doctor responding, “Okay, what would you like to know?” What’s obvious from these calls is that women need to know the answers to their questions before they ask them, which renders this Emory’s patient education meaningless at best…and potentially very harmful.
The nurse then repeated herself, saying, “There’s just so much information here,” but she never did talk about the consequences of hysterectomy. The best she could do was to define “abdominal hysterectomy” as a hysterectomy where the uterus is pulled out through the abdomen, and other self-evident information. She then said, “Okay?” as if that was all the information she had for Nora and she was prepared to end the conversation there.
As any woman seeking information from a teaching hospital might, Nora grew frustrated. She said to the nurse, “But we really didn’t talk about the consequences of the surgery!”
The nurse’s response? “Uh hm….”
Undaunted, Nora asked, “Are there any changes…are there any sexual changes…are there any other changes that are pretty common?”
So Nora repeated her request: “I would like to know what the effects of hysterectomy are.”
Instead of Nora, the caller of course could’ve been any woman faced with the decision of whether or not to have surgery. The fact that the nurse asked Nora what she would like to know is baffling. After all, how does the patient know what they need to know? It’s like a woman asking a doctor, “Would you please tell me what the consequences of hysterectomy are?” and the doctor responding, “Okay, what would you like to know?” What’s obvious from these calls is that women need to know the answers to their questions before they ask them, which renders this Emory’s patient education meaningless at best…and potentially very harmful.
The nurse then repeated herself, saying, “There’s just so much information here,” but she never did talk about the consequences of hysterectomy. The best she could do was to define “abdominal hysterectomy” as a hysterectomy where the uterus is pulled out through the abdomen, and other self-evident information. She then said, “Okay?” as if that was all the information she had for Nora and she was prepared to end the conversation there.
As any woman seeking information from a teaching hospital might, Nora grew frustrated. She said to the nurse, “But we really didn’t talk about the consequences of the surgery!”
The nurse’s response? “Uh hm….”
Undaunted, Nora asked, “Are there any changes…are there any sexual changes…are there any other changes that are pretty common?”
“Well,” the nurse said, “I’ll be honest with you. If it was me having this surgery, I’d be talking with my doctor... A hysterectomy…takes care of any problems you may be having with your uterus… Truly it’s the surgeon’s responsibility to give you informed consent about what is going on with your surgery.”
Sure, but she’s a nurse taking calls on a number listed under patient education. So Nora said, “You know I didn’t get very many answers to my questions, which is why I looked on the website to see if you have patient education and this is the number on Emory’s gynecology website page.”
The nurse said only, “Yeah? Can you hold one second please?”
While Nora was on hold, she was subjected to ads for other treatments being advertised by Emory. Like most hospitals, Emory is about making people feel good about the drugs and treatments and surgeries they offer.
Finally the nurse returned. She explained to Nora that all women are unique, so she should talk with her doctor. Amazed that this final option on Emory’s website turned out to also be a dead end, Nora asked why, if they don’t have any information, Emory provides this number for Patient Education?
“Well,” the nurse said, “I do have information here that I’m going to mail off to you.”
About a week later Nora called the HealthcareConnection again.
The person who answered said, “Thanks for calling Emory HealthcareConnection, this is Helen, how may I help you?”
“Hi,” Nora said, “is this your patient education department?”
“Yeah…no…this is actually a doctor referral line?”
Now this was an interesting development—Nora had called twice before and was told that she had called the Patient Education number and that it was staffed by nurses. In each of those calls a nurse struggled to answer Nora’s questions, and now a week later this?
“Okay,” Nora said, “so are you aware that on the Gynecology and Obstetrics website for Emory they give this number for Patient Education?”
Sure, but she’s a nurse taking calls on a number listed under patient education. So Nora said, “You know I didn’t get very many answers to my questions, which is why I looked on the website to see if you have patient education and this is the number on Emory’s gynecology website page.”
The nurse said only, “Yeah? Can you hold one second please?”
While Nora was on hold, she was subjected to ads for other treatments being advertised by Emory. Like most hospitals, Emory is about making people feel good about the drugs and treatments and surgeries they offer.
Finally the nurse returned. She explained to Nora that all women are unique, so she should talk with her doctor. Amazed that this final option on Emory’s website turned out to also be a dead end, Nora asked why, if they don’t have any information, Emory provides this number for Patient Education?
“Well,” the nurse said, “I do have information here that I’m going to mail off to you.”
About a week later Nora called the HealthcareConnection again.
The person who answered said, “Thanks for calling Emory HealthcareConnection, this is Helen, how may I help you?”
“Hi,” Nora said, “is this your patient education department?”
“Yeah…no…this is actually a doctor referral line?”
Now this was an interesting development—Nora had called twice before and was told that she had called the Patient Education number and that it was staffed by nurses. In each of those calls a nurse struggled to answer Nora’s questions, and now a week later this?
“Okay,” Nora said, “so are you aware that on the Gynecology and Obstetrics website for Emory they give this number for Patient Education?”
“Well, we answer a lot of things here,” the nurse said. “What were you trying to do under patient education?”
Nora was very soon placed on hold again. While on hold Nora listened to an ad for a free educational seminar on the effective non-surgical treatment of uterine fibroids. In other words, it’s a free opportunity for women to be told about the profitable treatment known as UAE, but none of the patient education options available to women would even mention the adverse effects of any of these treatments that have been well-documented in medical literature.
