I'm a postmenopausal woman and have been diagnosed with an Ovarian Cyst. I've had some bouts of unexplained pelvic pain over the last few years - and also some recurring back pains. This cyst was discovered while I was going through some tests for another issue, which turned out fine. During the CAT scan they detected the cyst on my ovary and sent me for ultrasound to check on this issue. They determined that I had an Ovarian cyst approximately 5 cm in size. The gynecologist said that it wasn't that normal for women my age to develop cysts, and when they do they don't usually disperse by themselves since I don't ovulate any longer. The cyst looked like it was a "simple" cyst - all fluid. And, he also said that there is no telling how long I've had this cyst - it could have developed years ago, so may not be anything serious. He suggested that we do a second Ultrasound in 6 weeks and see if it is growing and then determine the best course of action.
Yesterday I received the results of the second Ultrasound and it showed that the cyst was the tiniest bit smaller - by about 1/10th of a cm. The reduction was so small that we both wondered if that may not have been a misread on the part of the technician that analyzed the results - as these cysts in postmenopausal women don't disperse on their own. Anyway - I'm in a quandry about what to do now. The doctor is not telling me which course of action to take as he thinks it is probably just a benign cyst - but also admits that he could be wrong. I've done extensive reading on this and have learned that since I'm postmenopausal I'm at slightly higher risk for this to be cancerous. Also, I've never had children so this further increases my risk. The doctor says that its not necessary to remove the cyst - we can just monitor it for growth every few months. However, with everything I've read about this I also learned that the early stages of Ovarian cancer can last for a long time before its accurately diagnosed - and then it may be too late.
I discussed all of this with the doctor and he is not telling me which way to go. He says that perhaps since I do have some pain, and that I am very worried about this - a laparoscopy may be the best option for me. He further said that perhaps I may want the ovary removed along with the cyst - just to eliminate altogether the possibility of more cysts in the future that may be cancerous even if this one isn;t. And, he said that if I wanted the other ovary also removed during this procedure that could be done as well - which would eliminate the possibility of my getting cysts on that one in the future. He said there aren't any substantive negative affects of this procedure - but as is always the case with any kind of surgery, anything can happen. So, I'm in a quandry as to what to do and just wanted some feedback from someone that may have gone through this. I'm leaning toward removing both ovaries and eliminating any possible risk of cancer for the future. I would love to hear some feedback on this to assist me in making this decision.
Sorry for rambling on so long, but my mind is just in a jumble as I think through all the possible ramifications of this....