Hysterectomy Scotland

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Hi, just wondered if anyone has any experience of having a hysterectomy privately in Scotland. Have had a search and struggling to find where offers this.
Thanks

Spire hospitals and Bupa hospitals both do private hysterectomy, I’m not in Scotland but looked into costs when I was on the waiting list so long in England.
There are some Spire & Bupa hospitals in Scotland so I suppose it depends where you are & if there are any near you.

Thanks, I know I have a Spire reasonably near so will look into that.

I had a oopherectomy - ovary removal - at Spire in Edinburgh.

Yes I have. I had an abdominal hysterectomy (fibroid was too large for a vaginal or keyhole op) in the Nuffield in Glasgow - west end - about 5 years ago. The surgeon who did mine has now moved on, but there were other gynaecologists working from the same hospital. Would recommend, the nurses were great, accommodation comfortable and got physio and 3 months gym membership as part of the rehab package.

Thanks CharityShopChic. Out of interest how large was your fibroid? I've a feeling mine may be too large for laparoscopic too. Did you go through NHS for consultation etc and then just go private for surgery? I'm looking at 12 week wait just to discuss options on NHS and don't know if I can wait that long!

Mahoosive. About the size of a 5 month pregnancy.

I did try a whole load of stuff with the NHS first - had a Mirena, which worked like a dream for 3 years until the fibroid grew and pushed it out of position, had tranexamic acid which also helped, but eventually I was at the stage of sleeping on towels a week out of each month and losing SO much blood I was seriously lacking in iron. DH has family BUPA cover so it was all through them. I had my initial consultation within a couple of weeks, with ultrasounds at the same time. They also sent me for a MRI (had to go to Ross Hall for that) as there is another embolisation procedure they can do to cut off the blood supply to the fibroid but it depends how/where it is attached. That was about another 2 week wait. Then after the results came through it was decided hysterectomy was the best option, the surgeon only had one operating slot a week which was Tuesday afternoon so there was no flexibility around that but I could choose which Tuesday suited me. Was in hospital 3 nights, discharged on the Friday. (This was all pre-Covid, no idea what it's all like now).

You can choose how much you are prepared to pay for - if I remember the initial consult appointment was around £150 so you could even choose to pay for that and then see where to go from there. The surgeon who did my op was a NHS surgeon too, so was able to give guidance on how long I could expect to wait on the NHS. Hope it all goes well for you, I was quite tired and wiped out for about 2 weeks afterwards but it's honestly the best thing I did. You don't realise how awful your periods were until you don't have to think about it any more.

Thanks. That's all very useful info. Mine is about 13cm x 11cm - not sure what that is in pregnancy terms? My periods are mega heavy for 2 days a month but enough to make me anaemic and the fibroid is now causing pressure on my kidneys so just want it dealt with as soon as possible.

Obviously very apprehensive about such a huge op though...

I got mine done at Spire Edinburgh, abdominal incision as I think my fibroid was about 15x15cm. They did warn me beforehand that I might gave to get a vertical incision due to the size 😵‍💫

Honestly, it was life changing, in the very best way. I had been really ill with undiagnosed anaemia thanks to bloodbath periods each month so the end of all that was amazing. I hadn’t realised just how much it was impacting my life til it wasn’t iyswim?

It is major surgery, there’s no getting away from that, and the first week or two is hard going but you recover quite quickly and I just can’t overstate how much better life is now.

My route to the op was a blood test diagnosis of anaemia and glandular fever via my GP, plus a subsequent concern about a mass (which turned out to be my fibroid). This mass, plus a slightly elevated ovarian cancer marker got me on the 2 week pathway and a cancellation appt with a gynae consultant. She diagnosed the giant fibroid and suggested a hysterectomy asap. I could wait on the NHS list or go on the special list for the Spire, which was set up to help clear the long nhs waiting lists. I took option B as the Spire was actually closer than our nhs hospital and I was done 4 weeks later.

The one slight annoyance I have about mine was there was no discussion in advance about my ovaries and whether to keep them or not. In particular, no discussion about HRT and so when it came to op day, I asked them to leave them in as I wasn’t in menopause and they were still chugging along! In hindsight, I wish I’d had them removed but I just didn’t have enough info about it at the time, so please make sure you cover that in any consultations.