In the first two calls the nurses acknowledged that they knew that they were answering a Patient Education phone line, but now when this nurse returned to the phone she told Nora, “Well, see, we do a lot of the seminars as far as registering people who want to attend the seminars at Emory.” Then she said that health information isn’t really what they do, but, “We have information in our database where we can pull up the health library and under MedlinePlus…we can type in hysterectomies, but if women want printed information,” she said, “you know it would have to be printed off of there… Well, I mean that’s all we have to offer, apparently.” She then elaborated to say, “We’re actually under marketing… The department I’m with is the Emory HealthConnection.”
We are well aware of the fact that they heavily market their surgeries and procedures, but but Emory’s website says:
"Emory HealthConnection serves as your vehicle to access the world of knowledge and expert care encompassed within the many components of EMORY HEALTHCARE. The Emory HealthConnection staff includes registered nurses and consultation representatives who have a library of information at their fingertips and can provide you with the latest information on the services provided by EMORY HEALTHCARE."
A “world of knowledge,” they claim? The worldwide web, maybe, but you don’t need Emory’s help to wander around that endless landmine of misinformation. “Library of information,” they say? Their nurses and patient education materials couldn’t answer one simple question from Nora.
If you have undergone a hysterectomy at Emory or their affiliated hospitals after relying on information from X-Plain, contact HERS at hersfdn@earthlink.net.
Nora was very soon placed on hold again. While on hold Nora listened to an ad for a free educational seminar on the effective non-surgical treatment of uterine fibroids. In other words, it’s a free opportunity for women to be told about the profitable treatment known as UAE, but none of the patient education options available to women would even mention the adverse effects of any of these treatments that have been well-documented in medical literature.
In the first two calls the nurses acknowledged that they knew that they were answering a Patient Education phone line, but now when this nurse returned to the phone she told Nora, “Well, see, we do a lot of the seminars as far as registering people who want to attend the seminars at Emory.” Then she said that health information isn’t really what they do, but, “We have information in our database where we can pull up the health library and under MedlinePlus…we can type in hysterectomies, but if women want printed information,” she said, “you know it would have to be printed off of there… Well, I mean that’s all we have to offer, apparently.” She then elaborated to say, “We’re actually under marketing… The department I’m with is the Emory HealthConnection.”
We are well aware of the fact that they heavily market their surgeries and procedures, but but Emory’s website says:
"Emory HealthConnection serves as your vehicle to access the world of knowledge and expert care encompassed within the many components of EMORY HEALTHCARE. The Emory HealthConnection staff includes registered nurses and consultation representatives who have a library of information at their fingertips and can provide you with the latest information on the services provided by EMORY HEALTHCARE."
A “world of knowledge,” they claim? The worldwide web, maybe, but you don’t need Emory’s help to wander around that endless landmine of misinformation. “Library of information,” they say? Their nurses and patient education materials couldn’t answer one simple question from Nora.
If you have undergone a hysterectomy at Emory or their affiliated hospitals after relying on information from X-Plain, contact HERS at hersfdn@earthlink.net.
Labels: Gundersen. Emory, University of Pittsburgh, UPMC
posted by HERS Foundation at
7:27 PM
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175 Comments:
It is very important for all women to read what the HERS Foundation has uncovered regarding these hospital advertising websites, the latest being Emory University Hospital. They are set up to deceive women so that their gynecologists can perform unnecessary surgery for profit. Deception and misinformation has worked well for these doctors and hospitals to pull in a huge profit and damage over 600,000 women per year, every year. To make it sound like there is safety in numbers so they can perform more unnecessary surgeries is criminal. The fact that doctors have removed the sex organs of over 1/3 of women in the United States is astronomical and a tragic and horrific crime. That has to be one of the highest statistics of all time (1/3rd of women in the U.S.). Women who still have their female organs need to know that they are being targeted by gynecologists and hospitals for profit. I would have never believed this a couple years ago until it happened to me when I went into the emergency room with lower abdominal pain. All I needed was a minor surgery to remove an ovarian cyst, but instead the doctor lied to me, deceived me and falsified my consent form and amputated my healthy uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and ovaries with no valid medical basis. I didn't know that I was a sitting duck for an unnecessary surgery. I didn't know that this type of crime goes on unchecked in the United States. I wish I would have known because I would have fled the hospital and I would probably be intact and healthy today. The HERS Foundation is the only organization who is bringing out the truth about these hospitals, doctors and websites. Every woman needs to know the truth so that she can protect herself from this indiscriminate barbaric surgery for profit.
Welcome Emory University of Atlanta, Georgia. You are about to be educated by Hysterectomized and Castrated women from across the United States and even abroad.
You are supposed to be teaching women about the after-effects of this surgery, but you are going to have a lesson in female anatomy and what this surgery does to women, their husbands and their family.
Yet another clinic/hospital and university who is deceiving women into this very profitable and unnecessary surgery. The lies and mis-information you are providing women is so deceitful. Yes, it is so obvious that your intention is to lie and deceive women.
I was deceived and lied to all because of money. I had a pea-sized fibroid which could have been removed by a myomectomy, but no, Dr. Gundersen of Gundersen Clinic in LaCrosse, Wiscosin, the last enabler, took it upon himself to go in and remove my sex organs (the uterus, ovaries and cervix). I was not informed of the after-effects, only that I would feel better than before my surgery AND, SEX would better. I never had any problems with the fibroid, but once seen by Dr. Gundersen, I was made to feel like I was dying or would end up with cancer. I only went to see him for hot flashes (which by the way, never improved after the surgery).
Please listen to the women who will be writing on this blog. Do not listen to your doctor even if you trust him. Watch the 'DVD' female anatomy' then decide if you want to be castrated and end up with a life of problems that will never go away but only gets worse.
Cathy and Gracie, my story is very much like yours. As was my innocence, as is my reaction.
