need advice on whether I should keep the one good ovary or not. (possible endo, age 27)

I have had issues with periods since I started. At 17 I was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries. I had a cystectomy at 19. Lately, at 27 I've had psychotic periods, massive clots, and excessive pain. I was told my left ovary is fixed, something is causing it to not move around at all. My doctor suspects endometriosis. After learning my family history of fibroids, pcos, endometriosis, early hysterectomy, and female cancers, I have decided to schedule a pre op appointment for a hysterectomy. I would like some advice on whether I should keep the one good ovary or not.

Hi creepella to HysterSisters!

I am so sorry you are going through all of this. You are quite young to be having a hysterectomy. You have to weigh the pros and cons of this surgery with your current health condition. You may also want to get other opinions on your condition to see what options you have.

Do know that a hysterectomy will not cure endo, and you need an expert to remove the disease. This article may provide information to you: Can Endometriosis Return after a Hysterectomy?.

Keeping your ovary is a very personal choice. But, if I could have kept my ovaries I would have - I did not have that choice. Surgical menopause for me at age 46 was MISERABLE. I had to go on HRT, and while it did give me my life back, it is not the same as my natural hormones.

Here is an article on Should I Keep My Healthy Ovary?. Hopefully that will provide some useful information.

As always, you need to make the decision that is right for you.

At 27, if you can keep one, I would recommend you do so!
Had my hyster at 40, and glad my surgeon could keep both!
Good luck!

creepella

I was torn over whether I should keep my ovaries or not. My doctor recommended removing them because I was almost 51. She said they generally stop working about age 50 and removing them during the hysterectomy would prevent an additional surgery later. On the keeping them side, I had read that the ovaries continue to produce small amounts of hormones even after menopause and this provides health benefits. On the removing them side, my SIL has ovarian cancer and like her I never had children which increases the risk. At the pre-op for my D&C, I had asked my doctor if she could look at them and leave them if they looked healthy when she did my hysterectomy. She said she could, but I forgot about that option at my pre-op for surgery and agreed to have them removed. Even if I would have chosen the look and see option, one or both may have still been removed because of cysts or they may not have functioned after surgery if they remained. Surgical menopause has not been fun. I started HRT at 5 weeks post-op and am finally at a dose that seems to be working. I will say the jury is still out on whether I made the right decision, only time will tell. The one thing I do know is once they've been removed they can't be put back.

This is definitely a very personal decision. Do some research, talk to your doctor, and then make an informed decision that is best for you.

Thank you all so much. I think I will be asking my doctor to spare at least 1 if possible. I'm just so ready for the pain to be gone. This weekend I was curled up in bed with tears running down my face because I hurt so bad. Never thought I would be excited for major surgery

	Quote:
Originally Posted by creepella I have had issues with periods since I started. At 17 I was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries. I had a cystectomy at 19. Lately, at 27 I've had psychotic periods, massive clots, and excessive pain. I was told my left ovary is fixed, something is causing it to not move around at all. My doctor suspects endometriosis. After learning my family history of fibroids, pcos, endometriosis, early hysterectomy, and female cancers, I have decided to schedule a pre op appointment for a hysterectomy. I would like some advice on whether I should keep the one good ovary or not.

Every situation is different, and I think it's especially hard to make this decision at our age. I can't tell you what to do but I can explain to you what I'm doing and why and see if this can help you.
I have endo, adeno, ovarian cysts and fibroids. I've had 6 surgeries since I was 19. This has seriously impacted my life, delayed me when I was getting my BA, and currently has me bed bound. My ovaries have fused in my body many times in different places, back, front abdomen, collapsed into my uterus. Endometriosis, as explained by my specialist, is essentially fueled by estrogen. In my personal research and observation on this site, women who have severe endo, have a total hysterectomy with oophrectomy and don't replace estrogen go many years without any reoccurrence. Like I said, my own observation and research, others on here will tell you Im wrong, but the truth is we don't know THAT much about endo. I'm taking everything, if removing everything will give me one extra year of feeling normal and not having to have surgery that much sooner, I'll be grateful. That's not what everyone wants, not everyone is as desperate as I am. If removing one is an option, look into it. What does your doctor say are the chances of reoccurrence with one ovary? How long, if at all, does your doctor think your second ovary will last? Super important questions to ask. I highly suggest checking the endo forum, the hormone replacement forum and no replacement forum. See what other women are enduring and if anyone is going through something very similar to you.
XOX

This is a very hard decision and you need to do as much research as possible. Endo is one of those diseases that does not have a cure. A hysterectomy with either both or one ovary removed does not cure you of this disease. So even if you removed both ovaries, it could still come back if all the endo is not properly excised by a skilled specialist in endometriosis. I was able to keep one ovary I am 35 and have 2 kids. My doc said that the health benefits outweighed the negatives of surgical menopause in my case. But again she was an endo specialist. I had a hysterectomy with extensive excising. Doc told me it was all over everything in there. She gave me a 90% chance of no reoccurrence with my case. So keep in mind that even if you removed both ovaries, and some endo was left behind, that endo can actually make it's own estrogen and keep growing. Is your doc a specialist in this field? How many of these surgeries has he/she performed? What are your chances of it coming back with removal of one? Both? These are questions I would ask.