post op and need some answers

[sch3kids]

Hi, I just had surgery on the 18th to remove a 5cm cyst on my left ovary.  I started having pain in my lower back about 6 months ago and when fevers and fatigue followed I went to the doctor.  I was check for kidney infection, then stones, then diverticulos and/or chrones and finally found out about the cyst. Well I am in the hosp. going over the discharge papers with the nurse and she says the surgical procedure performed was removal of the RIGHT ovary and fallopian tube!  I say no it wasn't!  After alot of questions I am told that the left must have resolved itself. K, I know that can happen but the cyst they removed on the right was even larger! 8X6 cm.  How could that happen so fast?  There was a small one there in the CT and on the sono but was supposably simple.  The left was a complex solid mass???? The tube was removed due to a hydrospalinx (spelled wrong I know)  which I had know about for quiet a while but the doctor said not to worry unless I was trying to get pregnant.  Plus all the pain was on the left and that is the ovary that the doctors felt during pelvic exams including the one 2 weeks pre op.  Anyone out there had anything like this happen?

[wubbie3]

During my pre-op, my gyn told me that she planned to go in on the right, where everything was seen on ultrasound, but that the ovaries and tubes can actually move because of the weight of the cyst, etc, and what looked like it was on the right could actually be on the left. So, it could have been that, or the one could have resolved and the other been growing. My cyst was hard to see on ultrasound since it was towards the back and top of the ovary, and what looked like a clear-cut dermoid was actually endometriosis with several adhesions. So remember, too, that the initial scans aren't always accurate and the best method for being sure what's going on in there is to actually look.
~Marianne

[MickeyVicki]

I know it is a mental stresser, but when you have your post-op with your doctor,  you can discuss all this in further detail.   Then you will get better answers to your questions.  Until then, we would all just be guessing.  

Yes, cysts can resolve and resolve rather quickly, but that is less common.  And, yes, there is a condition caused referred pain, in which the pain and discomfort is felt on the opposite side (or another area completely) of the side affected by a cyst.

Furthermore, the standard procedure for these surgeries is for the surgeon to inspect the entire area around the reproductive  organs before taking any action, so the doctor will have removed what he or she saw as abnormal, be that on the right or left.   If your doctor is like most, then you should be able to review photographs or possibly even a taped image of your surgery.   Be certain to ask if either of these are available and ask to see them (assuming they will not upset you.)

Last, when I was going through my own cyst "crisis" in 2004, a retired  gyn surgical nurse told me that, in her experience, the faster growing ovarian masses tended to NOT be malignant.  These were more likely to be endometriomas or dermoids; mine was an endometrioma.  Of course, there are some types of ovca that are very aggressive, but here again we get into statistical issues of what types are more common.

[sch3kids]

Sorry but one more thing.  If what just happened to me is "normal" then this cyst grew very fast and I have heard that some cancers are fast growing.  Why is it that the doctors like to do this watch and wait thing?

[sch3kids]

My doc was a gyn endo and considered one of the best in the state.  I do not feel he removed a healthy organ.  He said the left was look normal and in good shape.

I also wanted to let you know that this site has helped me so much.  I had some people giving me grief about the fact that I was so scared I had cancer, like I was jumping to conclusions.  It was so helpful to come to this site and see that all of us can not help but be scared that may be the dx and that I was not alone in my fear.  I am very grateful to all of you who have shared your stories.  To see that the symptoms were not all in my head.  I won't get the results of the biop till next week, but this site has helped calm my fear and I am ready to deal with whatever the outcome may be.