Confused.......

[Peaches68]

I have just been diag. with cyst on both of my ovaries.  One is 10cm the other is 3cm.  It was during a routine exam.. I was sent the next day to the oncologist and was in total shock and i dont remember much of what he said.  I know he said it had 1 septation and that i did not have any abdominal fluid as is common with ovarian cancer.  I will be having surgery to remove both my ovaries on the 28th.  I did have cervical cancer 14 yrs. ago and he says he dont think that the two are related.  And my chance for cancer is 0 to 30%.  My CA 125 was 4.  He said he will let my gyno do the surgery and be on stand by.  Shouldnt he be doing it?  And with somthing this big i have dull aches but no real pain.  How bad is this surgery?  What is the down time? I am scared to death, as anyone is who dont know what they are dealing with.  I have a million things running thru my mind.  Any info would be great. Thank You

[ireneo]

I'm not sure how different surgical menopause is from normally occurring menopause. I went through the years of perimenopause with all the weirdness that goes with it - sleepless nights, hot flashes and night sweats (still have those), emotional ups and downs, nasty and erratic periods. When I finally got to menopause my emotions smoothed out and I feel pretty mellow. The hot flashes just come and go. I'm not going to take meds for that. As for heart health and bone density, I exercise and eat right to stay on top of those issues. Perhaps it would be best for someone who's been through the surgical variety to explain how it differs.

[Peaches68]

As i am loosing both ovaries, i am sure that i will be thrown into full blown mwnopause.  I am going to try and do it without the hormones as according to mom, most of the women in my family have.  Anyone here been able to do that?  Or are the hormones somthing we have to have?  The mood swings scare me the most. Any thoughts?

[Peaches68]

Today my lower back hurts and my hips. Just a lil.  But it is Friday, and i will do my best to get thru the day here at work.  Thanks , This same time next Fri.  I hope to be on my way..............

[marie3B]

I was very scared before my surgery.  I had a HUGE incision and alot of myself removed. Even with all that I felt okay afterwards. You should be just fine. Let us know how you are and know that you are not alone. I will be praying for the best possible outcome for you. Marie

[Shari4444]

It sounds like you are getting this done at the right time....before the cysts get any larger. Every one here on the forum has been scared at one time or another....some many times. Depending on what type of incision(s) you have will decide a lot on how you are going to feel after. Continue to ask us all questions that you may have or just log on to talk!!!! We care about you!
                               Hugs,
                                  Shari

[ireneo]

I'm smiling right now because you're so kind. If you had seen me before the surgery, you'd wonder what kind of weird zombie I was. I was scared, angry, feeling old, all kinds of things. Even got depressed thinking about "worst case scenario" and all the what if's. Now that it's over I can be happy, think about how it wasn't as bad as I expected. But when you don't know. . . . It's OK to be upset and scared. Just don't stop (like a friend of mine that doesn't want to do surgery yet). We're here for you. Ask questions, keep us up to date and even be grumpy if you want. We've all been there.

[Peaches68]

Thanks for sharing that with me.  I wish i could be as brave as all of you.

[ireneo]

I had a similar experience. I went for a routine exam, found out I had a large cyst on my left ovary. She sent me to a gyn. who told me she may be able to remove the cyst via laparascope with quick recovery or she may have to open me up and take it all. And by the way, she'll have an oncologist on call just in case. I had no idea what to expect. Even the day of surgery none of us would know the outcome until she got in there. It turned out great. Yes, I did have a 10 cm cyst but somehow she was able to bag it, drain it enough to remove it through a small incision. My ovary, tube and cyst are gone now but I feel great.

Perhaps your doctor will want to start with minimal surgery (laparoscopy) but switch to a large incision if she finds problems. But it can all be done in one swoop. IF it's cancer, then you'll have other follow up appointments and such but that's a big "if." My recovery from the scope surgery was a week to feel good, 2 weeks to feel great. The first two days were the hardest and I did lay around a lot, moved slowly. I hope everything goes well for you.

Oh, I see you'll have both ovaries removed. My doc said I would have 3 incisions (belly button, pubic area and one to left) but if anything was wrong with my right ovary, I'd have another little incision to the right as well. If your doc can do the scope, that means you'd have 4 incisons.

[Peaches68]

Thanks guys, i never seen any of this coming.  Just hit me out of the blue.  I am madly in love with my hubby, have been blessed with a great job, and all seemed good.  The fear of the unknown is what is gettin the best of me.  I had searched a long time on the net, and this site was a God send.  I had no idea how common this is.  And the best part is the gals here can relate.  My mom and sisterss try but unless you go thru somthing like this you really dont know.

[gma718]

I had 2 large ovarian cysts removed...by an gyn/onc..only because they were not sure what it was and in case it was cancer he would know what to do.  Thankfully it was benign! But I did need a whole hysterectomy due to damage from endometriosis.  Your ca-125 is good.  I had the laparotomy which was a longer recovery..becauswe my doctor felt the cysts were to large to be laprascopic and because they werent sure what was going on...I also did not have alot of pain prior...dull ache feeling also..but if you leave it and not have the surgery you can end up having an emergency surgery due to the cysts twisting or something else. Better to get it removed. Iwas very scared but coming to this forum has given me the strength I needed. Take Care and keep us posted. Gia :)

[Peaches68]

I am 39, and my two kids are raised and gone from the nest.  The reason for this is, if they open me and remove the big one and it is cancer, they will have to go back and remove the other.  And i have opted to just be done with it all.  I will be haveing the full open surgery as my doc feels this is best due to the size of the cyst.  I hope i recover like you did.......................

[ashleybrook]

How old are you?  Anyway I ask b/c I was just wondering why you are having both ovaries removed?  Is this your first go around with cysts? As for the surgery it really is not that bad if its done by Lap.  I had my right ovary removed two years ago due to endometrosis and cysts.  The pain was minimal and I believe I had the surgery done on a Thursday and was back to work that following Monday and was playing in a softball game on Wednesday (I dont advise you doing that, wasnt a smart thing to do) but the down time is pretty quick!