Mary Munsinger

Thank you VERY much for printing Tricia Keffer’s letter about the lack of public awareness/discussion surrounding hysterectomies.  I am deeply disturbed about what I have learned from Ms. Keffer’s letter and especially from the linked website to HERS Foundation.  The information provided is not easy to find, but it should be.  How will things ever change if not?

I am one of the one in three women over 60 who’s been encouraged to have a surgery to remove my uterus by a top-rated urogynecologist surgeon in my area.  He described the removal of my uterus and a mesh treatment (now deemed unsafe) as the “Gold Standard” for prolapse.  The lack of transparency for informed consent, the shamed silence of women living with the aftermath, combined with the financial gain for the procedure for medical practices, is shocking, misogynistic, and indeed barbaric.  It is castration.

In my case a hysterectomy would maim me for the rest of my life and lead to further surgeries down the road to correct the consequences of the removal of my uterus.  We women trust physicians to care and treat us, but I question whether we should trust the medical community at all.  Surely a surgeon knows the statistics and consequences of a promoted surgery and can’t claim ignorance. 

Enough I say!

Published April 22, 2023