Aa
which procedure
I have a 4.2cm dermoid cyst on my right ovary; the left one is fine. I also have several fibroids on my uterus that have been there for years and caused very heavy periods (but i am now menopausal). My GYN wants to remove the cyst and right ovary because of the size and suggests she also remove the left ovary and the uterus at the same time since I am menopausal and not having any more children. I dont want to remove both ovaries and end up suffering the menopausal symptoms I have escaped thus far and end up on an estrogen patch from now on. Also, if i only remove the ovary and part of the uterus i will have a new da vinci method versus a vaginal approach if both ovaries and whole uterus are removed.
I always wondered about a orphan ovary myself once everything else is removed. That's a question for the doctor to answer, I guess!
When I say I completed menopause at 46....my last period was in Feb. 2006 close to my 46th birthday and I never had another one after that (I'm 51 now). Prior to that time I went through a roller coaster of irregular periods for several years after having normal clockwork cycles for most of my life.
If you Google "uterus orgasm" you'll find several sites that say many women lose the ability to have one after hysterectomy and some swear the uterus is essential. Certainly so is the cervix. I have both still intact so I cannot say what happens to a woman's sex life after uterus removal. Just wanted to throw out that bit of info and let you consider it while making these decisions and talking with your doctor. I never had fibroids so my doctor considered uterus removal unnecessary surgery. I almost pushed to remove everything when I was dealing with the shock of having such a large cyst post-menopause and he talked me out of it.
When I say I completed menopause at 46....my last period was in Feb. 2006 close to my 46th birthday and I never had another one after that (I'm 51 now). Prior to that time I went through a roller coaster of irregular periods for several years after having normal clockwork cycles for most of my life.
If you Google "uterus orgasm" you'll find several sites that say many women lose the ability to have one after hysterectomy and some swear the uterus is essential. Certainly so is the cervix. I have both still intact so I cannot say what happens to a woman's sex life after uterus removal. Just wanted to throw out that bit of info and let you consider it while making these decisions and talking with your doctor. I never had fibroids so my doctor considered uterus removal unnecessary surgery. I almost pushed to remove everything when I was dealing with the shock of having such a large cyst post-menopause and he talked me out of it.
I didnt know that you ever "completed" menopause. I thought you moved from having periods to your perimenopausal status (waiting to meet that 1 year mark) where your periods (mine anyway) may disappear for 6 months and then reappear and then you actually hit that 1 year mark (and beyond). I've been with my GYN for almost 20 years; and I'm told she's very skilled with the da vinci machine. Other than when I had my tubes tied, this is the only time I've had to consider surgery.
I will be 48 in a month. I'm going on two years now "post periods" and the fibroids have not shrunk, in fact I have gotten a couple more. I was leaning to the side of only having the right ovary removed with the cyst but as far as the uterus looking at removing entirely because of the susceptibility of fibroids. May be a stupid question, but does that leave the left ovary, literally floating in "nothingness"? She is not talking about removing the cervix and says I shouldn't experience any problem with sex.
Sorry, but I don't know what doctors can and cannot do with the Da Vinci procedure! I had open surgery (laparotomy). I think they can do it all with Da Vinci if you have a well trained surgeon.
How menopausal are you? Still having periods? Fibroids are supposed to shrink after menopause (menopause = no periods for 1 year or more), so if you can hold out and wait for that, you should not have to have the uterus removed (no uterus might reduce the ability to have orgasm). Can the fibroids be removed or can your gyn do an ablation procedure instead? Removing both ovaries will end the cyst problem from reocurring (often if one gets a cyst, the other will get cystic in the future). If you are of menopause age you should probably avoid any hormone replacement therapy because the health risks (breast cancer, heart attack, stroke). Menopause is a normal part of being a woman and I don't know why women think they need to fix it with hormones.
I probably raised more questions than answered them. The minimum surgery required would be removal of the cyst and affected ovary. You can leave the rest intact, but with the knowledge that more parts might have to be removed in the future (or not....nobody really can predict if these parts will "act up" to the point of needing more surgery). I had both ovaries removed and kept my uterus when I had a 10+cm cyst discovered 2 years after completing a natural but early menopause. My menopause was finished at age 46.
I probably raised more questions than answered them. The minimum surgery required would be removal of the cyst and affected ovary. You can leave the rest intact, but with the knowledge that more parts might have to be removed in the future (or not....nobody really can predict if these parts will "act up" to the point of needing more surgery). I had both ovaries removed and kept my uterus when I had a 10+cm cyst discovered 2 years after completing a natural but early menopause. My menopause was finished at age 46.
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