Yeesh...and here I thought you were finally writing a tribute forum about me LOL!!
By the way, here's something I learned in a history of medicine class:
An "ectomy" is always used to refer to the removal of something.
The term "hysterectomy" was applied to the removal of the uterus, because until the 19th century (1800s) it was believed that the uterus moved around inside the woman. Every 28 days or so, it would travel up into the brain and cause the woman to become hysterical. Thus, to remove "hysteria," one had to extract the uterus. ("hysteria" + "ectomy" = "hysterectomy" ... duh!)
The menstrual bleeding was thought to be caused by the uterus detatching itself from the vaginal canal, allowing blood to escape while the uterus itself floated around freely.
Good thing those genius doctors finally figured this one out LOL!!
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