anyone have just one ovary?

[painterchic]

I am trying to find out what life will be like if I have only one ovary left...hormonally, as well as if I am at risk to have the remaining ovary be problematic with cysts... I had a partial hysterctomy and am 42, so that makes a difference as well. I would appreciate hearing opinions and experiences. I may get the choice to leave one in, I may not. Just trying to make an educated choice. Thanks,
J

[crecco]

You must understand, as it has been pointed out to you this is a cancer forum. Most of us here actually have cancer or our lives have been touched by it, and it has not been easy. We understand that many who post here are scared and have a lot of questions. But for many of you, they are questions that we just can not answer. We are here to support one another through our fight with cancer. Granted there are several who do not have cancer but,have lived through the experience with a friend or loved one. And they offer us a large amount of care and support. But when it comes to questions about life with only 1 ovary or questions about cysts and pregnancy, what can we tell you. We have no clue as to what that would be like. We can only wish our troubles were so few. Granted I am sure they are big problems to you but surely you can see where some of us come from in saying that certain posts just do not belong here. We are dealing with issues mor in the lines of what chemo is next, will it work, what body part do we lose next, how much time do we have left, could there be a cure and so on. If you stop and look at things along those lines, I think you will get some kind of understanding as to many of the feelings here. All we are asking is that you have a little sensitivity as to the women on this forum and what we are going through, and maybe ask yourselves if the answer that you are looking for might be found elsewhere. I pray that none of you have to experience what most of us here are going through.
Chris

[painterchic]

feel better now?

[painterchic]

Sorry to offend you by my presence. Please remember that your words have power and can be used for a much higher purpose. Use your experience and knowlege in a positive way. I am sure you will find the "traffic" here much lighter after all the lovely words you have all written, I hope you will be happier now.

See ya,

Joelle

[SimplyStar]

will leave it to those who don't have cancer and therefore know nothing about actually having it to answer the questions from now on since they think they know everything about having cancer from being around someone who has it.
  I believe the above sentance is directed at me,  I feel I do know a lot about cancer and can give good opinions, I just don't have the pain and suffering that you have.  My pain comes from a different source, my daughter. It takes time to research and learn the techical side of OVCA and chemo and read about all the changes that occur,  I do not consider myself an expert Onocologist,  those of us that are striving to help you conquer this in any way we can, do not deserve to be told we do not know or feel almost as deeply as you do.  An Onocologist sits in classes for many years to learn about cancer,  he/she does not have cancer, but dealing with all the attributes of it,  they do learn to care for you.  If I don't know an answer to a question, I do everything I can to find the answer. Jan , do you know how I felt when I had Polio?  Or had a son with Downs Syndrome?  Or lost my hubby to Emphysema after caring for him for 11 years?  Or have a daughter dx'ed with OVCA? All of us have hurts, but it is evident that some of us can move past it and live and learn.  marty

[Jan214]

No Becky it is not just you.  I have heard the same thing from numerous people today and except for a few they are to sick to come on the forum and fight for what they believe in so the forum will be taken over by those who don't really need to be here.  Have you noticed how many of the old timers don't come on anymore?  It is sometimes because they are to sick, but also they are being told by others who don't have cancer to quit complaining, to not talk about death, no pain med talk, cause it might upset the addicts, no negativity because it upsets the caregivers to hear about the realities of this nightmare, and we are to be nice no matter how awful and insensitive others are being.  Well, as you can see we with cancer are the minority and it is probably time for us to find a site where we can all visit and actually talk about OvCa, because that topic sure isn't welcome here.

MsJazz, do you know how many times I have googled something that someone asks about so I can answer their questions?  Okay it was rhetorical.  To many to count.  Do people do ANY research before they come on here with their multitude of questions.  I will leave it to those who don't have cancer and therefore know nothing about actually having it to answer the questions from now on since they think they know everything about having cancer from being around someone who has it.
Love
Jan

[msjazz]

I can't even get on the dr. forum to ask about new chemo, for all these can I get pregnant with one ovary questions. If a doctor took an ovary out, didn;t they explain that at the time???? As for cysts, I never had one, I had 2 ct scans no cyst or mass, but stage 3 c., , so there isn't much I can answer on that either. I have told some posters about cysts, after I googled the type they had. There is very detailed info on cysts by type if googled. I will no longer try to play dr. about something I don't know about. If I can help with synptoms of cancer or chemo I will answer if I feel like I can help.

