Hysterectomy:  Dani Hennessy

Dani was 38 years old when her life changed forever. Fortunately she and Sean had completed their family; they have two children aged 15 and 11. Dani was initially referred to a specialist because she had become severely anaemic after battling very heavy periods for almost four weeks out of every month. She opted for an intrauterine device (LNG-IUS), as this would control the bleeding without the need for a hysterectomy – and also act as a contraceptive. The bleeding stopped immediately, iron tablets were discontinued and Dani’s blood pressure returned to normal. Now she could go out without having to check how far away the toilets were or carrying a stock of pads in her back pockets.

Life returned to normal for 18 months before Dani realised she had started bleeding again. The LNG-IUS wasn’t working, her anaemia was near transfusion point and she had heart palpitations and nausea. Ultrasound showed polyps in Dani’s uterus, which are usually harmless. However, pathology showed early stage cancer cells in the polyps and Dani now needed a hysterectomy to stop these cells developing and spreading. Fortunately Dani and Sean had no plans for more children.

In May 2006 Dani had a vaginal hysterectomy to remove her uterus and cervix. Dani is lucky; her histology results showed no other signs of cancerous cells. She is grateful for Nurture’s research on surgical approaches to hysterectomy. There were no other treatment options left for Dani, but she was able to have a vaginal hysterectomy instead of abdominal surgery, which meant fewer complications and a quicker recovery.

Click here to read “Surgical approaches to hysterectomy”