Scared

[mbeeler]

Hello all... I'm so relieved to find a free group where i can talk to others who may understand. I recently went to the dr fot general sluggish feeling issues thought maybe change of life and heavy bleeding with periods. She sent me for a vaginal ultrasound which came back with an endometrial stripe 19mm a large dermoid appearing cyst on right ovary multiple cysts in right and left ovaries. There was no sign of fibroids or endometriosis. My blood work all looked good except an elevated thyroid which i found strange because I've never had elevated thyroid. Needless to say she threw out the C word, i was sent for CA125 and HE4 testd and will do endometrial biopsy this week. Im struggling trying to hold it together until the results come back. We have a strong family line of cancer. My grandfather just passed from a rapidly growing cancer less then 3 months ago and my grandma just had her second mastectomy 4 months ago. Anyone have anything that may ease my mind? Suggestions on how to maintain till the results come back? Or any imput on whether my symptoms could all just be from the dermoid and not cancer at all? Anything helps

[old_before_my_time]

Ditto to what HVAC said. If you do not have a family history / predisposition for ovarian cancer then your lifetime risk is less than 2%. Ovarian cancer usually does not present on both ovaries at the same time. The CA125 is not accurate. I know a woman whose result was 1000+ due to a benign ovarian cyst.

Cysts can affect hormones which can cause the uterine lining to build up. Also, if you are of perimenopausal age (about 40 or older), the lining can tend to build up due to the hormonal changes / sporadic ovulations that occur during this transitional phase. Oftentimes, there is nothing sinister going on with the thick lining. And if there happens to be some "abnormal" cells (hyperplasia), it is usually curable with a hormonal medication. Unfortunately, many women have hysterectomies unnecessarily for benign conditions. And many women lose ovaries unnecessarily too. Most ovarian cysts can be removed via cystectomy (leaving your ovary or enough ovarian tissue for normal hormone production). However, you would need a surgeon with good cystectomy skills.

I was over-treated for a benign ovarian cyst at age 49. My gynecologist removed all my "reproductive" sex organs. I have been suffering the effects ever since (9 years).

Let us know what the biopsy shows. Hope it is nothing serious or is at least easily treated. Try not to panic...I know it is easier said than done.

[HVAC]

Note that CA 125 can have false positives. Other things than cancer can make it elevated. Normal is under 35. Some women go up to the 1,000s.

Alex

[mbeeler]

Thanks for your response. I agree with a lot of what you have to say. I am supposed to get back the CA125 results tomorrow. For now im ignoring that any of this is going on until I'm told to worry. Sorry your symptoms were so bad and ongoing for so long before you found out. I'm grateful for proactive drs that have my best interest at heart. Thats where I'm focussing my attention until i have more information.

[HVAC]

I know you are scared. First of I was told it is really rare to have cancer in both ovaries. The family cancer you have to worry about is reproductive when people are young. If men lived a 100 most would have prostate cancer. It is when they get bad prostate cancer in their 50's that can be a genetic risk. Like wise relatives getting breast or ovarian cancer early 40's or 50's or younger. I was BRCA tested and found I did have the mutation causing cancer.

I have heard that if you worry and the thing comes true you have lived through it twice, if it does not come true you have freaked out needlessly. I personally think worrying is trying to control the future which I can't. I even get into this twisted logic if I think the worst God won't make it so bad because I am not expecting God to help.

You are going to worry it is just the extent. In real life I had a dentist think I had jaw cancer (tests later no cancer) A neurologist thought I had one of two things which would kill me (test later another non fatal condition), My surgeon thought I had gall bladder cancer ( a stone), and the breast cancer lump scare (it was a lymph node). Oh and the brain tumor ( nothing after scan). Doctors do tests.

Most women have a less than 2% of ovarian cancer that is not a lot of people.

My symptoms with ovarian cancer were throwing up everything for two years, weight loss, diaphragm spasms where I felt like I was dying, I bled constantly for over 2 years.

When they did my ultra sound there was no doubt it was cancer. I was at the oncologist the next day and in surgery in less than a week.

The fact it is not super fast bodes well. Hopefully it is something benign. Any questions or just need a sounding board I am here.

Alex