Please don’t get a hysterectomy without reading this blog

Dear Friend,

I am sending this info to as many of my lady friends as I possibly can, in hopes that you will pass it on to your circles as well. It is critical that you and the women in your life are made aware of this issue. 

This is an article that came out regarding a laproscopic hysterectomy procedure called morcellation. http://bit.ly/1m8mC9j . Simpified, the procedure basically chops up fibroids and the uterus into smaller bits so it can be sucked out of the laproscopic tubes vs women having to have a more invasive open procedure. The horror story behind this is that in the presence of cancer (not always identified pre-operatively even with testing) this chopping up propels the cancer throughout the abdomen and pelvis. This is referred to as upstaging the cancer. The couple highlighted in the article who experienced this in the Fall of 2013, Hooman Noorchashm and Amy Reed, are married physicians and the parents of 6 children. They are fighting for Amy’s life and to stop the practice of morcellation.

This blew me away, and I posted it to my Facebook and twitter feeds. Quickly I discovered that a friend had this same scenario play out for her cousin. Three more friends have subsequently written to say they are currently in the midst of having fibroids diagnosed and next steps are being discussed with their physician, so the info was timely. I didn’t want to hesitate to send a note to all of you to prevent one of you stepping into this horror story! Not on my watch!

 I wrote Dr. Noorchashm to ask if there was anything we could do to support him as he works to stop this dangerous practice. Here was his reply:

 “Thanks for your email. You can help us. Please fill out and send the form letter at the following link to your US senators and demand a congressional hearing.

http://sarcomaalliance.org/featurednews/   (site notes 1/400-1000 risk factor)

Please pass it on to as many women and friends you can ask them to do the same. The United States Senate must act to protect any more families from devastation.”

 You can also share and sign their change.org petition here: http://chn.ge/1frFI7P

 Please, please pass this info around to every mom, sister, cousin, friend you have. Please read the article and petitions. 

 Be well and be informed everyone! Julie

PS-In exploring this issue further, I have discovered a group of women who have experienced horrible side effects from the use of the birth control method called Essure. In the event of negative reactions to the device, it has to be removed via hysterectomy. Yep you guessed it, some have now discovered that they too have had previously undiagnosed cancer upstaged because of the morcellation technique used to remove the Essure. More here: http://www.wggb.com/2013/11/07/essure-birth-control-women-complain-of-serious-side-effects/