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WHEN THINKING ABOUT GYN SURGERY… Carol Martin Made the Right Choice
By Patrice DickeyCosmetic surgery consultant Carol Martin knows her way around an operating room. After 25 years’ experience putting solid information in the hands of consumers facing life-changing decisions, she knows what to look for in a surgeon. For herself, as for her clients, she goes strictly for the best. In March, the high-profile proprietor of The Informed Choice had to make her own decisions about a GYN surgery. She and her husband Art Harris had confidence it would improve their sexual relationship. “For years I’d dealt with horrible migraines and painful intercourse during the second half of my cycle, which I was told would only get worse. That was the first opinion. Since I’m in the business of opinions, I had to get two or three,” she confided. Working with her second physician, she tried to deal with the migraines using hormones, to no avail. The mood swings grew worse and sex more painful. Through research she learned the difference between gynecologic surgery done the old way, with long abdominal incisions, and the minimally invasive way, which has been practiced for more than a decade. A traditional “bikini incision” means slicing through abdominal muscles and nerves which can take weeks or months to heal. Worse, Carol had heard from a friend that her sex life took a nosedive after having a traditional hysterectomy. With laparoscopic procedures, patients endure less pain, less risk and recover more quickly. Of course, Carol chose the latter. Her second physician sent her to the surgeon he thought was the best: Thomas L. Lyons, M.D., of the Center for Women’s Care & Reproductive Surgery. ‘He told me he didn’t perform enough laparoscopic hysterectomies to feel comfortable doing mine,’ said Carol, who turns 48 in July but looks years younger. ‘I wish all doctors were that honest.’ ALL QUESTIONS ANSWERED In a consultation with Dr. Lyons, Carol and her husband Art Harris learned that Lyons had developed the minimally invasive Laparoscopic Supracervical Hysterectomy (LSH) in 1990 and had performed hundreds of them successfully. Importantly, LSH leaves the cervix intact as a keystone support to the female anatomy, which improves sexual function post-surgery and helps prevent pelvic prolapse later. ‘Always pick your doctors based on their experience,’ said Carol. ‘Never pick based on gender, religion or skin color. Ask other doctors—and nurses—who they would recommend.’ The night after her surgery, Carol climbed four flights of stairs in their Ansley Park townhouse, and fixed her own dinner. ‘I never took a pain pill—just Advil for a couple days,’ she said. Her two biggest fears about the surgery: gaining weight, and not being able to climax, did not happen. Within two weeks, she was back to weight training and enjoying a healthy sex life with her husband. Although Dr. Lyons has trained hundreds of surgeons around the world on the LSH technique he developed, it is not performed by everyone. Some surgeons refuse to perform laparoscopic procedures on a large uterus. The size of the problem is not an issue for Dr. Lyons. ‘It’s especially important that patients choose a surgeon who is experienced in working with lasers and laparoscopy. LSH requires more skill than open abdominal hysterectomy. It’s easier on the patient, but more challenging for the surgeon,’ explained Dr. Lyons. Many surgeons will attempt a laparoscopic procedure and feel it necessary to convert to an open surgery with a long incision during the procedure. Make sure to ask your surgeon about his or her conversion ratio. Dr. Lyons’ conversion ratio is less than one percent.
Center for Women's Care &
Reproductive Surgery© 2006 |
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