Keep ovaries or remove them?

I am scheduled for my hyst. on March 1st. I have cervical cancer that has been treated with the LEEP procedure. The hysterectomy is an option in order that I don't have to keep holding my breath every 3 months for my recheck to see if the cancer has returned. I didn't want to live my life with the anxiety. The cancer was quite extensive and aggressive. This was the first time ever that I had a bad PAP and I'm been very good about having regular annual checkups. My dilimma now is should I keep my ovaries. The dr. tells me that it's up to me. I've read that quite often after a hyst. the ovaries go into shock and shut down anyway. I am 46 years of age. I have been on the birth control pill for years and my dr. tells me that if I have the ovaries out, then I'll wake up with a patch and be good to go. I've been reading some posts about how dramatically some woman change from a personality standpoint when thrown into surgical menopause. Any opinions from you wonderful hyster sisters would be appreciated.

It's a myth that the ovaries shut down after a hysterectomy. It does happen from time to time, but not usually.

I kind of doubt that "you wake up with a patch and are good to go" Many women go through a period of trial and error before they get the dose and distribution type correct.

As long as there's nothing wrong with your ovaries, and your doctor does not have any cogent reason to remove them, my opinion is you should go into menopause naturally.

I had a TAH 4 years ago; I'm 47 and my ovaries still work.

Had my TAH/BSO end of Dec and had them remove the ovaries as well, I'm 49 already have been going through menapause and dealing with the hot flashes, etc. I just didn't see any point in keeping them and risk that something happens to them. Have heard various stories about keeping the ovaries, just to have them removed at some later date. I also opted not to do any HRT and have been fine. At first right after the surgery, the hot flashes were something else, but in the last few weeks they have colmed down a lot, hardly bothers me anymore. I think if I was much younger, I may have just left them, but at my age, it didn't seem like a big deal to take tham out as well.

Its another one of those personal decisions that you have to make, hope everything goes smoothly for you and you have a quick recovery.

I was 49 when I had my LSH. I had to make the same decision you are faced with as there was nothing apparantly wrong with my ovaries. My doc. though she wanted to take them because of my age, left it up to me. I asked a lot of questions. I had already been suffering from hot flashes since I turned 40, was tired of the cyclical nature of my life.... nice for two weeks, anxious and crabby for two weeks. Plus all the women in my family have died of cancer, why risk that? Anyways, I finally agreed, woke up with a patch and have in fact been doing fine. The doc apparantly guessed right on the dosage right outta the chute. Others have not been quite as fortunate but seem to have figured it out and adjusted the dosage. Now, I'm calmer, and not craving (grazing for two weeks played havoc with my weight control), generally, I feel more evenkeeled. The drawbacks are making sure I get to the pharmacy to buy my patches, making sure I don't forget to change it every 3-4 days. But it's nice not having the "powersurges" or food cravings anymore. I'd just as soon put that off a little while longer.
hope this helps..

peg