I was saddened to see the news this week that some people are waiting years to have a hysterectomy in Tayside and Fife.

As someone who underwent that particular procedure I know how daunting the wait is.

In fact, today (Saturday March 14) is the four year anniversary of me getting the operation, which I had as a result of early stage cervical cancer.

I’m still unsure if it is something to celebrate.

Why cancer led to my hysterectomy

I’ve told the story of my cancer in The Courier before, so I won’t retread old ground too much.

The important bit just now is that following a number of procedures to remove the “invasion” (the word used when I was told I had cancer; I’d had to ask them to just tell me if I had it or not and stop with the euphemisms) I was facing six-monthly check ups for the next five years.

If any of those appointments showed any sign of the cancer coming back, the doctors told me I would probably have to have the hysterectomy because given how much of my cervix they’d already removed they would probably just have to take it all.

The weeks leading up to my first six month check up was so stressful and anxiety-ridden for me that I knew I couldn’t face it for the next five years.

So at that appointment I told my consultant, the amazing Dr Ragupathy at NHS Tayside, I wanted to be put on the list for a hysterectomy. (It turned out to be a good move, as the tests from that check up later showed more cell changes, which could have meant more cancer.)

I had my surgery four months after I joined waiting list

That appointment was in December of 2021 and I had surgery four months later.

It wasn’t easy but it was quick and I began the healing process and getting life back to normal as a cancer-free person who didn’t need any more treatment.

I don’t know why I got the surgery as quickly as I did. It was during Covid-19, so if anything you’d imagine there were less operations than normal and I would have faced a longer wait.

My time in hospital wasn’t great (a story for another time; there were a number of failings in my care) but I was in and out in under 72 hours.

I cannot imagine having to wait four years, which is the case of one patient highlighted this week.

I don’t know that person’s specific circumstances for being on the waiting list, so I won’t speculate on their condition or its severity.

However, I know as someone who had a hysterectomy that the decision to remove that part of a woman’s body is not an easy one to make.

It ends your ability to bear your own children, it can put you into menopause in an instant and it can completely change your body and how it works.

The adjustment to life post-surgery is not an easy one, even for people like me who never intended to have children and don’t need to climb that particular emotional mountain.

Even now, four years post-op I still feel the effects of the surgery in my body.

Women’s healthcare shouldn’t be a weapon in electioneering

But I really don’t agree with Scottish Labour’s claim that “women’s health in Scotland has been treated as an afterthought for too long” as it pertains to this surgery, because my case shows that isn’t always true.

It also feels like as the Holyrood election approaches, Labour is weaponising women’s healthcare to try and score points against the SNP.

That makes my skin crawl.

Yes there are legitimate problems with the NHS, which include gynaecological care and surgeries, but it shouldn’t be turned into a bat to beat opposition with.

And why are they only looking at the most extreme cases, when there will undoubtedly be people who had their surgery extremely quickly and are outliers in the other direction.

I’m grateful for what NHS Tayside did for me

I’m not sure if I fall into that category, but I went from diagnosis to surgery for a gynaecological cancer in less than 18 months.

That’s not an afterthought. Because my cancer was early stage they could have deferred treatment for a while as it wasn’t “as bad” as many others.

Because I technically didn’t have cancer when I was put on the waiting list, I was just getting check ups, they could have put me right at the bottom and I could have waiting much longer than I did.

NHS Tayside and my consultant took my cancer seriously and endeavoured to get rid of it as quickly and thoroughly as they could.

For that I will always be grateful because my situation could have been far worse for me and my loved ones.

© The Courier