Very nervous with ovary questions...

Hello ladies!

Well, I can just hear the terror in your collective voices, so I thought I'd write a note to (hopefully) make you feel a little bit better.

Whether to keep your ovaries or not is a decision each sister makes for herself. Try to do all the research you can on the pros and cons and take your personal histories into consideration. Listen to your heart, and you'll make the right choice for yourself!

My ovaries (and just about everything else!) had to go due to cancer. I just wanted to tell you that I'm 37, NOT doing HRT (I'm doing the herbal supplement thing), and I'm feeling pretty darn good. O.k., not the same as before surgery, but fairly close. The whole process is very different for each of us.

It is major surgery, and of course everyone is scared and nervous. But, all options can be managed, whatever you decide. Hope this makes you feel a little better.

Best of luck to you all!!!
monami

Here's another perspective:

I'm 48 (tomorrow I'll be 49!) and I am keeping my cervix and my ovaries. I have never had a bad pap smear, so my gyno says I am at very low risk for cervical cancer. And since I get annual paps, its a risk I'm willing to take. Plus, I want the pelvic floor support provided by the cervix.

As for the ovaries, even though I am close to menopause age, the research I have done (look through the resources and articles on this website, also do searches on the discussion threads on ovaries) says that hormones continue to be secreted from the ovaries even past menopause. I don't want to go on HRT if I can avoid it. My ovaries are apparently healthy (at least that's what the doc thinks at this point), so we are leaving them in.

Finally, my thinking is if you leave something in there, and it causes me problems down the road, I can always have it taken out. If I have it taken out now, I can't have it put back in again if I change my mind.

That's my story and I'm stickin' with it!
Good luck on your decision making process. The bottom line: we each have to make a decision that we are comfortable with for our own bodies.
Julie

I know exactly what you are all feeling and I feel the same way. Isnt it some relief though when we read all these postings that we are not alone and all of us seem to be filled with terror and confusing feelings. Menopause is scary but for me Ovarian cancer is even scarier. I personally have no choice . I had my hyst in 99 but now all is getting out. I ordered some books of the hyster sisters store and I am hoping the Sudden Menopause will help. Good luck to you all. It is a scary time for us all and having our sisters here for us is better than anything I have found to calm me. We get the good and bad and thats what we want right? Pray on it and do what is best for you. I just want to be better and I know you do too! Beach

Julie and ladies,
I am so happy to hear others are still trying to decide about keeping the ovaries or cervix. I definitely want to keep at least one ovary (I have a history of cysts so the right one might have to go) but am not sure about the cervix. My twin sis has had cervical cancer (at 26) and my mom had endometrial cancer but my paps have always been normal. So taking the uterus makes me feel better but not sure about the cervix. ugh! Hugs Raymo

My doctor took everything because of the endo, cysts, fibroids, hormonal migraines. Everyone's situation is different. I was concered years ago about the 'sudden' menopause. That is how long I have been deciding to do this. When the dr. told me ovaries are going to go, I trusted him. I woke up with the estrogen patch, and have been the same ever since-same as before surgery. Except for one major issue-asside from the female issues of course ...no migraines! Not one! So it all worked for me.

I don't have any problems with menopausal things some women do. I guess I am very lucky. I had hot flashes before my surgery, and only 2 since my surgery.

Good luck deciding what you need to do for yourself.

There are so many tough choices but at least we have them. The chances of ovarian cancer are very slim. Cervical cancer is a higher risk. When discussing my surgery, he wanted to take everything out. I agonized over it all. I wanted to keep the cervix but had cysts & an abnormal pap. My OB asked me how I had orgasams, either clitoral or cervical. I have clitoral so he assured me I would be ok. Makes sense, doesn't it? And I am ok!
So, then it was on to the ovaries. I knew I had cysts from my tests but I really wanted to keep at least 1, if possible. It was totally against his recommendations and I think he said people w/my problems have about a 45-50% chance of them coming out later. I have heart disease on both sides of my family so I said I wanted to keep one. Here I am 5 1/2 mos later, having problems again- pain. He said it could be either adhesions or my remaining ovary is giving me fits. I am awaiting results of my u/sound but I already know that that ovary is dead. I had a FSH test and its non functioning. There is no estrogen at all in my system. He cut off a about an inch cyst during my big H and it must have killed it off. I am in menopause anyway. Also during my u/sound, the tech said she has heard it a million times from women wishing they had just taken them out from the start.
So, with these facts alone, I believe I am facing another surgery but I will know more Tues when I get the results. Yes, it may not be as bad as the H, its still another one. My advise? If the Dr. says you should remove something, he's probably right and has tons more experience. That's my 2 cents!

Good luck to all of you and God's blessings!