Arrgghhh..I should know all this! You are right, Sorcha. Thanks for asking, I've found some answers. Would've been nice back in 1979 to have an easily accessible Internet. Here ya go...not for the squeamish, perhaps:

"The doctor cuts through the vaginal wall to expose the ligaments and blood vessels that surround and support the uterus. (Ligaments are fibrous tissues that help support organs and hold them in place.) The doctor detaches the ligaments and blood vessels from the uterus and ties the blood vessels so they will heal and not bleed. The doctor then removes the uterus by cutting it off at the top of the vagina.

"The doctor attaches the ligaments from the uterus to the vagina to hold it in place. The doctor may repair the walls of the vagina by sewing together the ligaments surrounding the vagina (near the bladder and rectum) that may have stretched due to age or childbearing. The doctor attaches the vagina to the repaired ligaments and sews the top of the vagina closed."

If any of you ever have this done, ask questions of your doc's other patients who have been though this. My doc was a good soul, but not very adept...left lots of scar tissue which had to be cauterised from time to time, to kill off the nerve endings which caused a lot of pain. My recommendation is to not have it done at all if you can help it...they will also tell you there is no basis to the weight gain rumour. Do NOT believe them. I was part of a master's thesis at Smith College and she found it was a universal problem, which most docs universally denied or dismissed. My own told me it was all in my head, that I went from 105 lbs to 145 lbs in 3 months after and then some.