Updated June 08, 2015.

Cancer is one reason a hysterectomy surgery may be performed. Due to cancer, and other types of gynecological problems, hysterectomy surgery is one of the most common procedures performed in the United States.

This interview is with Cynthia MacGregor, a 65-year-old resident of South Florida. Cynthia is a freelance writer and editor, and a divorced mother of one.

How old were you at the time of surgery?

32.

Why was surgery recommended for you?

Invasive carcinoma of the cervix (cancer). I was admitted to the hospital for surgery, staged, found to be further along than they had thought, sent home without surgery and set to begin radiation treatments prior to rescheduled surgery. I underwent 5 weeks of external cobalt teletherapy and two intracavitary radium insertions, but after that they still wanted to proceed with the surgery “just in case.” Although biopsies post-surgery found no live cancer cells.

What kind of symptoms were you experiencing?

Spotting between menstrual periods.

Were any alternatives to a hysterectomy offered?

I was told I needed radiation but not as an alternative, just as a precursor to the surgery.

Did you try any alternative procedures or therapies prior to surgery?

Hell no. When told I had cancer, I did as they suggested!

Did you feel like you were being “pushed” toward a hysterectomy?

No, it was a logical thing to do, given the circumstances.

Did your surgeon discuss the option to retain your ovaries, so that menopause would happen naturally, rather than immediately after surgery?

The surgeon mentioned that he was taking everything and not leaving the ovaries, in an abundance of caution lest the cancer had spread, and that was fine with me. And once it was determined I should have radiation, it became a moot point anyhow, as the radiation killed the ovaries and sent me into menopause even before the surgery.

Were you well-prepared by your physician for menopause to begin during your recovery?

Well-prepared? What constitutes “well-prepared”? I was told I would effectively go into menopause and that I would NOT be put on hormone replacement therapy because of the possibility that the hormones would escalate the growth of any cancer cells that might be left anywhere in my body. What other “preparation” would I need?

How did you cope with entering menopause so abruptly?

Fine. I had no symptoms and jokingly told the doctors that I guessed one GOOD side of having cancer was that menopause was easier.

They corrected me and told me that my easy menopause was not the result of the cancer or the rapid killing off of my ovaries etc but rather indicated that had I gone through menopause naturally I would in all likelihood have had just as easy a time of it -- one of the lucky ones. But then, I’d never had PMS or dysmenorrhea either. So that made sense to me. I never did have hot flashes etc. So there was really nothing to cope with.

Can you tell us about your recovery?

As far as the surgery itself was concerned, I guess I was pretty typical except for my stubborn refusal to lie down and play dead. In those days, they kept you in the hospital 8 days post-surgery, and they wouldn’t make an exception and let me out early, but I insisted on spending my days in the Patient Relations Administrator’s office doing volunteer work for her since they wouldn’t let me go home and get back to my real work. I walked bent over, in pain at the incision, and because of walking bent I threw my back out.

I remember one cold Saturday night shortly after I was released from the hospital, when I was in pain from the surgery, in pain from my back, shivering from the cold (which also made my back worse), and utterly miserable. But by and large I would say my recovery was unremarkable. I "stubborned" my way through it and went right back to a full work schedule. At the time I was co-publisher of a newspaper and I resumed all my responsibilities and tasks right away.

Did you worry that you would feel less womanly or sexy due to the surgery?

No, but due to the radiation (and, to a lesser extent, the surgery), my vagina became both foreshortened and inelastic, and I am utterly incapable of intercourse.

But of course, they didn’t do anything to my mouth, so I am still able to give pleasure. And they didn’t do anything to my clitoris, so I am still able to receive pleasure!

None of this, however, made me feel any less womanly or sexy.

Did you worry that having a hysterectomy would alter your sex life?

Oops -– I think I answered this already that it DID alter my sex life. But did I worry about it? No. I did not realize in advance what effect the radiation (and surgery) would have on me, so I didn’t worry.

Most women say that their sex lives are as good, or better than, before the surgery. Would you agree?

Well, I sometimes feel that I am cheating my partner by not being able to have intercourse, but my own personal pleasure level is great. And no more worries about pregnancy and no more worries about “Is he gonna get off before I come?” like you have to be concerned about in intercourse.

And fortunately, the several men who have graced my life in the years since the radiation and surgery, including my current significant other, have all been understanding and insisted that to them, too (as with me), a good orgasm is a good orgasm and never mind which method it is attained through.

Did the hysterectomy improve your symptoms?

I have been cancer-free ever since…and, of course, the bleeding (my only actual symptom) stopped when the cancer was removed.

How is life after hysterectomy?

Great.

If you could make the decision over again, what, if anything, would you do differently?

Sign myself out against medical advice if need be.

If a good friend was considering a hysterectomy, what advice would you offer?

Don’t sweat it.

What do you wish you had known before surgery that you now know?

Nothing…because the only thing I didn’t know was how it was going to mess up my vagina for sex (and again, that is more the result of the radiation than the surgery), but even if I had known that, I certainly wouldn’t have let it scare me out of having the surgery.

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