Post Menopausal - Pre Hyst

I want and NEED a discussion thread by women, especially over 60, being recommended for HYST but with NO symptoms, except this: All my tests show cervical and uterine severely abnormal cells and NO cancer. I suffer no pains, no staining, no cramping. I got 2 opinions. Twice, two gyn-oncologists wanted surgery two weeks after adivsing me. What's the rush? I want to postpone until the new year. Would you? MargieClare

Hi Margie,

I seen you wanted me to read this post so here I am. I, too have endometrial severe abnormal cells (atypia)...they call it precancer..which I believe all abnormal cells can become cancer if left go. I am not 100% sure of that though. But you have them in both the cervix and uterus. I was told that mine being severe is close to cancer already if not already in an early cancer stage, so I want mine out asap!

I personally if I were you would get this out now. I would think if 2 different onc/gyne said to get it out thenn it's bad enough of a concern they feel you should get it out. You could call the one you trust most and ask it your situation is considered a precancer situation. I think most abnormal cells are precancerous..I hope some other sisters will come out and read this. They can maybe give more info on the abnormal part than I can. But it don't hurt to call your doc and ask. If it's a precancer, I'd get it out of there if it's considered severe as you said. Why chance it in case it's close to cancer or already even cancer?

There must be something to warrent them wanting this out ...especially if 2 onc/gyne said to do this. Two can't be wrong.

Good luck and I hope some others will post to this. I will check back with ya later.

Hugs

I know surgery is no fun but if you've got concurring recommendations from 2 gyn/onc's then you may want to heed their advice. Wouldn't you rather catch, and take care of, a problem that's pre-cancerous than take the risk of letting it go and possibly developing into cancer? Far better for you to just face surgery alone and not have to deal with adjuvant treatment as well - trust me on this one.

If you're still not comfortable, by all means seek out a third and even fourth opinion.

I'm 52, post menopausal and understand your question.

I had my first abnormal pap at 28, had a cone biopsy at that time and a little later was diagnosed with HPV. So we (my doc and I) decided to watch it. And we did for 24 years. I would have paps with dysplasia, atypical cells, pre-cancerous cells, etc. I've had 3 cone biopsies and D&C's and still we watched it. There were some years that I had paps every three months just to keep an eye on it. Thankfully during that time I remarried and had my second DD (who is now almost 20!).

I hadn't had any abnormal paps for several years, my periods stopped last year and I was thinking we were done with this. Then in January I went in for a check and had another significantly abnormal pap. My doc just looked at me and said "it's time". Like you, I have never had any symptoms, pain, bleeding--nothing. Just paps that made my doc frown.

I ultimately had to just trust my doc that he knew what was best. I've been with him longer than I've been with my DH and he and I have walked this journey together so I took his advice.

It was a little frustrating when I was getting ready for the surgery--women would say "Oh you'll feel so much better and be so glad you did it!" And I'm thinking "I don't feel bad now! How am I going to feel better?" The ladies on this site would describe such terrible situations and pain and serious problems and I would think, "I don't have any of those--why am I doing this?"

But, I did it and got through it just fine. Am I glad I did it? If it means that I don't have to worry about missing a pap smear and something growing before we can catch it, then yes I'm glad. Was I worried about other complications if I let it go? Definitely. Did I recognize that HPV was ultimately a sentence for cervical cancer? Absolutely. Am I glad that I could wait this long? You bet.

Thankfully I had an easy recovery, was able to go back to work at 4 weeks and have not looked back since. I actually forget for days at a time that I even had surgery.

You have to make the right decision for you and ultimately find peace with the advice from your doc and take action based upon it. Good luck and let us know if you have any other questions.

I am 53 and I understand your concerns...if your doc has not already given you a CA 125 test, that may be the deciding test. I had 3 opinions and 2 said TAH and one said more a conservative approach was fine, if I had an ok pap and CA 125 test. My pap came back fine and my CA 125 was elevated. So, if you have not had a CA 125, perhaps that will help you in your decision. I am 8days post op TAH/BSO and no regrets so far! I am hardly sore at all, feeling little pain, feeling ok mentally, and on the road to recovery! I wish you the best as you decide what is best for you.

Thanx sooooooooooo much for a similar story. Just what I wanted. MargieClare

Dear Graceful ~ What is a CA 125 test? I thought I had them all. MargieClare