When I received information on hysterectomy from Emory, I was sent dated material published by McKesson Clinical Reference Systems---printed on Emory's own letterhead! I deliberately refer to the mailing as "material" because there is no way that I would go so far as to call it information. There is so much that is factual and germane to hysterectomy that has been omitted, I can now well understand the carefully worded disclaimer that accompanies the material.
Folks, my layperson guess is that there is sound legal reasoning behind why these medical institutions are reluctant to publish their own material. It all comes down to but a single word: liability. They don't want to tell the truth but neither do they want to be held accountable for their omissions. Directing patients to selected websites is but a clever ruse to try to avoid any legal responsibility for rubbish all the while still petitioning for your "care".
In my humble opinion, the obvious answer would be to tell the truth about hysterectomy, castration, uterine artery embolization, tube tying, and all the other host of ever profitable procedures reserved for the female gender. Are not these institutions and their staff in our employ supposedly for our benefit? What right have they to parade as experts all the while shirking their sworn duties in deference to their insidious, carefully guarded
conflict of interests?
As citizens, as taxpayers, as patients, we deserve to be told the whole truth...as it is detailed in vast amounts of ancient to present day medical literature ... What justifies they're taking our tax dollars and then palming patients' educational needs off? Shame on them!
To me, truly informed consent is what is ethically required of the medical profession and it most definitely should be legally required as well! HERS has done their homework for them, they need but avail themselves-and those in their care- of it!!
Simply put, when women are not given truly informed consent, medical advocacy becomes medical assault...and women have been victimized and then abandoned by these so called "specialists" for far too long. I applaud HERS for all that they've said and wish only that I could have heard it sooner.
WOW! The above bloggers have spoken well, and spoken loudly for me too!!! . I agree with everything the above bloggers have written. Thank you. I too am a victim of deceit by the Gynecologist/Surgeon who used the hackneyed 'cancer' scare tactic on me at the age of 24, and childless.
Just as long as women continue to be deceived by their doctors that they are going to be ‘fine’ after this surgery and that they are going to enjoy sex better than before surgery because they will no longer have to deal with messy, monthly, menstrual cycles etc., then this injustice and cruelty by doctors to their female patients will continue.
The longer we castrated women keep silent, the longer this will continue to be done to other women. Let us not forget that most of us still have Mothers, daughters, sisters, nieces, cousins, aunts etc. and if these dear relatives of ours are lucky enough to still have their female sex organs, they too are being silently targeted by these cruel, medical predators. These predators are just waiting to pounce for profit, with the next gyne symptom which they may have.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Let us protect those whom we love, while we still have the chance, and while they still have their female sex organs intact!
Thanks ladies for educating us all about hysterectomies.
I was able to have a polypectomy for some polyps I had in my uterus recently. The surgery was done at the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City, Iowa. My doctor was Dr. Ginny Ryan.
OH MY GOSH.. how can he get away with that? The way I am treated and the bad lies doctors get away with, ...I am going to work for the rest of my days on this earth to hold all accountable.. for how they LIE, treat and mislead. .and I know what the ethics codes say "if a professional feels it is in the patients best interest”,
(There is an old saying: "The highwayman demands 'your money OR your life', but quacks demand "your money AND your life!")
Lying to patients has, therefore, seemed an especially excusable act. Some would argue that doctors, and only doctors, should be granted the right to manipulate the truth. A physician can decide to tell as much or as little as he wants the patient to know, so long as he breaks no law. Some physicians might feel justified in lying for the good of the patient, others might be truthful. Some may conceal alternatives to the treatment they recommend; others not. In each case, a great many would choose to be able to lie.
The doctor's choice to lie increasingly involves co-workers in acting in part they find neither humane nor wise. Informed consent is a farce if the information provided is distorted or withheld. And even complete information regarding surgical procedures or medication is obviously useless unless the patient also knows what the condition is that these are supposed to correct.
Bill of Rights, their right to a truthful diagnosis and prognosis is by no means always respected
The reason why even doctors who recognize a patient's right to have information might still not provide it, brings us to the argument against telling all patients the truth. It holds that the information given might hurt the patient and that the concern for the right to such information is therefore a threat to proper health care.
I have had a hysterectomy and I have been lied to and mis-informed about my surgery. I have had another surgery 6 weeks ago and this doctor has also deceived me. I found out by getting my surgical report. Thanks to Nora for educating me and her web site, I have become more informed about my health care. I can’t thank Nora enough.
I remember being given a little pamphlet on hysterectomy with my pre op packet just before my surgery. As if a four page pamphlet could really have prepared me for the trauma of major surgery and the life long consequences I now face daily. I also remember how the nurse who worked with my gynecologist had to sign some form for me to be approved for four weeks off of work for a laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy and possible bilateral oopherectomy (which indeed is what he did). I remember how she laughed and said I really didn't need that long and to enjoy my "vacation". I still fume when I read about how much "easier" laparoscopic hysterectomy is. I spent three days in the hospital in constant pain and tears before I could go home. I didn't have my first bowel movement for seven days after, regardless of all the laxatives and prune juice and everything else I tried. I still have pelvic pain and pelvic floor dysfunction following my hysterectomy. Instant surgical menopause has been absolutely life changing.
To this day I have a very hard time trusting medical professionals and all their "sound scientific standards". I should have trusted my own instincts and fled.
Thank you HERS Foundation for reading between the lines of the bull that these medical institutions are feeding us.
Elaine
A huge Thank You to Nora W.Coffey and the HERS Foundation for their insightful and enlightening revelations about Emory University Hospital.
Your efforts to help all women who are seeking truthful information before or after female sex-organ surgery is invaluable. The husbands of these women thank you also, as their lives too will be severely impacted by these surgeries should their wives be persuaded to have their female sex organs removed.
