when do you know?

I've been wondering--how do you know when it's time for a hysterectomy?  I've been seriously thinking about having one.  Over the past two years, I have read so much about the good reasons to keep a uterus.  I certainly don't want to have one if something else will work.  I've talked with women who have had hysterectomies, and many of the concerns I've had have not been problems for these women.

However--and there's always a "however," isn't there?--sometimes, it is the right choice.  I fully believe that the pain I've experienced is from my fibroid.  There are a couple much less invasive procedures that most likely would help.  Even with these procedures, though, I could either develop new fibroids or, at best, the one I have now would still be there.  It would lose some of its firmness (think about a Nerf ball as compared to an orange, but on a much smaller scale), but it would not shrink.   With my hypersensitive uterus, I might still have the pain.

Would it be so horrible if I decided to have a hysterectomy?  Would I feel like less of a woman?  Would I no longer feel like I could participate in conversations about women's stuff?  Would I be looked down on by friends for letting a doctor do what's easiest?

How do I know when it's time?