Menopause Community

I'm so sorry you're going through this! I'm in the same boat but at least I was 49 at the time of my hysterectomy and ovary removal. My only problem was an ovarian cyst and my gyn and two gyn residents removed everything. Totally unwarranted. I'm appalled that a lot of these gyns go straight to removing organs before trying other treatments. Those organs have functions besides reproduction! I assume at least your pain is gone?

A support group specifically for hysterectomy would probably be more helpful. A web search will give you a list of popular (as well as not so popular) ones.

Wishing you the best!

Hello Mrs Maddox, I am 40 and went through a surgycal menopause almost 4 months ago. I have no kids (which made it pretty hard), and had no idea I would go through menopause so it hasn?t been easy. I strarted a HRT treatment and I am still struggling with some symthoms and having hormones ware out. Still, I am getting better and better... worst symthoms are tireness, moody, sadness and eventually hot flashes.
None of my friends are there either and sometimes it is hard to deal with it, they just do not get it so I can understand you. Now I found a way to laugh at myself and I sent my two best friends a whole list of symthoms on menopause.
Relax and do not try to fight it... just flow with it. It helps!
Hope you get better!

Mrs.Maddox,

Hello. I am 39 and will be having a hysterectomy this week (we are waiting for the last CT scan before surgery). I have a 7cm cyst (fluid filled) on right ovary, which like yours, is in the pelvic cavity behind the uterus. My CA125 levels are off the charts and they are figuring it's ovarian cancer. They won't know for sure until they take it out and do biopsy. If it's cancer, they're taking everything-uterus and left ovary. Then, they have to see if the cancer has spread to anything else (lets pray it hasn't). I am not looking forward to induced menopause after all that I've already been through. We are done having children (2 beautiful girls) so that part doesn't bother me; You will have to let me know how you are faring w/HRT. This is the part that makes me nervous.
Good luck to you and I may be of great support to you in a few weeks !

Debsie - So sorry you're dealing with this! If you read my other post on this discussion, you can see that I had a similar situation 5 years ago. I had a 9cm ovarian cystadenoma which ended up being benign but my gyn of 20 years removed all my organs anyway. My life's been in a tailspin ever since including RAPID AGING.

You can read about ovarian cysts here -
Ovarian cysts and ovarian cancer

The CA125 test isn't accurate. There are many situations that can cause it to be high including inflammation (many people have inflammation in their bodies). I know quite a few women who had very high CA125 results but no cancer. I've read that this test is more useful as a tool to assess the effectiveness of treatment than a tool to diagnose cancer.

You mentioned that the cyst is fluid filled. It sounds like it could just be a functional cyst that's "hanging around" longer than usual. If so, your doctor should be able to monitor it via ultrasound as it will likely resolve on its own. The CT scan should show if there are any septations or solid parts. These are evidence of POSSIBLE cancer. However, cystadenomas are generally uni-lateral (occur on only one ovary) and are usually benign. 10% of mucinous cystadenomas are malignant and 20% of serous cystadenomas are malignant. So chances are MUCH greater that the cyst is benign. I believe dermoid and chocolate cysts are always benign.

My gyn also scheduled surgery before the CT scan. I allowed this to needlessly cause a lot of fear and cloud my judgment. I even consulted with an oncologist as recommended by my gyn and then my gyn did not follow his recommendation to only remove the one ovary. My medical records made it clear why my healthy organs were removed.

It's important that you know that the uterus and ovaries have lifelong functions. Here's a video that explains -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff5IOSj1l7w.

There were a couple of women on Dr. Oz (two separate episodes) who HAD ovarian cancer and they only removed the ovary. I think I've even heard of them removing only the cancerous cyst. This would be similar to a lumpectomy for breast cancer. They remove only the lump if the cancer hasn't spread. So why do they oftentimes remove all the sex organs for ovarian cancer? Women who've completed childbearing still need those organs for hormones and pelvic integrity.

And, yes, you're right to be concerned about hormone "replacement." I'm haunted daily by my gyn's comment not to worry about hormones because they're easily balanced! It's a misnomer as nothing can truly replace our bodies own hormones. And HRT is very much trial and error. One product/dosage may quell hot flashes and night sweats but not be enough to ease depression and anxiety, insomnia, loss of motivation and concentration, hair loss, skin thinning, vaginal atrophy, libido and response, basic joy and vibrancy....

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them.

Post back and let us know what the CT scan shows and what more you find out. I hope it isn't cancer!

Checking in to see how you all are doing. I know HRT can take a bit of tweaking and patience.

Hello. Sorry I haven't been on top of my email notifications. Surgery was on 10/10/11. I had a chocolate cyst that had leaked/ruptured. Doc said it was like chocolate pudding all through abdominal cavity. On top of that, I was diagnosed w/severe endometriosis and adenosis of the uterus. Everything came out. The first week - week and a half were pretty rough for me. Especially the day after staples were taken out. I think being up more than usual, plus the 40 minute ride to hospital didn't do me any favors = that night was awful. I had a UTI and vaginal bacteriosis but now everything is cleared up. I am in my 5th week post-op and was surprised that my incision (vertical) didn't hurt as much as my c-section incisions did ( two, horizontal). It was everything inside my abdomen from lungs down that was achy; I was attributing this to doc having to move everything around to clean out the fluid from cyst. I also had my appendix out-it was inflamed. I am guessing that's the reason why my CA-125 count was so high.
Righ now I am working from home a few hours a week. The doc cleared me to return after 6 weeks, but the vaginal cuff wasn't completely healed yet, so I asked her to give me the extra 2 weeks for a total 8 week recovery period.
I did get a horrible head/chest cold 2 weeks ago. Let me tell you, the deep coughing did nothing to improve my healing !!
I am not on hormones, I do get uncomfortably warm at certain times. And, I can tell if I'm going to go off on someone, so I try to stay calm. That's it for menopause side effects (so far, crossing fingers). I am glad you were checking up on me. The cards/gift baskets/phone calls I received from friends,family, church members aided in the healing process. I kept the cards displayed on my entertainment center until last week. Knowing all those people cared for me, loved me, and assisted me really helped in the healing process.
~Blessings, Debbie

Glad your recovery's going well - hope you'll soon be back to your normal routines!