No Date: Keep Ovaries?

I'm getting ready to schedule my surgery and have to decide whether to keep my ovaries or not. I'm 47 so menapose isn't that far off for me. I am moving out of the country in the Spring where medical care isn't the best so my doctor suggested we remove the ovaries too. How do you make this decision? Help!

I have preop on Wed and surgery the 7th. I am in the same boat as you but I have gone thru menopause early. I read that even tho you go thru it studies show they still provide some hormones for years after. So, I am like you...do I fight to keep them or just let them take them? How do you decide ? And for those of who have..and have not done HRT, how are you doing ?

I too did not know what to do, Im 44. I ended up keeping my Overies and I think Im glad, its weird though Im still getting hotflashes and night sweats but they are slowly going away. I am 5 weeks out now and doing pretty good, my belly is still so swollen that I look pregnate. They dont tell you that, so dont be worried if this happens. They say keeping your Overies is less hard on your body, Im still not sure yet. I know there is always a risk of having to go back and take the Overies, I had horrible Endo. all over my insides including my bladder, my Overies had a tad on them but were pink enough to save. Im kinda in fear of her going back later and having to do this surgery again so maybe ask yourself if youd want to take that chance. Right now Im glad to have my Overies its supposed to help you gradually go into menapose and not shock your body but I think your going to shock it no matter what. Good luck to you, post again to let us know what you decided and how you are doing

Oh p.s. I am so far not taking HRt, the first 3 weeks were horrible with the sweats but into my 4th weeks its getting better and mainly being bothered by night sweats, I keep a bowl with a wash cloth in it to help me next to my bed. I am trying to do this with out HRT. am am praying I can continue to do this.

I've heard all the pros and cons but really want some real life experiences. My biggest issue is I'm already pre-menaposal and with the upcoming mood if something would happen I would have to fly back to the states to get the issue resolved. I'm leaning toward just taking them out but I'm not to thrilled with the instant menapause on top of recovering from the surgery. There is not history of ovaries problems in my family but I'm so afraid that something could go wrong later. Thanks ladies...

I'll be the first to admit that I am naive but I'm still trying to understand the debate over if to keep the cervix or not. If nothing is wrong, why even consider not keeping it?

my motto,
Take what's needed, no more...no less...

At my pre-op yesterday my doctor asked me if I wanted to keep my ovaries and then he explained that even with the removal of the uterus I will still be ata high risk for ovarian cancer for my age bracket (he went into detail) & that he could take both (which would lead to surgical menopause) or one. I opted to remove one ovary. This will be my third major surgery (C-section with vertical incision, ovarian cyst) and after years of heavy periods & painful cramps I figure how much worse can menopause be? Let us know what you decide. Good luck to you!

Sounds like you prob would do ok without your Overies since your already into the pre menaposal stage. I hate the thought of having to go back to have more surgery so if you can do ok without them then I prob. would go ahead and take them too. Too be honest I am having premaposal symptoms and I kept my Overies. I have horrible hot flashes and night sweats right now so I really dont even know if keeping them was worth it.

Thank you ladies for all your input! I'm 99% sure I'm going to let them take them. After everyone's input and more research on my part, I think it's my best option. Thank You!

Altlbts14: If you're looking for real life experiences, here's mine. I'm 46 and had much conflict over losing my ovaries. Like you, I did all my research, spoke to my GP and a second gynecologist. After this and lots of reflection, I decided that I wanted to keep my ovaries and told my oncologist/surgeon this. However, I also told him that despite my desire to keep them, I trusted his judgment and if, once "in there", he deemed it necessary to remove them, fine. In the end, they had to me removed. After this, I came home and did tons of reading on life without ovaries and was totally freaked over what I read from other women. Tough couple of weeks. So I stopped reading, returned to my life and now ...

Happy to report that next Monday marks 12 weeks post-op and can't really say I've had menopausal symptoms yet. Had some insomnia pre-surgery and perhaps a little worse after but getting better now. No hot flashes, no night sweats. Saw my gyne yesterday and she seemed surprised that I hadn't had any symptoms yet. Asked her if my mother's experience (easy and smooth sailing) with menopause was an indicator of what I might experience and she said yes. In the end she said that if I hadn't had any symptoms at this point, looks like I might have a smooth ride like my mother. She did tell me to take Vitamin D and calcium (given my choice to not do hormone replacement if I can avoid it).

Good luck.