I had a unilateral oophorectomy about 2 weeks ago for an asymptomatic, complex, 5 cm cyst with papillary growth inside. I am 39 and premenopausal. I was told that if a cystectomy was performed, and it ruptured (which is does more than 50% of the time) and pathology came back as cancer, I would be upstaged and worse off. I was told doing an oophorectomy with cyst removed intact was better if it did turn out to be malignant, because it would not spread. I was told the cyst was probably benign, but there was no way to really know until it came out, and the papillary growth was concerning as it is a feature of malignancy. I am done having kids, and I was reassured by multiple doctors I consulted that hormones would be the same with 1 ovary or 2. So I elected for what I saw as the safest bet and got the unilateral oophorectomy. Pathology came back as benign serous cystadenoma. I should be happy, but instead I am filled with remorse and regret over my decision. Anyone else feel this way? I wish I could go back in time and not be so scared by the small possibility of cancer and get the cystectomy instead.