[Tybear]

Well, as someone who had to have a hysterectomy (not to mention a bowel and bladder ressection) at 26 years old and can no longer have children, I'm sorry, but I do find it a little insensitive to post on an ovarian cancer board about how happy and pregnant you are...but that's just me.
Becky

[PF_PVD]

So you can see where some of our frustration is coming from, I'd like both of you to run through several pages of posts and see how many have anything to do with ovarian cancer.  Don't count today when a few of us decided we'd try to get the voices of people who actually have cancer heard.  Can you just take a few minutes to do that?  There are so many frivolous, off-topic, and posts that have another forum more appropriate to the topic, that the minority of us here who actually have cancer are being drowned out in the clutter.  Admittedly, it is also sometimes hurtful to hear people complaining on this forum about petty things that do not relate to cancer when we are fighting for our lives.  For the life of me I don't understand when someone had what they thought might be a cyst then makes the enormous leap to they must have ovarian cancer which is still pretty rare--all of this without seeing a doctor--then finds out they don't have cancer keeps posting, posting, posting.  By her own admission, star_girl says, "I have been posting here for about 10 months now about loosing my left ovary due to a tumor and cyst and no one has ever said anything mean to me about it."   Ten months!  Then she goes on to say how happy, healthy and pregnant she is, yet she's still posting on the OVARIAN CANCER Forum.  I cannot for the life of me see the connection to this forum.  If you have made strong connections with other people here that do not have OVARIAN CANCER, how about moving your friendships together over to a more appropriate forum like fertility or pregnancy or women's health or on and on?  MedHelp has set all these forums up for a reason.  I really don't want to sound mean about this and I'm not telling anyone to leave, but I would like people to just take a moment and consider the fact this is an OVARIAN CANCER forum and it is the proper and polite thing to do to keep on that topic (again, the topic being OVARIAN CANCER).

[Jan214]

Are you kidding me?  Just today we have had a woman who wanted to know if her 3cm dermoid cyst would hurt her baby, the two whackos that are talking about depression and they don't have cancer, the FSH post etc., none of which have ANYTHING to do with cancer.  This came up because I got two emails today and 5 in the last week from people WITH cancer who have been coming on here for years, telling me they were leaving because this forum isn't about ovarian cancer anymore.  It isn't.  We have had people complain because we are not uplifting enough!!!!!  They find it depressing to talk about dying.  Well to dang bad.  That is what we do here.  We live until we die.  We have welcomed with open arms anyone who is touched by this, but for people to come on here whining about one ovary AND they are pregnant, well they have a lot of nerve and yes, star_girl you little twit I am talking to you.  You have no business on this forum.  Painterchicky, the way it is decided here who should post and who shouldn't is by the responses and you will see in the near future little or no response to cysts questions that have absolutely nothing to do with cancer.  We who do belong here have had it with the insensitive posts, the lame screennames, the stupid questions and being told that we aren't peppy enough.
I know you haven't been here that long and I do wish you luck, but before you jump in like that again I suggest you test the water first, because you don't have a clue.

[painterchic]

Star_girl, thanks for the support, but more importantly, congrats, what great happy news for you, I hope your post inspires hope in someone else, that is part of this also I believe...I'm not sure if you saw it, but there is a new forum for this starting tomorrow.

My "one ovary" post was my second one, my first and more detailed one is buried under the traffic of posts...it was an additional question as I am trying to make the best decision I can, although it may not even be mine to make.

I have surgery scheduled for May 1 to remove at least one or both ovaries, both with cysts. One is solid and "concerning" after 2 vag ultrasounds, CA125 "normal" but I learned HERE not to count on that, only biopsy. SO, I have decided, based on reading posts, and doing homework to just take both out and not worry about it ever again.

The people (most of them...lol) have been welcoming and supportive and full of very good information to help me. I can only hope that my tests come back negative and I can figure the rest out later.

I'm glad to hear all was benign for you and wish you lots of luck!

