cyst question

i'm sure i'll be coming up with a question a day so please bear with me! does anyone know when a mass is removed, is it aspirated (deflated) first? i think the nurse told me yesterday that mine would be, but i'm pretty sure i read somewhere on the web that if cancer is suspected that the mass should be taken out intact? any help? thanks. cynthia

I had an ovarian cyst removed many years ago and I remember the doctor telling me that if the cyst was fluid-filled, she would aspirate it and if it was solid, then she would need to need to remove it whole. The cyst was fluid-filled, and she aspirated it and sent the fluid to be analyzed (it was normal at the time). She removed it laparoscopically which is the surgery where they make the little holes in your abdomen, poke the instruments through the holes, and monitor everything through a camera on the end of one of the instruments. If the cyst had been solid, she told me she would have made an incision and would have taken the cyst out that way (whole). (This was way before I was diagnosed with cancer, about 18 years ago or so).

I hope this helps -- if you have any more questions, just let us know.

Love,

Cyndy

(It's HOT in Wisconsin!)

Never hesitate when it comes to asking a question! If any of us can help you, we will! I too was under the belief that the cyst would be aspirated if fluid filled.

I had rt ovary removed five years ago. My dr said he could not take a chance of cutting into it and had planned ahead of time to remove it whole. He said he didn't want to spill all that into my belly if it was cancer. Made sense to me and since I had another OK ovary, we went ahead with it. It turned out to be endometriosis (solid parts were clotted blood). Surgery was by abdominal incision. I also had bladder suspension while he was in there anyway. Hope that helps.