HERS, you are our only source of light and truth in a very dark abyss of misinformation and omission of material facts by those in the ‘medical’ industry who claim to want to do what is in ‘the best interest of the patient’.
The doctor who took away my sex organ is Julianne R. Newcomer at Froedtert hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She also has a partner now at the same place, Sumana Koduri who thinks the same way, because I have had her for a doctor also. I was not informed of the after-effects of the surgery. I asked Newcomer about sex after surgery and she said it wouldn’t be any different. Ya right! My sex life has changed. My husband says it is not the same for him either. Believe me it has not gotten better it has gotten worse.
Thank you University of Iowa for saving this ladies uterus by doing a polypectomy to remove a polyp. How lucky you are to live your life with your uterus intact!
Thanks you Hers for educating women across the country.
Mattie said...What is stopping this barbaric act of mutilation by deceit called "hysterectomy" from being headline news? It is a gross injustice perpetrated on the women of this country. Does the drug industry own the media? Hysterectomy by deceit "the biggest best kept secret in the medical community". If you are a women who is still intact you sure are on the right web site, read all of the information on this site and keep your sex organs where they belong, in your body. To all of the women suffering from hysterectomy mutilation, we will stand together to end the lies perpetrated by greedy doctors for profit.
This will be the worse kind of abuse put on a person once it is out in the public and a law is passed. What could be worse than doctors taking women's sex organs when they know the effects this surgery has on a woman's life.
How cruel for doctors to do this and get by with it. I can't think of anything that is worse than being hysterectomized and castrated unnecessarily.
This crime is going unchecked and doctors should loose their license for practicing this surgery when it is unnecessary which over 90% are.
All women should be able to go back and sue their doctor for a lifetime of misery when a law is passed. Our lives have been taken from us. It is like being murdered except we are walking around without a life in our body.
We all need to do whatever it takes to make the public aware of what doctors are doing to us.
after an iud was removed I have been in pain ever since. never could have children after that. i'm in pain as i set here writing this. i had everthing removed in 1999 and since then have had to have scare tissue removed. my insides have always been real tender. if i wear clothing that is a little snugged i get unbearable back aches. anyone else have these problem wearing snugged clothes?
I had a hysterictamy in dec 07 because the doctor screwed up while I was giving birth he nicked an artery in my uterus so he gave me a hysterictamy to stop the bleeding so I am wanting to know more about what to exspect and what I can do no body told me anything about it they just sent me on home and I don’t feel the same I’m not me now and sex no no no feeling
is there anything I can do to feel good again
These doctors who are doing this horrible lying and tricking and cutting into healthy women,
will...ROT IN HELL WITH SATAN.
Hi Kay,
I have scare tissue from the hysterectomy. I will have surgery soon, hopefully to fix this. The doctor always says there is a chance of scare tissues coming back. Yes, when I wear clothing that are a little snug my stomach bothers me. Then the pain goes to my back and hips. Then the pain spreads down my legs after while. I am not sure why but I believe it has to do with severing the ligaments and nerves during surgery. I try to stay away from jeans. Other pants like dress pants, seem to stretch and are more flexible. I can get away with wearing these a little bigger then jeans. I have to be careful what I buy now. Dress slacks that stretch are the most comfortable for me. I am sorry for your pain. I don’t know if I helped any. I hope someone else has an Idea out there for you.
I have lost all respect for US doctors, and especially Gynecologists.
If these US 'medical' personnel claim to be unaware of the severe, traumatic, devastating and profound changes to a woman's body, mind, emotion, and spirit after removing the two ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix then they should not be performing these surgeries or recommending them.
It is that simple.
Anonymous, Me too. I had an emergency c-section March 2 ’06 and my uteris was ruptured so they took it out. No Dr. answered any questions. Just like you I just wondered what happens to me now. Thanks to all the women for telling what happened to them. I don’t feel so alone now, it really helps alot. I wonder if lots of other women go to the hospital to have a baby and had this happen to them. Please write me again.
I had a Hysterectoy with Bilateral ovary and fallopian tube removal. The Dr. also removed my appendix. This was done October 2007. Iam 27 years old and this has been the worst nightmare. I had Endometriosis and I already had 5 laparoscopys. The Doctor said my ovaries were dead and I had a septic mass. I can not find a HRT that works for me. Iam allergic to some of them and others leave me with rashes, acne,and I just don't feel good. I was hoping you could please help me. Iam starting to understand that there isn’t any help because I can’t get my uterus and ovarys back. If they were dead I shouldn’t feel different without them. It’s me that’s dead without my ovaries. Don’t Doctors have to tell you this would happen to you before they remove your ovarys and uterus?
The trick that is not foreseen when the female patient seeks ‘Specialist’ help from a Gynecologist/Surgeon, is that after this 'expert' has removed her two ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix, with all the attached blood vessels, muscles, nerves etc. (and left her with only a vagina), the female patient will then be told by this same Gynecologist/Surgeon that there is no more reason for her to consult with him/her. She should resume her ‘life as usual’, post surgery.
The reason:
These Gynecologist/Surgeons will now claim that any post-surgery health issues their female patient has can not be related to the surgery they performed, simply because the patient only has a vagina now, so logically, how can she be having gynecological-related health issues which need their ‘expert’ attention, when she no longer has her sex organs?
See their logic? HA-HA-HA-HA-HA … Having fun yet??
The post-surgery female patient is then sent on a medical, lifetime-hide-and-seek, by the Gynecologist/Surgeon who performed her surgery. She is repeatedly told by that surgeon that they has done their job of surgery, and now it is the patient’s job to find out why she is feeling like near-death, every day of her life, post surgery, for the rest of her life.
