Surgery for complex mass so soon??

[usmcwife10]

Hi, I have been on before with questions, but things have taken a turn this week.  I am 32 with a 15 yr old and a 12 yr old.  I have had a complex adnexal lesion on my left ovary for at least a year.  Last year when they found it because of pelvic pain, the ultrasound measured it at 3 cm.  Then I did bc pills for three mo.  and the next ultrasound showed it had increased in size, so they did an MRI, which stated a 4.7 cm complex adnexal lesion with a 7mm nodule and fluid in the endometrial canal.  The radiologist reccomened removal and biopsy.  We moved out of country before I went back to the Dr and I thought it probably was just a hemorrhagic cyst, like on dr. had said prior to the MRI.  So I took bc pills for another few months, that was last fall.  Just recently I decided to go have it checked again, since I was still have bloating, fullness after I eat very very little, pelvic pain, frequent urination, and I now weigh 96lbs. The ultrasound was last Thursday and the tech did my transvaginal, then went and got the Dr. of Radiology, he spent over and hour doing his own ultrasound and said that it WAS NOT a hemorrhagic cyst, but a mass and it was well over 6cm and had a nodule attached to it that was very concerning.  He couldn't find my ovary anymore, and the mass had pushed my uterus way over and squished it.  He said he was calling my dr and I needed it out now.  I went to my obgyn the next day(Fri) and he said that it had to come out right away.  He ordered a cat scan and another MRI.  The cat scan is Tuesday, but the MRI was going to be the 22nd, and he said it couldn't wait til then, so he is going to remove it next week and have pathology there so they can tell him if he needs to do staging.  He said there may be a chance that it is a severe benign mass, but both said the only thing that was keeping them from being convinced this wasn't a malignant mass without biopsy was my age.  Is this all normal and how difficult is recovery from open surgery than laproscopic?

[Flicka0459]

I'm surprised that the doctor put on on bc, because bc is great for staving off cysts, but once you have them they feed off the bc pills and can get larger.  At least that's what my gyn told me 5 years ago when I had gone through all this stuff. I had an "open" as you call it.  I was cut and it took me 6 weeks for so called recovery.  Now, granted I was 45, but after 1 week I was able to fit back into jeans again comfortably and drove in 3 and went on vacation in 4 and back to work in 6 with ½ day for a week only because I wanted to make sure everything was ok. Hey and they gave it to me.  So, why not.  It was the best and I did it in May so I had a month and a half of great weather to enjoy.  For the 1st week all I did was sleep and take drugs.  With mine they took everything, so with your age I image that they will only take out whats necessary and so it will probably less recovery time. So, I say don't worry too much take it easy and enjoy the time off.  I'll be praying for you

Good Luck
Lisa

[butterflytc]

Good luck with your surgery, and recovery. Hopefully you will keep us posted, and have good results. All the best
butterflyTc

[crecco]

I am glad that you have a Dr that you are happy with. I would have liked to hear that you could find a gyn/onc but if the Dr is experienced then hopefully all will go well.
  Please let us know how your MRI goes and we will be looking for the outcome of your surgery. Good luck Dear.
    Chris

[usmcwife10]

Thank you for all your advise and info.  I had my ct scan today and the radiologist moved appts. to get me into an MRI on Thursday.  My surgery will be Tuesday the 12th.  Unfortunately they don't have an oncol/gyn dr. here.  We are military in Italy, but the dr. here is very experienced.  In the military we don't have many choices.  I am quietly confident that it will hopefully turn out better than they are expecting.  Thanks again for taking the time to share!!!

[chelan3]

As mentioned above please insist on having surgery by a gynocolgist oncologist who are specifically trained to do this kind of surgery and is your best bet to be optimally debulked (removal of cancer) if it is cancer.  
I was diagnosed at age 32 with LMP borderline ovarian cancer stage 1a and was very lucky as this type did not require chemo.  I'm 40 today and in good health.

Take care and let us know how you are doing.
Debbie

[crecco]

  I am glad that your Dr is getting right on this. But I hope that you will talk with him and ask that a gyn/onc do your surgery. They are better trained for this sort of thing.
  And yes, if your health is not bad then removing the mass as soon as possible is very important. The sooner it comes out, the better the chance of it not begining to spread if it is cancer.
  Go ahead and get the surgery out of the way, then just focus on your recovery time. I wish you all of the best.
        Chris

[ChrisP2236]

Age has nothing to do with whether you have ovca or not, unfortunately.  If you can, please request a referral to a gyn/oncologist for your surgery.  They are specially trained to deal with reproductive cancer and know best how to operate to prevent accidental spillage and spreading if you do have cancer.  They also will stage, do any needed biopsies of other areas and pelvic washes to detect microscopic spread.  Hopefully you are fine, but a gyn/onc will give you your best shot if you are not.  Best wishes, Chris P

[TrudieC]

Thank God your doctors are moving as fast as this for you.  If it is cancerous time is your enemy.  Don't even think about a laproscopic surgery.  They cannot risk bursting the cyst or letting any cells loose by trying to do it that way.  With the laparotomy they can more safely remove the cyst and if required immediately stage.  It takes between 4 and 8 weeks to recover from a laparotomy.  You will generally start to feel better by 4 weeks but will not be able to lift or do anything strenuous until the 8 week mark.  Please keep us posted and our thoughts will be with you as you go through this surgery.