Little advice .... am I allowed to do this?

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bunnynessuk

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Hi,

I suffered a miscarriage a few months ago and since then my doctors have advised me to have a hysterectomy, this is due to my endometriosis, pcos, cervical incompetance (apparently the opening to my womb is to weak and will result in a late miscarriage should I concieve). I am 21 overweight and I suffer from ridiculously painful periods by which I mean I am often hospitalised during my period and put on IV to reduce my temperature and painkillers to reduce the pain - I normally get kidney infections etc during my period.

My question is can I get a hysterectomy? Im already refusing birth control and controlling the pain with a heavy mix of ibprofen and parecetomol generally 1600mg of the first and 1000mg of the second (all via prescription) every 3 hours which has resulted in bowel lacerations???

I want to follow god and I want to be able to marry - is this allowed?:confused:

Thanks

J
 
If you need a hysterectomy because of a diseased organ, then I believe it is permitted.

I hope this article from the Vatican helps:

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_31071994_uterine-isolation_en.html

Your fertility or infertility has nothing to do with your ability to marry. 🙂 As long as you are physically able to consummate the marriage, you can marry.

Is your need for a hysterectomy the opinion of just one doctor? I don’t know how things work in the UK, but would it be possible to get second, third, and fourth opinions? Obviously, if surgery is the only way to make you healthy, and remove the danger of death, it is permitted.

Your situation is the worst I have ever heard. :console: My goodness, that’s a lot to deal with!
 
I have been to see SOOO many specialists unfortunatley I havent found a ‘catholic clinic’?? Any UKers heard of one???

Specialists views on my illness have varied from your too fat (when I was 16) to your a woman deal with it (18) to todays well a hysterectomy will remove the problem!

Im fed up of it to be honest the illness im managing to live with but the advice of th doctors good heavens its ridiculous!!!

I am overweight but I go to the gym 3/4 times a week I eat around 1300 calories a day and yet I never loose weight!!! Im fed up of my periods but I am lucky in that I might only have 1 every 4 months but still pain in the butt when you are trying to get a good career!

I believe that my illnesses stem from childhood sexual abuse but I could be wrong, particularly as its very hard to diagnose what excactly I have my PCOS isnt normal sure im overweight but I dont have too much progesterone?? I have too much oestrogen! And my cysts are very small with only a couple of clusters? My endo is very small and causes more problems than it should given the amounts I have (so small they didnt laser most of it in the Laproscopy) etc!! Garr so frustrating!

Im not sure about the hysteretomy BECAUSE I dont think my organs are deseased? A lot of it appears hormonal?? My ovaries apparently are fairly normal???

So confused :confused:
 
Sounds like your weight problem is similar to a friend of mine. She is lacking a certain hormone which prevents weight loss regardless of diet or exercise. here in the US there is a treatment for that and she lost 40lbs in two months. Awesome huh?

Also the PCOS and Endometrosis do not stem from sexual abuse. i have those same conditions, no where near as bad as you, and so did my mother, and so did her aunt. It is genetic and biological.

My mother was forced to have a hysterectomy when she was 25 b/c if she had gotten pregnant again she would have died. I almost killed her when I was born. Most doctors would not recommend a hysterectomy to someone so young and especially since you haven’t had children. But since you said that you cannot…then I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. It would be sinful if you got a hysterectomy only to prevent children so you could have sex. If you can’t have children anyway I don’t see the problem. I am 24 and I’m not sure what I’m going to do about it all. I guess I can live with it and I haven’t ever been pregnant before so I don’t know how my body will handle that.

All I can say is I wish you the best! It sounds like you are going through a very rough time.
 
Has anyone ever done a full thyroid work-up and checked your adrenal glands?
 
I dont think Ive had a thyroid check?? Not too sure what one is?
 
bunnynessuk said:
Im not sure about the hysteretomy BECAUSE I dont think my organs are deseased? A lot of it appears hormonal?? My ovaries apparently are fairly normal???

So confused :confused:
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Oh, I see where your confusion is! If hormones are the problem, I would be very hesitant to have my uterus removed.

Have you heard of the Pope Paul VI Institute?

popepaulvi.com/

They specialize in these kinds of things. I wonder if they could help you, or refer you to someone in your country?

