Hi
To cut a long story short there is a high incidence of uterine cancer in my family and I am about to go in for a second removal of polyps. I have heavy clotty periods that leave me anemic but are nothing like the periods I read of on this board. They vary from every 3 to 4 weeks but only kast 5 to 6 days. I do get mid cycle bleeding and cramps now and then. I am due at the hospital this january and am tempted to go for a hysteractomy as I am getting fed up with lots of small ops to remove the polyps. Also I do feel that if everything is taken away it lessens my chances of cancer. My cousin was diagnosed just last week. I'd be interested from anyone who has any advice for me as I feel very alone and the doctors seem to want to whip it out in order to make life easier for them. I am 43. Would I need HRT? I have begun to have perimenopausal symptoms. Thanks.:)

Well, I can certainly understand your situation as it is much the same as mine. I've had two D&C's, and within a year of my last one, developed a very large polyp all over again.

Being that as it may, I also have some very large fibroids, one the size of a tennis ball last I knew.

So even though I'm 51, I really don't have any symptoms of menopause other than an occasional night sweat (and those are few and far between so to speak) that I decided to go ahead with the hysterectomy.

I'm scheduled for two weeks from now and am SO ready for this part of my life to be over. I'm generally stuck at home for several days a month due to the heavy bleeding and I want to get my life back again.

You may want to look into getting an endometrial ablation first before doing something as drastic as hysterectomy. I would have had except my uterus was much too enlarged to have it done.

Weigh all your options first though, and don't make a hasty decision. It's taken me about five years to finally give in and do it, but I know I've exhausted all options. Best of luck in whatever you decide, but take your time and do some research.

Thanks for your reply. A friend of mine has also had ablation done. I think that is something I will ask about at my appointment.

Hi - this is the first time I'm posting on this board but after reading your post I have to ask how things went with your second surgery for polyps and by "surgery" do you mean D&C? Have you had endometrial biopsies and how did your pathology reports come back?

I'm 57 and 3 years ago had perimenopause symptoms (skipped 4 months and then had a "doozie" for over a month). Long story short - over the next two years had two D&C's, numerous biopsies - two showed hyperplasia and the first D&C came back with several (8-10) polyps. Saw two gyns and one oncol/gyn who all said hysterectomy then saw a second oncol/gyn who said he did not thing I needed a hyst just another D&C. I'm so glad I had several opinions (although I thought I was crazy to see so many doctors). In March it will be two years since my last D&C and I haven't had a period in over 17 months now so I guess I'm postmenopause and I feel great. I always wanted to give my body more time to get through the transition.

My suggestion would always be - get at least two opinions from doctors in different practices and if there is any chance there is cancer please consult an oncologist/gyn. They are the experts when it comes to female cancer. The right things need to be done at the time of surgery.

Good luck to everyone facing this very scary surgery.

Mary