The logic used by these ‘medical’ tricksters is that if there are no more female sex organs, then the new, post-surgery, health problems can not be 'caused' by the missing female sex organs!!
This is why I warn my female friends and family, and anyone who will listen, that they may have gynecological problems now, but post female sex-organ surgery, they will have a lifetime of much worse health issues to deal with. The trade-off is not seen till it is too late, and these medical ‘experts’ will not tell you the truth. They did not tell me the truth.
The trash being dished out by these super-gynecological monsters to innocent, unsuspecting females seeking their help, is just as low as you can get.
I am really happy I do not find myself to be a colleague among this profession. I see no future for these rascals. Their time has come, they just don’t know it yet. Thank you HERS Foundation for opening our eyes.
To the young ladies who were given c-sections and emergency hysterectomies. My heart goes out to you. That is just horrible. You should contact an attorney. Most c-sections are unnecessary and dangerous. Did the doctor tell you that one of the risks of the c-section was that you could hemorrhage and need a hysterectomy? I've also heard that many times the uterus can be repaired, but they just amputate it because it's easier and they make more money. You only have a very short time to file a lawsuit in most states, less than two years. It sounds like both of you may have a case that can be pursued legally, even though it's wrong what they did to you either way.
I recenyly had a hysterectomy on December 13th then had to turn around a have a nother surgery the 17th, due to complications. I had fibroids and endometrosis. They took my appendix also. Everysince then, I have had bad nightmares, lost sleep, had bad memory, depression,started having migraines again, and lost sexual desire. I have tried to talk to my doctor about it, the one that preformed the surgery, but all he has done is ran me through many hormone pills. I am on Premarin 1.25 now but nothing seems to help. If any one found the right hormone pills can you point me in the right direction.
Hubby of destroyed wife,
This is my plea for somebody or someone to stop this insane butchering of the woman of this country for profit.I was married to the most loving , caring & happy wife,before some madman butcher of a so called doctor performed a completely unnecessary hysteretomy on my wife. This operation should be illegal!
Since this operation ,our whole lives have been turned upside down. My wife was the absolute sunshine of my life & I can not believe I left some lying butcher lie & do this horrible thing to my wife. Everyday I helplessly watch the pain & anguish she goes through. I want so bad for her to be well. I realize now that these doctors do not care about the woman they do this to. You tell them what has happened & they just act like they've never heard this before. We know now after talking with other people , that this is the standard response & a lie . They know full well what they are doing. Lying & ruining a womans body & health for profit. All I can say now is any man ,wether husband , father , boyfriend or brother do not let this happen to the women in your life. Men need to stand up & talk about this! We need do bring this surgery for profit to and end! Please help support the HERS foundation to bring this to an end. As for me it's to late , they've already destroyed the love of my life. I know the only way I can get back at these bastards is to work at making this operation illegal! Men , It's time to speak up !
Hubby of destroyed wife...
I am 34 had a hysterectomy back in March. 2005. They left one ovary. I am finding I am so miserable. My mood swings are so bad I can't stand myself. People have made comments to my husband about me that I don't seem happy, or I am very grouchy. I can cry at the drop of a hat if someone tells me they don't like my hair. This is not normal for me because I could care less what people think of my hair. What can I do? What does this mean for me? Does it mean I need to be on estrogen or something? Please any information would be helpful. Please help me!!!
I am a 40 year old, wife and mother that had a hysterectomy in January of 2000. I had a change in personality and I have been having nightsweats (at least 2 a night) for several years along with extreme fatigue, sweet cravings, weight gain from 131lbs to 192lbs, loss of interest in maintaining my household, depression, constant irritability, joint pain, I have trouble recalling things, I have trouble sleeping at night more than 4 hours at a time, then I want to sleep all afternoon, pain when having intercourse, acne mainly on my neck, jaw line and back (I had very little as a teenager), more underarm odor, always cold.
I could go on and on, but the main reason I am writing is I would like to know if anyone here knows what test my doctor should be doing? I am tired of getting the brush off and a perscription for Wellbutrin. None of these women have said what they did to get their life back. Can you help me get my life back on track please.
Thank goodness I found your site although by accident, while searching for replacement hormone therapy! I had a hysterectomy, but my ovaries and tubes were left, just before my 22nd birthday. When I went to a doctor for menopause symptoms, she asked me why I'd had this surgery done. I can only assume it was because sex was painful for me, and I had several cervical infections. I assumed the doctor knew what he was talking about, but he never explained the bad side effects.
I am now 43 years old and within the last 10 or 15 years I have dealt with severe depression, fatigue, change in personality, aching joints, loss of feeling in the vaginal area, difficulty with libido, and difficulty enjoying sex at all, and recently in the past few years bowel problems as well. I have been having horrible hot flashes, and night sweats, and insomnia for about 10 years now. I was given all kinds of different hormone pills, patches, shots, and now 1.25 mg of hormone Estratest . I am hoping this will give me some relief. I just wanted to write and thank HERS for the web site and this blog, it explained a lot of things for me. I thought I was a mess, now I know it may have been a result of the surgery, and especially at such a young age. I have several friends who also were given hysterectomy at a young age. I will pass along this information, as well as the web site. Yes it was a shame to have had this surgery at all, especially at 22 years old. I already had all the children I wanted by then, and had a tubal ligation after my last child was born.
I am 30 years old. I am not writing to complain, I just want to know how to solve this one problem. I have had a hysterectomy and I have totally lost my sex drive. I have tried some prescription and over the counter drugs and none of them seem to work. I know there is something out there that can increase my sex drive. that is the only problem I am having. I've been like this since my surgery and I am going crazy trying to figure this out on my own. Doctors really don't try to help. Why not? Can anyone give me some information or advice on how to treat this? You talk about the problems you have but I want to know how to get sex life back.
