Hysteria

It’s another day at the hospital, this time for one of the last surgeries for Shannon. Since we can no longer have children (doctors orders), she has gone in for a hysterectomy and oophorectomy. Her chemotherapy already put her into menopause, and both her OB and her oncologist believe this is an appropriate course of for both her long-term health and her cancer treatment. She has to be on anti-estrogen medication for the next 5 years, and having the surgery will increase her options greatly. And, as Shannon has said in recent months “It’s not like I need those parts anymore.”

The etymology of words has always fascinated me. “Hysterectomy” comes from the Greek hystera meaning “womb.” It’s where we get the term “hysteria,” a catch-all medical diagnosis popularized in the 19th Century to describe any number of “female disorders.” It is no longer an official medical term used by physicians, but it did give us one of the greatest lines in movie history and a pretty kick-ass British rock anthem.

Today’s hospital visit brings our total trips to Medcenter One to more than 50 in the last year and a half. Five more trips and we get a surgical wing named after us. Or a free Slurpee. I haven’t read the fine print yet. That would be sweet.

As I sit in the waiting room, Shannon is in “holding” and we’re waiting for her surgery to start. It’s a relatively simple procedure, and should take about an hour once they start. Medcenter recently started offering robotic-assisted laproscopic surgery, so it will cut Shannon’s hospital stay to just overnight, and her recovery at home to a few weeks. I’ll be posting updates to Facebook and Twitter throughout the day. If anyone wants to come keep me company, feel free to stop on down.

1 Comment on “Hysteria

  1. So glad to hear all went well. We are thinking of you both.
    Wish we were in the neighborhood so we could stop on down. Take care, Pat and Dave

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