Feel free to ask anything else - women on here were so helpful when I was going through mine so I like to try to do the same.

Thank you williamshatnershorses. I think Spire is probably my closest. Just out of interest, why do you wish they had taken your ovaries out too?

Also, how long was it before you felt totally back to normal and did you have to have any follow up appointments etc?

My op sounds very similar, @Williamshatnershorses complete with the warning about vertical incision. Apparently a vertical incision is to be avoided if possible as it heals much more slowly.

I kept my ovaries - the surgeon advised retaining if possible unless there is a family history of ovarian cancer, as removing them will plunge you into instant menopause which is just one more thing to deal with when recovering from a hysterectomy. They did remove my cervix though which means no more smears. (Although I cannot get NHS Greater Glasgow to stop sending me appointments). I was warned that a hysterctomy might mean menopause kicked in more quickly and i'm definitely there now and have been on HRT since January. I am almost 50 though, had my hysterectomy when I was 44.

Not having a uterus means you get oestrogen only HRT if you need it in the future.

Recovery - yes it's a major op and everyone is different. First day home from hospital was uncomfortable to say the least. After a quick 5 minute shower I needed a sit down. Spent a lot of time shuffling around. But I did improve quickly and within a week I was walking 5 minutes to the local Co Op and back. Gradually built that up to longer distances. Back driving after about 4 weeks. The advice is always not to push yourself and just do as much as you are comfortable with, and if you're tired or it hurts - stop!

Oh and follow up - I had a 6 week appointment with the surgeon who checked the scar and did a vaginal exam to see how the place where my cervix used to be had healed.

I also had an appointment with a women's specialist physio after 4-6 weeks for advice on things like pelvic floor and exercises to repair my stomach muscles. She advised low impact swimming/walking type exercise rather than high impact running.

I wish I’d had them removed simply because if I ever develop ovarian cancer I’ll be really pissed off! Taking a wider view, I like to do my research and I’d done none, no-one had spoken to me about it and my options, either for the surgery or the aftermath. It was literally only when the surgeon came in an hour before and said he was planning to remove everything that I was able to have a brief chat and he agreed he would leave my cervix and ovaries if they looked fine.

If I’d been able to talk to someone and understand the risks/impact of immediate HRT, I might have made a different decision. But we’ll never know and I know I made the right decision for me at the time. I only mention it now as I felt very put on the spot about it and wouldn’t like anyone else to be in the same situation.

In terms of recovery, the first couple of days were tough. Trying to stand up for the first time was excruciating, but I tried again a few hours later and it was much better. I think I came home 72 hours after my op and felt every pothole on the road - take a cushion to press against your incision (this is good advice for coughing too),. I started gentle walking after about a week which was great but I got tired very quickly and spent a lot of the first couple of weeks dozing. You do have to be really careful with lifting and twisting for a while - I tried some gentle ironing at about week 4 and really hurt myself! On the face of it, after 3 months I was back to ‘normal’ levels of activity but sometimes if I overdid it, I could tell as things were just uncomfortable.

I had no follow ups, other than to get my staples out.

I totally understand the wanting to be fully informed and researching everything before you make a decision.

It has also crossed my mind that if they take out cervix, ovaries etc then less places for cancer in the future but know it's not that simple and there are pros and cons to everything.

I had the ovary removal as I already had breast cancer and the BRCA2 gene. Being plunged into surgical menopause is not fun!
My SIL had a hysterectomy due to a huge fibroid and kept her ovaries.

Was your experience of Spire good weebarra?

I didn't have a hysterectomy but I've used Spire at Murrayfield for gynae problems and been very happy with them. Also had a procedure that they didn't do at BMI Ross hall in Glasgow which was fine too. Give them a ring and they'll explain what you need to do - you might need a referral letter from your GP but they can usually send that through the system electronically and if they've already referred you to NHS gynae I suspect it's just a copy and paste job!

Hi, I've just had my hysterectomy in Glasgow Rosshall Hospital on 04/07/2022 so just a week past and the care and treatment was amazing. Hope this helps 😊

@emmathedilemma you'd like to think it would be a cut and paste job for those copy referrals but actually the software doesn't work like that. So annoying ...the typist has to re-type it.

Keyhole op in Kings Park Stirling many years ago. Had ovarian cyst, op was fine, in for I think 3 days and recovery was good. Prescribed hrt.