Five questions I’ve been asked about my hysterectomy

Any kind of medical procedure can generate a lot of questions, but major surgery can lead to a whole raft of them. Sometimes they’re about the operation itself, sometimes they’re about recovery… and sometimes they can be rather amusing!

Here’s five questions I’ve been asked about my hysterectomy.

‘Did you really need a hysterectomy?’

Yes, yes I did. All other treatment options had been exhausted, and it was the only thing left. Believe me, I would have preferred to not have major surgery, but there was no magic wand to transform my periods from the hellscape they were into something bearable.

‘So you won’t ever have a period again?’

Nope, no ma’am/sir/insert your preferred pronoun here. No more periods for me, no more counting days on my calendar and best of all, no more buying menstrual products. Ironically I’m seeing a ton of ads for menstrual cups lately… I am still adjusting to not obsessively tracking my period. My tracker has been deleted. That was a big step for me, not counting anymore. My periods were my life, and it’s been a bit of a learning curve to live without them.

‘Can you have sex?’

Yes I can. I didn’t have that bit taken out and am happy to report everything works as normal.

‘Wait… if you don’t have a uterus, but your ovaries are still making eggs, can you still get pregnant?’

Dear British education system, I think this question demonstrates the need for you to up your game on the biology and sex ed curriculum. No, sweet girl who asked me this, I can’t get pregnant. My ovaries are like two old apple trees throwing out fruit once a month and it’s falling into the void. I was told my ovaries will die within five years anyway, poor things.

‘Can you feel that your uterus isn’t there anymore?’

This is a hard one to answer if I’m honest. Immediately after the operation I felt a bit… empty… but no, I can’t feel it’s not there. Everything feels normal. I don’t really feel anything!

And a bonus sixth question that someone asked me last week because this amused me greatly:

‘Do you miss having periods?’

Which part, the part where I’m in crippling pain or the part where I’m bleeding profusely?

That’s it! I’ve been asked a ton of questions about my hysterectomy but these are the most common.