Hi, I am 46 years old, and two years ago I was supposed to have an hysterectomy to remove my "extremely large fibroid uterus".
But, thankfully, something came up and I cancelled that surgery... I am happy, because I have no pain, no bleeding, NO NOTHING!
I had a hysterectomy in August 2005, I still have my ovaries. Recently I have had a number of health concerns from arthritis to urinary incontinence to memory loss, depression, fatigue and the list goes on. I am 29 years old and consider myself way to young to be having these problems, all of which were not an issue until after the hysterectomy. I want to see a Dr., but I do not know where to start and have felt like maybe I was crazy until I came upon this blog. Any info or help anyone can give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you telling the truth and being there for other women like me.
I am 25 and had a hysterectomy in May, 2007. Since my surgery I have experienced many complications the first being a severe staff infection, at first thought to be MRSA. I was hospitalized again and agressively treated with antibiotics. During the first 2 weeks post op I had severe night sweats and insomnia, massive acne breakouts. I have never experienced any of these things before the surgery. I am terrified. I have no sex drive and so far I have not experienced any desire. I feel exhausted and scared. My doctor has said to be patient and let the hormone replacement therapy work. I don't have time. I find myself thinking that I could just walk out on my husband, our 3 yr old and baby and my husband is very frustrated with my constant anger towards him. I have never felt the way that I do now. I am desperate and I don't know what to do. Please help if you can.
The medical industry have expanded this word ‘hysterectomy’ and encouraged its broadest meaning and interpretation, to their distinct advantage. It helps to confuse. Confusion can be useful when you wish to conquer and/or you have something to hide.
My own Gynecologist/Surgeon 36 years ago, repeatedly referred to my ‘total hysterectomy’ and informed me this was the generally accepted term for the removal of the uterus and cervix. What is baffling to me, is why should any mention of my surgery be limited to just the term, ‘total hysterectomy’ when it was so much more than that.
The fact is, my two ovaries and fallopian tubes were also removed by this same Gynecologist/Surgeon during the surgery. Apparently there was/is no single word yet coined by the medical industry for having your two ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix removed. So, until then, ‘total hysterectomy’ will just have to do. It is a matter of convenience. After all, these medical wizards don’t have the time to be accurate. All they want is for you to be in and out of their office fast enough to meet their HMO or PPO ‘insurance’ quota for the day.
For the record, all the other approx 15 medical practitioners I have consulted since my surgery 36 years ago, also chose not to be more precise in their terminology with me.
‘Total hysterectomy’ has always been the terminology mutually used in these discussions/consultations.
If the general public is a bit ‘confused’ by the term ‘hysterectomy’ we can all thank the medical industry for this. There is a clear advantage to them for creating some confusion on the issue. For openers, the varied post-surgery, after-effects are not as clearly distinguished and separable if there is some uncertainty about which actual body parts are involved.
Like me, I’ll bet you now accept the word ‘hysterectomy’ to have a much broader meaning than it’s medical designation. The surgical removal of a woman’s uterus.
Thanks to this HERS Foundation website, we can now more clearly understand that having your two ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix amputated, is not just a ‘hysterectomy’.
The words ‘total hysterectomy’, also do not accurately describe the removal of your two ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix.
I am interested in knowing if the medical practitioners consulted by the bloggers on this site bother to use the medically accurate terminology when in consultation with their patients. Please share your experiences with the rest of us. I really would appreciate knowing.
Greetings from Australia.
I had a hysterectomy in September 2006. I have lodged a complaint against the doctor who performed the surgery citing that I was coerced into surgery to remove my uterus, cervix, left fallopian tube and ovary after being provided with misleading information about the severity of my condition (fibroids) and the non-availability of alternative treatments.
The fact that I signed a consent form is now a moot point as the general attitude is: “OK, there was no medical necessity to perform this surgery but too bad, you signed the consent form and after all, most gynecological surgery is elective and performed for non life-threatening conditions.”
I should point out here that I had a high level of private medical insurance. I earnestly believe that if I didn’t, I would never have had to endure an unnecessary hysterectomy.
I signed the consent form based on the doctor’s insistence that:
- there were no suitable or available alternative treatments for uterine fibroids;
- the uterine fibroids posed an immediate and increasingly serious risk to my health and well being;
- if I didn't have the hysterectomy as soon as possible, it was inevitable I would only end up having to have it done in a life threatening emergency situation because I could become severely anaemic and / or haemorrhage and would need blood transfusions to save my life;
- my ovaries and cervix would only be removed if they were affected by serious disease such as cancer; and
- I would feel a lot better after my operation.
The doctor was a patronising little joker who had referred to my “nasty uterus” and inferred it was a diseased and useless organ, which I no longer needed and would be better off without. But foolishly, despite my reservations about his manner, I trusted him because he was after all, the doctor. How wrong I was. Needless to say, just as I later found out that my fibroids were a benign condition, the post operative pathology showed that there was nothing wrong with my cervix, fallopian tubes or ovaries but still out they came!
Adverse after effects I have suffered and continue to suffer since the surgery include:
- Abdominal and pelvic pain
- Depression
- Fatigue
- Teariness
- Night sweats and hot flushes
- Loss of libido
- Loss of vaginal sensation
- Diminished intensity of orgasm
- Painful intercourse
- Vaginal dryness and blood in vaginal discharge after intercourse
- Loss of abdominal muscle tone (My tummy now protrudes like a barrel and I have no waist at all)
- Weight gain
- Constipation
- Loss of bladder control
And so, far from feeling better after my hysterectomy, I cried for months after the surgery and ended up having to take around 6 months off work. I’m back at work now but only because I can’t afford not to work.
