hysterectomy, ovaries and heart

Hi
I am a 32 y/o old with endometriosis, fibroids, adenomyosis and persistant/ recurrent ovarian cysts. I am having ovarian cyst resection next wednesday and Dr. is thinking of also removing my uterus ( only the uterus and the cyst) previous history of 3 laparascopies for endo / cysts, congential heart defect and electrical heart problems and now 100 % dependant on a biventricular pacemaker for heart failure and danazol related liver damage which means that I can't take danazol or lupron anymore to control the endo. two questions 1. anyone else have heart problems and have a hysterectomy- did it go good or did it cause the heart problems to flare up. and the second is more general- what are the chances that removing only the uterus will disturb the remaining ovaries so much that they do not function or only function poorly- in other words what are the chances that I will go into pre-mature menopause even if I keep my ovaries? If I were a simple case I could make a decision but I am having trouble making a decision because doing one thing affects everything else and it seems that helping the female problems make the heart problems worse and vise versa. I really feel incapable of making the decision right now but am being pressured as my surgery for the ovarian cyst is only 4 days away and for my heart's sake it would be better if I didn't have to have any more surgery than absolutely necessary because the stress could throw me into heart failure again.But if I do the surgery and it causes my ovaries to shut down I could end up with more electrical heart problems that could make my life unbearable or throw me into heart failure- I am skating a fine line right now. and am absolutely torn as to what to do. I will be talking to my cardiologist before the surgery and hopefully he can clarify things for me a little I just needed to vent and get any opinions that I can. thank you Heidi

I don't know anything about what you are going through but I will wish you the best. Your case is so unique that your doctors may give you the best advice.

I know a little about how you feel, I had a Lap on Feb 12th along with a D&C and a Hysterscopy, when in Recovery my heart dhot up to 150 + and stayed there for over three hours. I had to see a Cardiologist to get cleared for my Hysterectomy on April 9th. I have SVT and my Cardiologist is think it also might be POTS. But I was cleared for surgery as long as they have a Cardiologist there during my surgery and my anesthesiologist is aware and well informed of my issues. On April 20 (if able to) I am to have a TEE and a Table tilt test. But I too am scared because I had chest pain and a lot of problems after surgery with my heart and this is major surgery so, let me know what you Cardiologist says to you. I did the bubble test and it seems like I "might" have a MPV also, Jeesh I am 33 and I never use to have problems and now I have to many to count! So I know where you are I am terrified! But I guess I don't really have the anwser your looking for. Sorry.

I recently had a TAH 2 weeks post op, but also battle a condition called Neurocardiogenic syncope, a heart and low blood pressure, and a brain condition. I had to get the all clear from cardiologist. In fact my Cardio and Gyno worked closely together which was fantastic. I am having a pacemaker put in after this recovery. Having my TAH was primarily due to excessive 10+ day bleeding but also to assist in elevating my heart problem. All l can suggest post op is rest rest rest. I was a bit suspect about the recovery time, but noe fully understand it will take 6 weeks. Still have tremendous pain urinating, can't sleep on my side yet.

take care

s I definitely advise that you insure all of your doctors and specialist are communicating with each other about all of your medical issues. It is important that you have a medical team!

I had my uterus removed over 6 years ago and my ovaries have not failed. My mom's ovaries functioned fully for 20 years after her hyst and she has just started ERT.

I have seen women on the site who have had their ovaries fail. That is a real chance you take. But there are also many of us on the site who have had only our uterus removed and our ovaries are still kicking!

I wish you the very best as you and your medical team work out what is best for you!

Hi there,I can give you a little insight on life after uterus but the only heart condition i have is heart mumur,although alot of research i have gathered regarding polycystic ovarie disease is that heart disease is quite a big factor....!I had my uterus removed in 2005 and 2006 i had adhesionylosis surgery and now in 2007 they want to take my ovaries because the adhesions have stuck them down to my vault and pain is bad....!Iam already on HRT even thou they said taking my uterus would kick start my ovaries again ?both my ovaries are riddled with cysts.and yes i have the added bonus of no more horrendous 24/7 periods,but i do have to remind myself from time to time how bad life was with my uterus as the positives kind of get lost with feeling like a geriactric 24/7 instead?All procedures have different outcomes for everyone so i truly dont want to put you off...but i think i probably expected a little more than i should have from my TAH....
take care feel free to ask anything if i can be of any help ill try xx

Hi Hermie, I had 3 open heart surgeries as a child for congenital heart defects. Still have many murmers (everyone describes it as grand central station), often have PVCs and other heart beat irregularties. I had a TVH on March 13th. I had a cardiology consult (pediatric cardiologist -- see below) beforehand and he recommended what was best for me during surgery (high hydration & antibiotics). For the most part all went well cardiac wise. I had quite a few PVCs the afternoon of the surgery but nothing that got serious. Both my gyn and the cardiologist had expected this because of the type of defects I still have. I kept my ovaries because I "young" (44) and can't take the HRT because of the heart risks. I had some problems with hotflashes, etc. for the first 2 weeks post-op but ovaries seem to be rebounding. Hopefully, they'll continue working as ordered.

My GYN originally wanted to do my TVH under an epidural so as not to put me under general. Unfortunately, they have a hard time getting epidurals started on me (have to go too high on the spine to get it in) so that wasn't an option. However, it might be a good option for you to avoid the cardiac stress of a general. Talk to the cardiologist about it.

A cardiologist and GYN can best determine if there will be any problems. One piece of advice, you may have already run into. I find "adult" internal med. type cardiologists often don't know enough about congenital issues. You may want to visit with a pediatric cardiologist before the surgery. The congenital defects react differently and bring up different issues than normal adult heart issues. What is normal for me is NOT normal for other (non-congenital) adult heart patients. During the work-up, I had one Dr. (adult cardiologist) panic about a stress test because my internal pressures were high. Turns out, it was my normal but way too high for most other adults. What is needed are Cardiologists trained in both disciplines (my Ped.s Doc even said that to the two Med students who were with him that day).

Good luck with the decision. The hysterectomy decision is hard enough w/o adding the heart issue into it. BUT, it worked well for me and I'm glad I did it. The other options weren't good ones either. Also, remember, your ovaries could fail even without the surgery just as a normal course of events of getting older.

LJC