Does anyone else know? I know a few ladies here have been helped by PPVI. I think Teakafrog has (please forgive me, Tammy, if I’m mistaking you for someone else). 😃
 
bunnynessuk said:
I dont think Ive had a thyroid check?? Not too sure what one is?
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Your thyroid produces/regulates a lot of hormones. I would be very upset if a doctor recommended a hysterectomy without doing a hormone check first. 😦
 
bunnynessuk said:
Hi,

I suffered a miscarriage a few months ago and since then my doctors have advised me to have a hysterectomy, this is due to my endometriosis, pcos, cervical incompetance (apparently the opening to my womb is to weak and will result in a late miscarriage should I concieve). I am 21 overweight and I suffer from ridiculously painful periods by which I mean I am often hospitalised during my period and put on IV to reduce my temperature and painkillers to reduce the pain - I normally get kidney infections etc during my period.

My question is can I get a hysterectomy? Im already refusing birth control and controlling the pain with a heavy mix of ibprofen and parecetomol generally 1600mg of the first and 1000mg of the second (all via prescription) every 3 hours which has resulted in bowel lacerations???

I want to follow god and I want to be able to marry - is this allowed?:confused:

Thanks

J
Click to expand...
PLEASE, get a second opinion! And try to get it from a pro-life doctor if you can (the Catholic Physicians Guild may have a website with a listing of pro-life doctors near you. If not, contact ccli.org

I’m not Catholic, but as an Orthodox Jew I am very pro-life and pro-family. I also have had PCOS all my life, and always had very irregular and very painful periods, so I know what you’re talking about.

I was also advised many years ago to have a hysterectomy, but I did not. I ended up having three living children, though I also lost four to both miscarriage (1) and stillbirth (3). I wound up with a hysterectomy, but it was due to an unexpected uterine rupture that took place while my last living child was being born.
 
Carolinagirl411 said:
My mother was forced to have a hysterectomy when she was 25 b/c if she had gotten pregnant again she would have died.
Click to expand...
According to the Vatican document I linked to above, this situation isn’t a valid reason to have a hysterectomy. I only point that out for the benefit of others reading/lurking on the thread, not as any sort of judgment of your mom, Carolina. I’m sure she didn’t know. 😦
 
Your thyroid can be fine and you can still have a hormonal imbalance…if your ovaries are not producing any. My thyroid is fine and so is my friend and yet we still have hormonal imbalance issues that cause the reproductive issues. That would prob be one of the first tests they run though, that was what it was with me. The weird thing with me is that I couldn’t gain weight…and I had bad acid reflux.
 
Being overweight may be creating some havoc on you. I agree with getting the thyroid check. If weight has been an issue all your life, how about “lap band” surgery? Unlike gastic bypass (which is forever), the lap band allows you to lose weight gradually and can be adjusted.

At your age I don’t think a hysterecomy is the end all be all until and unless you have tried all other methods.

I am sure there are bariactric surgeons in your country that are familiar with lap band surgery. There are critera, you have to be clinically obese 50 or more pounds overweight.

I wish you the best…get yourself checked out thoroughly.👍
 
Julianna said:
Being overweight may be creating some havoc on you. I agree with getting the thyroid check. If weight has been an issue all your life, how about “lap band” surgery? Unlike gastic bypass (which is forever), the lap band allows you to lose weight gradually and can be adjusted.

At your age I don’t think a hysterecomy is the end all be all until and unless you have tried all other methods.

I am sure there are bariactric surgeons in your country that are familiar with lap band surgery. There are critera, you have to be clinically obese 50 or more pounds overweight.

I wish you the best…get yourself checked out thoroughly.👍
Click to expand...
BEFORE you even think of any bariatric surgery, please remember that it is surgery and as such carries its own risks.

Additionally, if you truly are keeping to a 1,300 calorie diet, something other than your diet is a problem:

I have been severely obese my entire life - nearly 100 lbs. in 1st Grade. All I ever heard from doctors was that I should “eat less” when I was barely eating. Then, of course, there were the doctors telling me to eat more to stimulate my metabolism.

ALL OF THEM, however, totally ignored all my other complaints.