After the surgery, I sought out bio-identical HRT (very expensive and negligible private medical insurance rebate) but I still suffer from mood swings, sweats and flashes and almost a complete lack of interest in sex. I still feel like a powder keg ready to explode.
Anyway, my complaint has now been assessed (and pretty much dismissed) by one of the leading gynecological specialists in my state.
In response to my complaint about the menopausal symptoms I suffered immediately following the surgery, the specialist wrote that this was not due to the damage caused to ovarian function as a result of the surgery because I was left with one ovary and therefore:
“[It] should have been sufficient for (you) to go on producing endogenous hormones and therefore have no significant effect on the onset of the climacteric (change of life). I think it would be safe to assume therefore the cessation of (your) ovarian function was imminent regardless of whether (you) had the hysterectomy performed or not.”
“There is some evidence that conservation of the ovaries is beneficial to women even into their sixth decade. As it happens [the doctor] did not remove both ovaries and therefore the climacteric symptoms which you subsequently complained of would be difficult to ascribe to the surgery which was performed”.
“[One of your ovaries] could have reasonably expected to go on producing endogenous estrogens thereby avoiding any menopausal or climacteric symptoms”. The fact that these occurred so rapidly after surgery leads [me] to believe that “(your) climacteric was imminent”.
As to my complaint that the surgery has resulted in a dramatic loss of libido, loss of vaginal sensation and diminished orgasm which has led to the loss of sexual enjoyment, the specialist stated:
“[There] is no strong evidence in the literature to suggest that a hysterectomy with removal of the cervix and conservation of one or both ovaries has any effect on libido, vaginal sensation or orgasm. It is true theoretically that orgasm may be less intense because the muscular uterus has been removed but the uterus is not the only organ which is responsible for a woman achieving orgasm. There is in fact recent evidence that uterine excision does not affect vaginal sensations”.
“Issues such as loss of libido, loss of vaginal sensation, onset of menopause type symptoms, depression etc are not usually part and parcel of a total abdominal hysterectomy especially where there has been ovarian conservation which there was in (your) case, albeit one ovary”.
The specialist’s comments regarding alternatives to hysterectomy are as follows:
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists:
“…these are potent hormones which frequently have undesirable side effects such as onset of menopausal symptoms and development of osteoporosis with prolonged use. This precludes them for being used for longer than six months at a time therefore they are not suitable agents to treat uterine fibroids in the hope of a cure as they are not curative. They may cause the fibroids to diminish in size and control the symptoms of abnormal menstrual bleeding and therefore allow time for further consideration of other treatment options. However, they are expensive and not commonly used especially outside the public hospital system”.
Androgens:
“His comments concerning hormones similarly apply to Androgens. They have no established role in the management of fibroids.”
Mirena Intrauterine System:
“[There is] insufficient evidence in the literature that these have a significant benefit in the management of uterine fibroids especially in a woman who has a fibroid protruding into the uterine cavity which may be distorted and be unsuitable for use of this particular system”.
Myomectomy:
“…usually reserved for women who wish to preserve their fertility and indeed an abdominal myomectomy which is the usual operation performed with multiple fibroids is a procedure of significant magnitude, almost as great as hysterectomy. Hysteroscopic myomectomy performed through the uterine cervix with a resectoscope is a possibility for the management of sub-mucus fibroids but should only be performed by someone who has sufficient expertise in that procedure”.
Uterine Artery Embolisation:
“This procedure is gaining increased interest but is still only practised in the larger centres and needs more evaluation. Its popularity in the United States is on the increase and it is certainly a technique which is being used in some of Australia’s capital cities but eminent organisations like the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists believe that it should only be used in an experimental setting until sufficient evaluation has occurred”.
Focused Ultrasound Surgery:
“very new technique which is not practised to any extent at all in this country and in fact has yet to be carefully evaluated and assessed in more robust clinical trials”.
Myolysis and Cryomyolysis:
“have still not yet been fully assessed in clinical trials and further information is required about those techniques before they can be recommended for more widespread general use”
In conclusion, the specialist does however concede that:
“It would appear in retrospect that total hysterectomy and left salpingo oophorectomy was not the appropriate operation given the concerns which you now have expressed”.
But then continues:
“However, I would say that in 2006 the vast majority of gynecologists would have advised the course of action which [the doctor] advised”.
Right now, I feel as if I have been gutted again. It’s like I have been told that I am yet another ridiculous hysterical neurotic middle aged woman who is just too stupid to appreciate that having my female organs surgically removed for no good reason is a normal rite of passage for a modern woman.
I don’t want compensation for what happened to me and I have given up on getting even a simple apology from the doctor who mutilated me but I am absolutely determined to tell as many women as I can about my experience.
In the meantime, if anyone knows of any reliable evidence that challenges the so called specialist’s assertions, please let me know.
Regards,
Charmaine Saunders
I'm in the process of suing. All I want is to put the frighteners on these despicable cowards and to find out why I had the surgery done and was tricked into signing a consent form. I read on a forum www.patientprotect.org, which deals with patient problems within the NHS, that many women are used as practice specimens for less experienced surgeons. This was reported to have come from the mouth of the head of the RCOG. I have a strong suspicion that this is what happened to me.
