Ovarian Cyst V's Diverticulitis

[Lil^Penguin]

I am a 52 year old female with a long history of dysfunction in my reproductive organs. I have had 2 ablations about 16 years ago and was put on steriods 8 years ago because of suspected adrenal tumour, which has subsequently, recently, been shown not to exist. On CT and ultra sound ovarian cyst was detected plus an enlarged, bulky uterus which needed further investigation to rule out cancer. So I had laparoscopy yesterday with the understanding that they would be removing my right ovary and possibly my left, due to pain in that area also. After surgery the doctor tells me there was NO ovarian cyst. His explanation was, what showed up on the scans was probably a loop of bowel, BUT he did see diverticulitis and a cyst on my colon, which he gave me a picture of. So the pain, which appears as cyclical isn't? My right leg is swollen about twice the size of my left leg and causes me to limp is not because of ovarian cyst, DVT or Baker's cysts. I am really confused here. Does anybody have any ideas for me???? And have I posted this to the right forum????

[dian07]

Hey there.....I am four years older than you so I am automatically smarter.......Yeah right!
I do remain concerned with the swelling in your leg.....swelling can and will occur if the lymphatic system is unable to drain as it should.....your lymphatic system is important and needs to be paid attention to.....your doctor knows that or she wouldn't have run the tests she did.
Edema is a firm swelling.....you might be able to get a dent after a squeeze....but it is firm. A sprain might be a mushy swell; but, not necessarily. It all depends on how much fluid is involved.
I am certainly not trying to tell you what to do, or what is important to you......what I am trying to do is tell you that the edema can be significant and if I were you I would get someone to pay attention....please be persistant....find out what is going on here.....don't be nice about it either....find out what is causing this.
Please stay in touch...
Peace to you, Lady!
dian

[Lil^Penguin]

As I said in my previous post this was all done in a whirlwind. Saw the Specialist on the Tuesday and by the thursday my leg was so swollen I was limping badly BUT it had begun to swell from approx 1.5 weeks before that. My local doctor ran emergency Ultrasound & Doppler

[birdcarver]

I agree with what everyone has said. But please, please get to a gastroenterologist quickly. It is imperative taht your diverticulitis be treated! A colonosccopy should be done and also a barium enema as coloscopies don't always see the diverticulum if it isn't inflamed. The reason I urge you to do this is because nasty things can happen. I had an undiagnosed diverticulitis which ruptured and resulted in an emergency life-saving suregery during which 1/4 of my bowel was removed and I was left with a colostomy. Not fun! Luckily, I was able to have the colostomy reversed after six months but not everyone can. The treatment for the diverticulitis is two antibiotics (Cipro and {I think)Fagyl) when you have symptoms of pain, fever, mucussy stools. But please see someone soon. I would not wish what happened to me on my worst enemy.
take care,
Michelle

[dian07]

Absolutely, you have to deal with the pain.....but, my concern is the swellling of the right leg.....that is scary and needs to be addressed....maybe the pain and leg are somehow connected, still, swelling indicates trouble......is the circulation bad...is there a clot.....this can be serious stuff.
What, if any, explanation have you been given by your doctor for the swelling?
I think I might just camp out on somebody's door step until I got some answers!
Peace, Penguin.
dian

[Lil^Penguin]

Thanks for your welcoming comments and the reassurance. :)) This all happened in a whirlwind. Am I post menopausal? Not sure but my FSH is over 18 which the Gynea says makes me menopausal. I have not expirienced any symptomology of menopause. Uterine lining grew back approx 6 years later but I only lost a little amount enough to be caught in my labia and not need to wear a pad. The reason I had the second ablation was due to equipment failure, on the day of the original surgery, and was performed the second ablaton was performed a few weeks later. Type of ablation I believe was by laser. These were the original trials in this country & I was a guinea pig, not a penguin *laughing*
I saw the Gynae on the Tuesday and was scheduled for surgery last Friday and had a laproscopy , D&C & I believe they would have sent their debrise off to pathology ,he did state however, he did not believe there was any sign of cancer. Today is Sunday and I have an appointment with my local doctor on Tuesdy, I hope. The Gynae said to go get a colonoscopy and so we start this all over again. I have done a little more research and have discovered that you can get dermoid cysts on the colon it is rare but it can happen Amazes me the Gynae never took it off when he had it there. No copy of the surgery report as yet I think my LMO will have that on Tuesday

[MickeyVicki]

My suggestion is to find a pain management clinic.  For one thing, staff at these clinics take a patient's pain seriously.  (I have found that some doctors tend to take patient's complaints of pain much less seriously.)  Also, these pain clinics generally run their own tests or order special testing, and the pain specialists are looking at the "big picture." A  gynocologist  looks at the reproductive system, and a gastro-enterologist  looks at the stomach and intestines, and it might very well be that someone is overlooking something, possibly even somewhere else in your body, that is ruining your health.

[AnotherKatie]

So sorry to hear how bad things have been for you. I agree with all the suggestions of the Battalion.  Sorry if missed this, but did you get any pathology back regarding the uterus? I had a friend whose uterine cancer was caught because she developed blood clots in her legs...NOT to scare you but something to keep in mind....hang in there and let us know how you are...
Love, Katie

[Lil^Penguin]

No pathology results as yet, I am hoping to collect someting from my local  doctor on Tuesday. Urgent ultrasound on legs revealed nil DVT's. That is good news and enabled surgery to be conducted on Friday :)

Serenity
Susan

[AnotherKatie]

Ok that's really good...take care of yourself...keep your chin up (and those legs eh)
Katie

[birdbath]

Hi! Welcome to the forum! If you need some understanding women to talk to, you HAVE posted to the right place. It sounds like you have several different issues going on, we can help you (or try to) with the reproductive ones. There are other forums, too, that may be helpful in addition to this one for the colon issues. Are you postmenopausal? I know it can be tricky to figure that out if you've had an ablation, but have they run hormone tests on you? Did your uterine lining grow back at any time? I'm kind of assuming it did since you wrote that you had two ablations. I  had an ablation also (three years ago) and now have an enlarged uterus and a few ovarian cysts. If you're premenopausal it could be due to fibroids or adenomyosis, which is thickening of the uterine walls. I've found alot of interesting information about post ablation problems, so it could be a number of things that are originiating from that surgery. What kind of an ablation did you have? As far as your leg pain goes, any cyst - anywhere in the body - can press on nerves and structures and give you pain (so can a uterus if it's large enough). If the cyst you have is pressing on your leg nerves, you could have pressure and pain from that. Do you have a copy of the surgery report? You may want to ask for one to get some more insight into what is going on. What is the next step they have planned for you? Are they going to deal with the cyst on the colon? Will they be doing an endometrial biopsy? That would be the first thing I would ask for to rule out cancer. You're in my prayers, hang in there! Please keep me posted. Robin