Aa
should I get ovary removed during hysterectomy?
I am 44 yrs old and have 29cm fibroid tumor and was told I need surgury to remove it,but dr. also recommended taking out ovary due to elevated ca125 test.Test score is 69.I really want to keep my ovary ( i only have one,one was removed over 20 yrs ago along with another very large cyst). so should I have my ovary removed just because a ca125 level of 69. Also no history in family of ovarian or breast cancer.I really dont want to be thrown into a surgical menopause.
I would do the same as Teresa222. I would not think twice. Only my opinion based on all I have seen since I found myself in the cancer community. Good luck to you either way. Marie
It's a tough decison and one I just had to make. I had my last ovary removed along with cervix and womb 2 weeks ago. I made sure I got a estrogen patch prescribed pretty much straight away as I am only 32. You can just take eostrogen if you have no womb and I think progestrogen cause most of the negative HRT symptoms.
I grew a massive borderline tumor on one ovary which was lost in april and after a lot of deliberation and a second opinion I made the decision to lose the remaining one (it was healthy) because I have 2 small children and needed to be as well as possible for them.
I would agree to get the MRI pre surgery and let them judge during surgery it the remaining ovary is healthy or not?
Good luck x
I grew a massive borderline tumor on one ovary which was lost in april and after a lot of deliberation and a second opinion I made the decision to lose the remaining one (it was healthy) because I have 2 small children and needed to be as well as possible for them.
I would agree to get the MRI pre surgery and let them judge during surgery it the remaining ovary is healthy or not?
Good luck x
Very simply, YES I would have the second ovary removed as soon as possible. This is my opinion. I am not a doctor.
I had the same dilemma when I had a radical hysterectomy for endometrial cancer in 2005.
My doctor and family where all advising to have everything taken out but the fact that I hadn't had any children and the fact that the thought of going into surgical menopause put me off I stubbonly decided to have eveything out but one ovary.
After the pathology came back my doctor and I were happy with the decision (my doctor knew if I had to have radiation it would destroy my ovary anyway) as the pathology was the best we could of hoped for and I did not have to have further treatment.
18 months during a routine checkup it was detected that I had my second primary cancer, ovarian this time and this time I was not as lucky as I had to have chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
I was racked with feelings of would of, could of, should of and it took a long time to pull myself out of that hole.
Your doctor would not recommend that you take out that ovary unless he was concerned. But if you need a second opinion you to help you make your decision, go and make an appointment with another doctor.
I also had no history of breast, endometrial or ovarian cancer in my family.
I wish you all the best for this very hard decision.
Jenny
My doctor and family where all advising to have everything taken out but the fact that I hadn't had any children and the fact that the thought of going into surgical menopause put me off I stubbonly decided to have eveything out but one ovary.
After the pathology came back my doctor and I were happy with the decision (my doctor knew if I had to have radiation it would destroy my ovary anyway) as the pathology was the best we could of hoped for and I did not have to have further treatment.
18 months during a routine checkup it was detected that I had my second primary cancer, ovarian this time and this time I was not as lucky as I had to have chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
I was racked with feelings of would of, could of, should of and it took a long time to pull myself out of that hole.
Your doctor would not recommend that you take out that ovary unless he was concerned. But if you need a second opinion you to help you make your decision, go and make an appointment with another doctor.
I also had no history of breast, endometrial or ovarian cancer in my family.
I wish you all the best for this very hard decision.
Jenny
There are many reasons that CA125 could be elevated slightly like in your case. From your last comment I take it you are pre-menopause. Therefore it could be elevated due to the fibroid, due to inflammation in the area or due to endometriosis (common to have levels between 35 and 100 with endo).
How was the fibroid identified? At 29cm, I am sure that the fibroid could be felt on a pelvic exam but how did they visualise the mass to determine it was a fibroid? Did you have ultrasound? If so did you have a transvaginal? Was there any observations regarding your ovary?
I would therefore suggest that you ask the Dr to perform a presurgical MRI (if you haven't already done so) to take a better look at the ovary and then discuss the options. Perhaps you can ask them to just remove the fibroid and just look around. With a fibroid that large I assume that you will be having a laparotomy (open surgery) so this will make an exploartory surgery easy, You can agree upfront that if the ovary looks diseased or damaged in any way that they could take it out too but that you prefer them to conserve the ovary at this time.
If surgical menopause is your only concern, you can take HRT. If you don't like the idea of HRT you can look into bioidentical (mimics natural hormones) and you can also take really low dose (just take enough to reduce menopause symptoms. THese are all options for you to consider.
Are you having a gyn/onc do the fibroid surgery? Fibroids are benign growths however having a gyn/onc do the surgery means you have a surgeon that does many many many more operations and is therefore best at it compared to a regular gyn who typically only performs c-sections and the odd more challenging surgery. Go for a gyn/onc if you can, they will do a much better job at the exploratory surgery and be better able to judge if they need to take the ovary or not.
It is your body, you can choose how conservative you want to be. However to be your own advocate you need to have all information to help you ask the right questions and make the right decision for you. Having the MRI or ultrasound information and seeing a specialist will all help you to advocate for yourself.
Bron
How was the fibroid identified? At 29cm, I am sure that the fibroid could be felt on a pelvic exam but how did they visualise the mass to determine it was a fibroid? Did you have ultrasound? If so did you have a transvaginal? Was there any observations regarding your ovary?
I would therefore suggest that you ask the Dr to perform a presurgical MRI (if you haven't already done so) to take a better look at the ovary and then discuss the options. Perhaps you can ask them to just remove the fibroid and just look around. With a fibroid that large I assume that you will be having a laparotomy (open surgery) so this will make an exploartory surgery easy, You can agree upfront that if the ovary looks diseased or damaged in any way that they could take it out too but that you prefer them to conserve the ovary at this time.
If surgical menopause is your only concern, you can take HRT. If you don't like the idea of HRT you can look into bioidentical (mimics natural hormones) and you can also take really low dose (just take enough to reduce menopause symptoms. THese are all options for you to consider.
Are you having a gyn/onc do the fibroid surgery? Fibroids are benign growths however having a gyn/onc do the surgery means you have a surgeon that does many many many more operations and is therefore best at it compared to a regular gyn who typically only performs c-sections and the odd more challenging surgery. Go for a gyn/onc if you can, they will do a much better job at the exploratory surgery and be better able to judge if they need to take the ovary or not.
It is your body, you can choose how conservative you want to be. However to be your own advocate you need to have all information to help you ask the right questions and make the right decision for you. Having the MRI or ultrasound information and seeing a specialist will all help you to advocate for yourself.
Bron
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Ovarian Cancer Community
Learn how to spot the warning signs of this “silent killer.”
Diet and digestion have more to do with cancer prevention than you may realize
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
