Ovaries in or out?

How do I know and what should I do as far as whether or not my ovaries are to be left in or taken out? I have cervical cancer, my ovaries are fine. If my ovaries are left in, will I still experience menopause?? I'm 34 and absolutely terrified of doctors anyway, so this experience is pushing me to my limits. Appreciate any and all thoughts on the subject.

Hi spazz. The general consensus on this board is that if the ovaries are healthy, leave them in. And given your age I would certainly agree with that.

Yes, if you keep your ovaries you should go through a normal menopause when the time comes. There can be a period after surgery when the ovaries shut down for a while from the shock of surgery, but they usually kick in again in a few weeks. Your doctor may or may not want to help you over this 'hump' with some estrogen, but that's between you and your doctor. Wait and see is usually a good approach at that time because the ovaries may work fine throughout the whole thing and never cause any problems!

Remembering that doctors are not gods may help you cope with your fear of them. I recommend you do lots of research so when you talk to the doc you know what you're talking about. This site is a good place to start - there are lots of articles to read on a variety of subjects, and lots of ladies here willing to answer all your questions!

HollyK

Hi Spaz
I am sorry about your dilemma. Mine was wheater to keep the cervix. In the end I had an opinion of 4 gyns.
You need to talk to your doctor and perhaps have a second or even third opinion. Every gyn deals with things differently, but they need to know your condition.
Why are you waiting for your hyst till September?

Take care Iva

Hi spazz,

I wonder what your doctor says, as far as whether estrogen from your ovaries would affect the type of cervical cancer you have?

If the cancer isn't a concern, then I preferred to keep my ovaries if they looked healthy. Why remove a healthy body part? The way I left it with my gyn was that she would examine my ovaries once she was in to do my hysterectomy, if they looked good she would leave them, if they looked diseased or damaged she would remove one or both. I didn't have cervical cancer, though, so I'm not sure if that would have made a difference.....I'd need clarification about that from my doctor.

Here is a link from the resource pages here:
Oophorectomy
http://www.chclibrary.org/micromed/00058890.html

And here is a link to another recent discussion about this decision:
https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...hreadid=209710

Talk to your doctor certainly about their recommendation about what stage of cancer you have. If it's advanced, they may need to take the ovaries and lymph nodes.

If it's only a question of whether or not to keep ovaries to avoid future problems, keep them if you can. If they're healthy, they do you far more good than harm on the whole.

Early menopause can be devastating and can lead to bone loss, incontinence and early heart attacks. There are hormone therapies available, but matching your previous hormones is tricky and can be expensive.

Keeping ovaries is no guarantee that you won't experience premature menopause though, women who've had hysterectomy go through menopause an average of 4 years earlier than women who haven't. But they do get the benefit of their natural hormones for that period of time.

I was 38 at the time of my surgery and have no regrets about keeping mine.

Take care.