Thoughts After Watching 20/20 Regarding Current Financial Crisis

I was watching ABC'S 20/20 last night regarding the economic hardship many Americans face right now. And.... I was reminded of the economic hardship I face as well and have for quiet some time and it's not because of any executives taking bonuses or companies downsizing.

No; economic hardship has hit me because of a greedy doctor who amputated healthy female organs I needed to live. I will spend the rest of my life paying for hormones, supplements, vitamins, etc. - money spent on things my body produced all on its own for free before the surgery. I just spent $300 yesterday having hormones surgically implanted. This same week, I spent $85 to see a trauma therapist. The week before that, I spent $140 at my psychiatrist's office. None of this would be covered by insurance if I had insurance. Of course, these numbers do not take into consideration the amount I spend on thyroid medication, progesterone, DHEA, and all the antidepressants.

It's very hard to face what Dr. Busacco has done to me and even harder to realize that it was all done for greed. There was nothing wrong with me until I met this man. I couldn't help but notice how the people interviewed on the program could not stand the thought of losing their old "familiar" house and having to adjust to another one. And... I thought; try living in a body you don't recognize or feel at home in either.

As hard as it may be to adjust to living in a new "physical house", it's beyond hard to adjust to living in a new "physical body" - one you have never lived in before - one that you do not recognize. Therein lies the real and true sorrow of hysterectomy. I'm not saying that this story 20/20 aired didn't deserve a place on primetime television because it certainly did, but the needless butchering of women in America deserves a place as well.

The cost of butchering over 600,000 women each year is an astronomical cost to the American taxpayer. Women have to have surgery upon surgery after hysterectomy and they have to depend on artificial hormones, supplements, etc. for the rest of their lives .

My hope, my deepest desire is that more women (and men) will have the courage to expose the devastating affects of hysterectomy on women, their families, their employment and, more importantly, the economic system in America. Hysterectomy is estimated to be a $17/B a year "business". Hysterectomy is the second most performed surgery in America and it is 90% of the time not even necessary.

In fact, hysterectomy has been called the number one unnecessary surgery being performed in America. That's just wrong on so many levels. Shame on America for continuing to hide this 'dirty little secret'.

Hysterectomy Lies

I was given a total hysterectomy without my consent in 2007 and my life has been a nightmare physically, mentally, sexually and financially in ways that can't really be described with mere words. Since it is estimated that over 600,000 hysterectomies are performed each year in the U.S., I know there must me thousands of women just like me who don't know how to live with the body they've been left with after hysterectomy. I would like for this to be a place where women can share their thoughts about the traumatic, life-altering surgery called hysterectomy. I'd like for this blog to at the very least serve as a place of validation...