The last straw
Then, three weeks before my surgery, I got a phone call from my dad in Toronto saying Sue had been killed in a car accident an hour earlier. Just like that. Gone. No warning, no chance to say goodbye or I love you. She was only 52. After the initial shock wore off and we got through her funeral, I began to think. If Sue could wake up one morning, do something as innocent as watch her son play hockey and not come home, then maybe I might not survive something as major as surgery or have complications. My doubts were enough to make me cancel my hysterectomy. Suddenly, I turned the whole 'freedom to choose' thing upside down.
A few days later, my family doctor suggested I try the Mirena, a progesterone-releasing intrauterine device, to stop my period and buy me some time. (I was one of the lucky fibroid sufferers for whom it worked. But at about $300, the Mirena is expensive, and it wasn't covered by my health insurance plan.) Finally, with the bleeding under control, I was able to think straight for the first time in more than a year. I decided to do what most women love to do — go shopping — except in this case it was for a doctor who could help me without removing my reproductive organs. I shopped online, made cold calls, scanned books and articles, spoke with experts over the phone, and finally found a gynecologist who specialized in alternatives to hysterectomy. Finding him was like having a miracle dropped in my lap (pun intended).
Meeting the right doctor
Fortunately for me, Sony Singh had just moved to Ottawa to begin teaching obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Ottawa and to open a new minimally invasive gynecology clinic at the Ottawa Hospital. At the tender age of 34, Singh is considered one of the leading experts in Canada on minimally invasive gynecology, which employs smaller and fewer incisions, leading to a shorter recovery time by reducing pain and trauma to the body. Singh and his colleague Hassan Shenassa, also of Ottawa, are part of a national group of gynecologists who have formed the first professional society in Canada devoted to promoting the specialty.
Singh confirms that hysterectomies are still warranted in some cases, but says less invasive procedures can produce as high as an 80 per cent avoidance rate. "We like to avoid hysterectomy because of the risks of infection and injury to the bowel and bladder," he says.
"The reason I am so passionate about minimally invasive surgery is because it significantly benefits our patients," continues Singh, who is also the executive director of the Society of Minimally Invasive Gynaecology. "They feel better sooner, they're back at work quicker, whereas with traditional approaches patients require a hospital stay, longer recovery with more suffering and definitely more risks."
Minimally invasive surgeries include such procedures as burning the lining of the endometrium to reduce heavy bleeding, endometrial ablation (which Singh can perform in his office without anesthetic in as little as 90 seconds for non-fibroid-related problems) and vaginal hysterectomies, where the uterus is removed through the vagina without cutting through the abdomen. Although still a hysterectomy, this type is considered less invasive because it presents fewer risks, has a faster recovery time and can be done as day surgery.