Joelle

[cirella]

Hi Paint,
I had a cyst (hemorragic) in 06 on my right ovary.  Both the cyst and ovary were removed 11/06.  I had a lot of hormonal issues after the removal, 07 wasn't such a great year for my hormones (or me).  My doctor and I believe that my right ovary was dominant but I did have cysts (septated) on the left ovary as well that may have been causing problems.  March 08 I had a total hysterectomy b/c of the cysts and adenomyosis.  All were benign, thankfully.  I'm 48.

You don't mention whether or not you've had a vaginal ultrasound or some kind of tests that show the cysts.  Like you said, you may not get a choice.  My first cyst had completely destroyed my right ovary but that didn't show on ultrasound.  Is surgery being discussed?  When was your partial hysterectomy?  Sorry you're going through it again.  I know how disappointed I was to be having surgery just a 1 1/2 years between each other and a full hysterectomy to boot.  

[star_girl]

Way to go with your last post that you just wrote!!!  I have been posting here for about 10 months now about loosing my left ovary due to a tumor and cyst and no one has ever said anything mean to me about it.  

Anyways i only have one ovary and i only experienced loss of not having it and being 22 and the chance of not being able to conceive.  But now im 23 and happily 6 weeks pregnant!!!!!  So only having one doesnt mean anything to me anymore, im happy that im healthy and am in good shape.  I hope everything works out for you!

[painterchic]

Gee Jan, I believe that the decision to be put in this forum was made by the people at Medhelp based on the information I put in. AND if you read the top of the list you will CLEARLY see the words hysterectomy, surgery, risk factors, and biopsy, ALL of which are relevant, as I am waiting not so paitently for my surgery and biopsy to see if indeed I might just have to include the rest of the subtopics in my future posts. I think that you are doing a disservice to discourage women who are here to seek support and information for WHATEVER it is they are going through. I don't see any unrelated posts, and I truly don't think it's up to you to decide who is worthy or unworthy of posting on this forum. I am truly sorry that you are going through a battle with cancer and glad you have support here, but that is not the only part of the process. You too, once upon a time were at the beginning of the journey, seeking information and support. I truly hope that all of us who "don't belong here"  will end up being in the wrong forum because our tests and biopsy results come back negative. But who's to know, so why not learn as much as we can from each other in the meantime?

[Jan214]

I am sorry for what you are going through, but this post DOES NOT belong on here.  You should take this to the women's issues page.  I would love to be able to complain about hormones and ovaries and such, but I am concentrating on this piddly cancer thing.

[painterchic]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm glad to hear everything is going fine since.

[blwms]

I too had one ovary removed because of a large cyst.  I experienced hormnal changes initally (they didn't last long though).  I also had hot flashes.  But it's been two years and hormonally everything is fine.  

[painterchic]

Thanks for the friendly welcome and the responses. I have already had the partial hysterectomy so no more periods for me anyway -the reward we get for going through that! :)  My doctor just wants to take both to avoid future probs.  Chloe, you have just confirmed what I was thinking, if I leave it, it will become the new bothersome ovary? It already has a small cyst, so maybe I should just get them both out. I really don't know what kind of cysts I have, seems like everyone on here knows that. I guess I should find out!

I am just having a hard time making this decision to walk right into surgical menopause for some reason. Thanks for the info and good luck with your surgery next month.

Joelle

[chloe08]

Hi there
I have had only one ovary for just under 2 years now and hormonally there have been no changes as when you lose an ovary the other tends to become compensatory (unless there is a problem w/ the remaining ovary and its function).  I get my periods monthly etc.
However, I'm about to undergo a full hysterectomy next month.  Two years ago I had a 'cyst' on one ovary that was determined to be an endometrioma on u/s and thankfully that is what it was.  It was stuck to the ovary etc so they took the whole thing which was fine by me.  Looks like I have another on the remaining ovary now hence plan for the full operation.     I was told that I would be at risk for having cysts on the remaining ovary in my case largely d/t endometriosis.  
Hope this helps

[Shari4444]

Dear J,

Hello. How are you feeling? How long ago was your surgery? Hormonally speaking, there should not be too many changes. You should get your period, monthly, also.As far as the rest of your questions, we'll have to wait for someone a little more educated in those questions to give you the best answer. If, in the meantime, you come up with more questions feel free to post. In fact, post even if you just need to talk to someone!!!! By the way, WELCOME to the forum. Take care of yourself.

Hugs,
Shari