(This was originally written March 1, 2022. I was still struggling to choose a domain name! Still, here is where I was after 4 weeks. I will follow up with my 7-week update in a day or so.)
When someone is diagnosed with gynecological cancer, the standard of care is usually a radical hysterectomy. The definition of ‘radical hysterectomy’ seems to vary a little online. Either it means the removal of the uterus, cervix, and ‘surrounding tissues’ (whatever that specifically means), or it means the removal of those things, plus the fallopian tubes (salpingectomy), ovaries (oophorectomy), and sentinel lymph nodes (lymphadenectomy), plus they also cut off the very top bit (not a lot) of the vaginal canal. Whether a gynecological oncologist defines it one way or another (or doesn’t specify a term at all – mine did not), it’s standard for them to plan to take everything listed in the latter definition. According to the former, I definitely had a radical hysterectomy, but according to the latter, I did not, because I chose to keep my ovaries.
Continue reading My sex life, 4 weeks post-op from a (nearly) radical hysterectomy