I can understand the frustration of some of those who are posting and asking for the return of their sex life. However it's difficult to replace exactly the feelings you had pre surgery. Your body was able to do that naturally. Man (for it usually is a man) has come up with a poor alternative known as HRT. I would suggest to start with a low dose confined to the genital pelvic area. This will lessen some of the discomfort and allow greater movement and exercise. I strongly urge you to overcome your distaste of the new orgasm you are now experiencing and to keep masturbating and having penetrative sex (at first with a smallish vibrator and plenty of lubricant). The inference I'm giving is that you must use it or you lose it. You need not do this with your partner at first. It's like you are with a new body now. Give yourself time to get adjusted. If your partner is forcing you to have sex and is being impatient remember this. No loving partner should do this. Open channels of communication and tell them honestly that you dislike your new body and feel that he/she will too. If talking fails then seek professional help and ask family to help too. I hope that this helps. I'm not a medical person but then most medical people will never suffer the consequences of such a life changing surgery and so are really not qualified to give advice.
Of course what should really happen is that no woman should ever go through what the majority of those posting on this forum have. This forum is a wonderful instruction to those contemplating the surgery not to do it. The harmful effects are irreversible.
The loss of collagen as well as the loss of the body’s collagen making ability has been mentioned as one of the consequences of losing some or all the female sex-organs. I believe this is because of the sudden (through surgery) and ongoing loss of the major estrogen-producing organs through surgery or the ageing process.
It is reasonable to assume this loss of collagen will contribute to the thinning of the walls of the vagina, the venous system as a whole, the thinning of the walls of the digestive system, including the lining of the walls of the stomach etc. Hence the painful intercourse, stomach bloating, constipation etc. etc. Also, the appearance of thinning, dry, flaky skin to the face and body post sex-organ surgery.
I am a small to medium build so I take an over-the-counter 500MG table daily of L-Lysine, one of the essential amino-acids used to promote production of collagen which aids in the health and protection of skin.
There are many more essential amino acids we could add to our daily regime, to aid in the production of collagen. I have started with this one and found it minimally helpful.. We will not find anything to reverse our new ailments, post-surgery. We can only seek palliative aids to help us get through our most traumatic experiences.
These aids often work for a while, then lose their effectiveness. I tend to stop and start, when this happens.
Our bodies are not functioning normally, post-surgery. We will not get the same benefit from supplements etc., that a whole body would. We only have a part of our body trying to cope.
I keep trying. Good luck.
Thanks for the L-Lysine suggestion. I have been taking the vitamin, B-complex with Riboflaven, daily,
for terrible headaches, it seems to help.
It is still impossible for me to function normally over a year and a half after being so physically assaulted by sex organ removal.
I have severe atrophy in the labia, clitoral area now, it is so gross.
Every day I struggle physically and mentally, I am not even close to the women I was.
Mattie
I was also looking for answers (actually the answer) after surgery. That is how I found HERS, but ladies, I think we already know the answer... and it is, there is not one. The issues we are all commonly dealing with come but from one source, removal of the female reproductive/sex organs.
We have all run from doctor to doctor, tried multiple regimens of hormones and supplements only to still find we are not restored to our pre-surgical selves. Can it be that there is some group of doctors out there that is not following the status quo gold standard treatment post-hysterectomy, that is successful in restoring the lives of women. But each of the women who have come across this blog, although we come from different cities, states, resources, etc. - just haven't found them yet.
No ladies, this is life post-hysterectomy. This is the consequence of removal of female organs. Although we came to surgery under a number of pretenses, you got to wonder - what could be more abnormal than this? Would not fibroids, or cysts, or endometriosis, all be less abnormal than removal? I know I've had eczema since being a child, but removal of my limbs would be more abnormal than
the eczema, no matter how annoying of unsightly the eczema outbreak appears.
I spent several years going from doctor to doctor, looking for answers, and looking to understand. It always amazed me when the doctor would comment on why I had a hysterectomy. When I replied "for fibroids", the next question would be yes, but why?? Initially, I didn't understand the question, but after seeing a couple of doctors, it became clear. They wanted to hear the horrifying existence I was living pre-hysterectomy with my fibroids. Unfortunately, for me, that existence didn't come until post-op.
Everyone wants to know how to get their life back. I am sorry this has happened to you because you will never have the life you had before this surgery. Now you have a completely different life and body.
If your husband hasn't gone on line to read the women's comments, he needs to do that now to understand what is happening to you. They have taken the organs that we need for our well-being, mood swings, happiness, zest for life, mental and emotional feelings and our sexual feelings. The doctors all know by taking our sexual hormone producing organs (uterus, ovaries and cervix) it destroys our lives and our family lives.
I had my hysterecotmy/castration almost 20 years ago and am still sick and always will be, but you will somehow learn to live with it. I am on all herbal products (especially Omega 3) and mostly organic foods. I exercise and watch my weight. I definitely know how you feel about crying and not caring how you look, but starting today, you will get up, fix yourself up and put on a smile. Get out there and take a walk with your husband.
AND, stop going to a OB/GYN for your check-ups because they are trained to do only surgeries. Stop getting tests done because all you are doing is giving the hospitals and clinics more money. I had every kind of test there was because I wanted to know why I was feeling so sick until I found the Hers Foundation and found out that my surgery was the cause of all my problems.
I have to tell you I was also a mess after my surgery even to the point of taking my life, but I had two young boys and a very caring family and just couldn't leave them, so I do know how you are feeling, but by writing each other and taking one day at a time, we will get through this together. There are a lot of women you can talk to.
Get yourself healthy and then fight with us to get a law passed so this doesn't happen to other women and their famiies.
I was diagnosed yesterday with a 5cm(submucosal)fibroid and told due to location(top of uterus) I have very little in treatment options. Myomectomy could be performed in two surgeries, with high risk bowel perforation. I can take BC pills to control the bleeding, not stop growth or hysterectomy leaving the cervic and ov