Hi!
Your question will be much easier to answer once you know what the pathology report on the cyst is. I certainly hope that it has been there for years and is what was causing your discomfort because if it has been there for a long time it is not cancer!
I could tie all your symptoms together under one diagnosis of PCOS or polycystic ovary syndrome. Another possibility would be congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
A very large cyst such as the one you have often turns out to be a mucinous cystadenoma ( a benign cyst filled with mucous). These have to be removed because they don't go away on their own, and can cause problems such as twisting.
If you were my patient, I would also ask whether you wanted to have a hysterectomy at the time of surgery. (If it is cancer, this won't be optional though). Recently the trend has been toward more and more conservative surgery--many studies are showing a benefit of keeping the ovaries even after menopause. On the other hand, you really reduce your cancer risk if you remove everything "while you're in there".
Everyone has her own right answer to the question, its just something to consider.
One other possibility that could explain infertility and a cyst is endometriosis, but I think that is less likely.
I hope all goes well for you!
Good luck!
Dr B
Thank you very much for the comprehensive reply. I'm not so sure about the infertility side of things as I never really tried to get pregnant. I guess that is one of those unknowns. We all want to know the answers straight away and I am no different. But I shouldn't have too much longer to wait. One thing that makes me think it is not PCOS is that most of my life my periods were regular.