Ovaries out or not?

Yes - I had a Lap in June -they found5 small spots of endo, which he cauterized - not sure, as he spoke to my husband - big mistake!
I had my CT scan today - am seeing ym gyno tomorrow am to get the final go ahead - he still won;t put it on the schedule in pen - I'm on it in pencil only!

This thread has been fascinating reading for me, and it has sparked questions about my own upcoming surgery. First a little background info.

I had my uterus removed in March (I don't know all of the acronymns yet) as the docs felt sure the pain was from adenomyosis - no endometriosis . But after the surgery, the pain has persisted. Went a few months of using pain meds to control the occasional flair up, usually during ovulation or regular cycle. I kept the ovaries because I too didn't want to deal with HRT at 30, and felt that pain meds a couple of times a month was better than HRT. Three weeks ago, the pain reappeared in it's old form - constant and disabling. The docs have done one vaginal ultrasound and found nothing "looked" wrong, but there was intense pain when he touched the ovaries, both with the probe and with a regular exam. So, he doesn't know why they hurt. He says they look and feel normal, other than they hurt like crazy and cause me pain every day. We've planned to remove them in about two weeks.

After reading this thread, I am beginning to wonder if more extensive testing should be done: a pelvic pain mapping, or something else. Is there anyway to tell for SURE that it is my ovaries. Does the fact that when he probes them and I scream out in pain give definite answers or should I reconsider this whole thing? I had the same pain last year and they took my appendix. The pain came back once in a while, but it wasn't too bad. It came again in March, much worse - we did a hyster. Now it is here again, and we're about to remove my ovaries. It's beginning to feel like , "Let's take this out and see if that works."

Any advice? Thanks for reading this long thing.

Camillie

What I decided is, if I am having a hyst take it all... I do get Cyst almost monthly that are real painful and burst on thier own every month, even with CBCP's.. I do believe it is the individual's choice but I would rather them take it out and hope that the endo pain will go away then keep them and need to have another surgery in 6months or even 6 yrs from now.

I was diagnosed with a large cyst on my left ovary, multiple fibroids, and enlongated uterus. At a minimum, my Dr. said the cyst and fibroids needed to be removed, but she offered me additional options including removal of the uterus and/or ovaries.

I did my research, which seemed for the most part to favor keeping the ovaries, however, they never mentioned an age consideration. Still somewhat undecided at my pre-op appt. (4 days before), I asked my Dr. directly: "If you were my age (51) with my pre-existing conditions, would you remove everything including ovaries?" She said "Yes." That was the direction I was going but her confirmation eased any indecision I might have had.

As it turned out, the "cyst" was endometriosis, and based upon some other abnormalities that the Dr. saw during surgery, she said it was definitely the best decision to remove everything.

My surgery was two weeks ago today, I'm feeling great (just drove for the first time), and I feel comfortable with the decision my Dr. and I made.

I guess in a nutshell, my response is to discuss the options with your Dr. and ask him/her to give you his/her best recommendation, but also discuss a "contingency plan" (i.e., what if they discover something during surgery that warrants taking something that you really didn't want to have removed). In my case, I was lucky because I felt comfortable discussing these things with my Dr. and trusted her judgement.

Best of luck in making some tough decisions.

Elaine

MY doctor and I have decided to take both ovaries as well during my surgery. He says he doesn't want to go back in again, and if I keep them the endo will just keep oming back. I agreed, so in less than two weeks, it'll all be gone!!

Just wondering if you had a laporoscopy to detrmine the endo metriosis? Endo is extremely painful but you don't have to have your ovaries out for relief....

Yes - have had the Lap - had it in June, which was when the endo was discovered. At this point, the surgery is my choice, as my doctor did not want to do it, and it took quite a bit of pleading on my part, after extensive research on endo. I realize surgery may not take away all the pain. But, due to the fact that I never want children, I should say WE never want children, there's no reason to keep all this "stuff" so if any of it is causign pain, then I'd rather it be gone.