No Date: confused and unsure...pending hyst in April

HI, I'm 32 yrs old, married and we have 4 children. I had all 4 by c-section. I have a strong family history of endo, uterine cancer, cysts & cervical cancer. Well, I've been exp pain during intercource, and severe ov pain...to the point of not being able to touch my abd on my lft side, and wanting to curl up into the fetal position after we make love. Most of my pain is in my lft ovary and my cervix... and deep pain during love making. I had navasure done 1 year ago due to long/heavy cycles lasting 8-10 days and very painful! I no longer have bleeding, but have now started to spot, last two months.I've had several tests done and nothing can be found...no endo, no cysts and nothing that should be causing my pain.My gyn seems to think it could be from my c-section scar tissue, and a tender cervix and lft ovary. She's recommending that I have a Hysterectomy removing everything but my rt ovary...she said that leaving it would maintain my youth and keep my body from going through menopause. I'm all for a hyst as long as it does not change my hormaones and the way I produce my own fluids. I've heard several different things about keeping your cervix, but my is so tender. I've also heard that even if I do keep my rt ovary now it will only shut down in 5 years anyway. I'm too young to worry about menopause at 32. I don't work well w/ hormones, and my mother in law just had a double mas due to hormone induc breast cancer... so HRT scares the crap out of me! Does anybody have any advice for me? My hyst has not been scheduled yet, I'm expecting the pre-op call by the end of this week. I would love to fully enjoy love making and be pain free, but want it to be natural after my hyst. Can anyone give me any good advice? I just want to know that I'll be fine.

myhystery -

Well your fears are normal fears but no one here will be able to tell you exactly what will happen after your surgery.

If you are experiencing pain during intercourse now there are many who find that after surgery that pain is gone. It's hard to say how soon your ovary may "shut down" and if you do go through natural menopause it will still produce some hormones. The ovary can shut down after surgery for awhile (you'll find members who waited for several months).

You may find it helpful to look at some of the articles in the Pre-op Forum .

If you hven't had a 2nd opinion you might want to get one because you are going to have to be certain that this is the right choice for you.

Send

G.

I'm 30 and just scheduled mine for April. This was not a tough decision for me although it took a lot longer for me to finally commit myself to scheduling a date. I have a long history of cervical dysplasia and during a recent pelviscopy/D&C/hysterscopy to remove a complex ovarian cyst I was found to have adenomyosis. It wasn't the cyst causing any of my problems. I had never heard of adenomyosis before but after doing my research I was shocked to find that I had all of the symptoms.

Some of my symptoms are similar to yours. If you haven't looked into the disease, you may want to and ask your Dr. if it could be a possibility.

Keep in mind that this is a HUGE decision and only you will know if/when it is the right decision for you. You will know too. I know it can almost seem hopeless but eventually the light will go off and you will know the right decision.

Good luck.