My O My O Myomectomy

by Carole Rose Livingston
(c) 1993

Refrain:

My o my o myomectomy,
I don't need a hysterectomy.
Doctor, do not bash or batter me.
Do not mess with my anatomy.

1.

My womb is made for childbearing.
Probably I won't need a caesarean.
I can't push the baby outta me.
I won't need an episiotomy.

Refrain.

2.

My nourishing breasts don't need reduction
So I don't need lyposuction,
And in this erogenous zone
I surely don't need silicone.

Refrain.

3.

If a knife-wielding mugger leapt out of an alley,
Cut up my face and stole my money,
He wouldn't call himself an MD,
And advertise it on TV.

Refrain.

4.

Doctor, do not do me injury
With unnecessary surgery.
If you harm my parts obstetrical,
I'll sue you for an arm and a leg -- and a testicle.

Refrain.

Coda:

My o my o myomectomy. (2X)

At least half of all hysterectomies are entirely unnecessary. The majority of the unnecessary ones are performed because of the presence in, or on, the uterus of benign tumors called fibroids.

The operation to remove fibroids from the uterus is called a myomectomy. It is not a new procedure; myomectomies have been performed since 1921. Yet most people have never heard this word.

It galls me that practically everyone in the world knows the word "hysterectomy" and almost no one has ever heard the word "myomectomy." I live for the day that everyone knows what a myomectomy is, and most people look bewildered when they hear the word "hysterectomy."

A myomectomy can be performed even when the fibroid is "the size of a grapefruit." This I know from personal experience. In 1980, four fibroids were removed from my uterus. The largest was the size of a grapefruit.

Not all fiborids need to be surgically removed. Some remain small, causing no discomfort. Some shrink and disappear by themselves. Some may do so after dietary changes.

Many women are told that for the removal of a fiborid their only option is a hysterectomy. Any woman so advised has not been provided with sufficient information to give her informed consent to surgery.