sick leave

Melissa Harris Lacewell is a scholar and friend. I haven’t seen or heard from her in while. She has been out on sick leave. She has penned her first article since since her surgery. Her article is a tribute to her uterus. It is both funny and thoughtful.

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After a four-year battle with uterine fibroids, I am finally surrendering. Last Monday, I checked into N.Y. Presbyterian Hospital and underwent a hysterectomy. I am 34 years old.

I fought back with hormones and holistic treatments. I have had second and third opinions in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York. I’ve seen black doctors and white, male and female. I have had every test, read every book and gotten advice from everyone I know. In the end, I made the difficult decision to bid farewell to my uterus.

It is a tough goodbye. I really like my uterus. I don’t have personal relationships with all of my internal organs, but this one was special. She protected and carried my lovely daughter for nine months. She was with me every step of the way in a 12-hour, natural delivery. My uterus and I did not take so much as a Tylenol while birthing that seven-pound baby. We are very proud of ourselves.

My path to this surgery has had some pretty bizarre moments. There was deafening fear the first time my doctor said “oncologist.” The room went silent, and I missed the next five minutes of what my GYN said to me. I had to ask her to repeat everything when my hearing returned.

There were ludicrous situations like my three-hour appearance on CNN American Morning. I was losing so much blood that I sat on set and sent a text to my best friend: “If u dont c me after commercial call 911. I might pass out in ladies room.” (more…)