I am a 59-year old woman who resisted this whole thing right down to the wire. I've enjoyed a lifetime of fooling people with my age. When they guess, they usually guess about 10 years younger. I did not want to get thrust into menopause suddenly. I had hoped to hang onto everything natural my body could produce hormonally and postpone the wrinkles and gray hair as long as possible. Yes, I was still menstruating which was part of the problem.
About two years ago I started experiencing longer and heavier periods. My general practitioner, who had handled my well-women visits to that point, referred me to an OB/gyn. She fully expected he would recommend hysterectomy then, but he and I decided to try other things first.
After two years of failed attemts to chemically induce menopause and bi-annual ultrasounds to monitor a couple of cysts on my ovaries, one of the cysts decided to get frisky. It doubled in size and started septating (building walls and adding rooms). The ovary had to come out. The doctor didn't think it was cancerous, the blood work didn't support cancer, but the only way to make sure was to take it out and look at it Apparently I had fibroids, too, but they were small and weren't causing problems. So the uterus and cervix were given the death sentence, too. Originally the plan was to keep one ovary. But my general practitioner said, bad idea.
I have sevaral risk factors for ovarian cancer: family history of breast cancer, late age menopause, first child in my 30's. She said for me to keep the remaining ovary would be like volunteering to carry around a cancer bomb for the rest of my life. I did some research on ovarian cancer and saw the survival rate, and made the decision to remove everything. I saw the post-op pictures. I made the right decision. The diseased ovary was huge. The PA told me that by removing both ovaries I reduced my risk of getting breat cancer by 70%. Of course, I reduced my risk of getting ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancer by 100%. I am a bit cancer phobic. It killed both of my parents. We are all going to die, but I've told God that when it's my turn to go to Heaven I would prefer a sudden death.
I am a week and a half beyond surgically induced menopause. I am planning to avoid HRT because of the cancer risk. I have a great team of doctors that will help me deal with any issues that arise because of the loss of natural hormones. I initially experienced killer hot flashes followed by teeth-chattering chills. Since my surgery I have been taking Estroven energy and Estroven nighttime. They seem to be helping with the hot and cold flashes. I still experience them, but they are not as intense.
I have enjoyed a relatively pain-free recovery. (I had been working out intensely at the gym, focus on the abs, right up until the day of surgery. I think that helped.) I quit taking the narcotics (darvocet) by day 4. I still take the prescription strength Ibuprophen just to control any inflammation. The challenge for me is to stay idle. My family is wonderful and would do everything for me. I'm just terribly bored and because I feel little pain feel guilty for sitting idle so long. However, I do not want to tear anything internal and end up with adhesions. I read the warnings. So I will continue to take it easy and live with the guilt.
I've read the posts 6-8 weeks post op by those women who did do too much too soon and delayed their total recovery. My job requires a daily climb of six flights of stairs. I have to be able to climb those stairs when I go back to work.
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