And now for my next trick…

So today I’m having a full hysterectomy 😳.

I’m a bit fed up of hospitals now – as you can well imagine. This op is needed however to prevent ovarian cancer in the future.

I’m currently sat in the day room on Ward 98 at St James’ Hospital, Leeds. I am last on the list for the day and the op will take about an hour. I’m having it done via key-hole which blows my mind. They also pump you with carbon dioxide so they can see things easier 🤓

If you have a dodgy BRCA gene you are at greater risk of getting (in particular) ovarian and breast cancer. The risk of ovarian cancer increases from the age of 40. The below table shows the % increase in addition to the normal levels found in the population.

Although I’m a few years off 40, I’d rather get it out of the way. It’s something that I will inevitably do as a prevention to getting ovarian cancer anyway, so I may as well crack on. I’m fortunate to already have two beautiful children, so in this regard my family is complete and the decision is a pretty easy.

I’ve been planning this for about six months now. Having the surgery is one thing, and it will take time to recover. But then there’s the surgically induced menopause 😳. The latter part I am more anxious about. Here’s what’s going through my mind:

Will I turn into a monster?

Will my bones go to pot?

Am I seriously going to get redder and hotter than I am?

Will my libido go downhill?

Will my memory be even worse than it is already?

Will I put on tonnes of weight?

Will my processing skills get even worse?

What will be will be. I have no control over it, therefore I need to take it in my stride and deal with it as/when it happens.

The one big thing I have done (which I have mentioned before) is I have lost weight and I’m now much leaner and in good shape going into the op. I know that when you’re going through the menopause, you can put on weight and find it difficult to loose weight. You’re also at risk of getting osteoporosis due to the drop in oestrogen. Another reason to get fit!

Anywho, they’ll be lots more future blogs on this. Here’s my parting gift of a sexy pre-surgery shot 🤣.

I’ll see you on the other side.

Liz Spice, 29 November 2018