Praise the Lord, I finally found a good doctor who did the right tests and put me on thyroid medication. In the past year and a half, with very little physical activity (bad arthritis) and moderate dieting (1,500 calories to compensate for the inactivity), I HAVE LOST 140 LBS. SO FAR! :extrahappy:

If you have any doubts about what a doctor tells you, just remember that you know best about your body since you are living in it. There’s always other doctors for another opinion. I looked for a good doctor, my present doctor, for about 25 years. I’m not saying it will take you that long or that you should never listen to a doctor’s advice, but trust me (you are very young - I’m 53), doctors are VERY quick to push hysterectomies for a variety of reasons. As you grow older, you will find that they rarely suggest removal of male “equipment.” 😉
 
Truly_Beloved said:
According to the Vatican document I linked to above, this situation isn’t a valid reason to have a hysterectomy. I only point that out for the benefit of others reading/lurking on the thread, not as any sort of judgment of your mom, Carolina. I’m sure she didn’t know. 😦
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No she didn’t know because we weren’t Catholic then…I’m still glad she did it though. I wouldn’t have had a mother. I know the reasons why Catholics argue against it.

so what exactly are the appropriate reasons to have a hysterectomy if death is not one?
 
If you have PCOS and it isn’t being treated, of course you’re going to have problems!!! Insist that you get proper treatment for the PCOS before doing something as drastic as a hysterectomy, especially since you don’t have any children already. PCOS CAN be treated, you just have to find a doc that has a clue. Go to a reproductive endocrinologist (RE) immediately. These docs specialize in hormonal problems and can actually treat the DISEASE, not just the SYMPTOMS. Please get treatment–my life has been so much better since my PCOS is under control with medication. I hope yours will be too.
 
I second the RE suggestion. And having a complete hormone work up.

I have PCOS, and all the fun that goes with it.
Overweigh, High Blood Pressure, Hypothyroid, Irregular/heavy periods, as well as anemia and ITP (nonrelated autoimmune disease).

I’m on 1000mg of Metformin, 125mg of Synthroid, 100mg of Labetalol (blood pressure), iron, and have taken a round of steroids for the ITP.

Get a second opinion and get checked. Many times, this can
be treated, and successfully. Once all the above meds were correct for my system, I cycled on my own, and with the help of Clomid and Follistim, ovulated and got pregnant.

I’m currently 16w. Don’t give up, keep searching for the right help.
 
Carolinagirl411 said:
so what exactly are the appropriate reasons to have a hysterectomy if death is not one?
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I’m sorry if misunderstood you; I thought that the hysterectomy was done to prevent pregnancy, not because of an immediate need to save her life. Sterilization is against Church teaching. If her uterus itself was endangering her life, then clearly its removal is morally licit. If pregnancy is what would’ve killed her, then a hysterectomy is not morally licit (see the link in post #2). There are morally appropriate ways of dealing with that situation (preventing pregnancy), so death is avoidable.

I apologize if I got the wrong impression.
 
I don’t know anything about PCOS and the hormonal imbalances discussed in this thread, BUT, the original poster mentioned refusing hormonal birth control, even though they would be used for therapeutic, rather than ABC reasons.

Now, I’ve no idea whether the hormonal BC pill would or wouldn’t help the OP’s condition, but I do know this: for therapeutic reasons, the hormonal BC pill may be taken by a Catholic woman.

Maybe the links provided state this clearly. I’m just making certain this fact is mentioned in the thread itself.
 
Bunnynesuk,
I don’t know if you realise but there are some NaPro doctors in the UK, who might be able to help you. I hope the following links might be of some use to you for contact details:
www.naprotechnology.co.uk
www.lifefertilitycare.co.uk

Another website I found was:
catholicdoctors.org.uk/index.htm

Another excellent person to contact would be Dr. Phil Boyle in the Galway Clinic in the west of Ireland (www.fertilitycare.net)). He’s a NaPro doctor. He is really great and he says that PCOS is one of his favourite things to treat because he has such good results with it. Ireland is probably a bit awkward for you but you could always phone/email him - he’ll be able to tell if you are suitable for NaPro treatment and give you some more information about it. I can’t praise Dr. Boyle enough - I’m a fertility care teacher/practioner and he has lectured to us on several occasions and is very approachable.

God bless and I’ll think of you in my prayers,
Suaimhneas
 
Darn, previous poster beat me with these links. Life fertility care and Napro are very good at treating the whole of you. God bless.
 
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