Keep ovary or not? Endo DX

Hi all!
I am new to this site. I've been reading all the post and have found them very helpful. I am trying to decided if I should keep my left ovary or not. I have a long story so please bear with me....
I'm 36 and have 2 children (2yr.girl, 12 yr.boy). I've had endo and very painful periods (with clots) for about 13 yrs. I am a DES baby. The last year my periods have gotten worse. I had 16 periods last year along with watery-bloody discharge in between. I also have very sharp pains in my right side that I thougth were bursting cyst. I finally went to the Dr. (my 3rd) in November. He did a vaginal ultrasound and blood work and said that I have PCOS. I was able to see all the cyst on the screen. At that point I had also gained 15lbs. in 3 months most of which was in my upper abdomen. The blood work showed my throid was fine but that I have pernicious anemia. I am now taking B-12 injections and Glucophage.
I woke up November 30th to severe right side pain. I thought it was another cyst but the pain just wouldn't go away. I finally called my family Dr. who told me to come right in. She told me I probably just had the stomach virus that was going around and gave me a shot of phenegran. I begged for blood work. She finally did the blood work and sent me home. Later that evening I was called by my Dr. and was told to get straight to the hospital as my white count was elevated and I was having an appendicitis attack. So I was off to the hospital to have an emergency appendectomy. The next morning the surgeon came in and told me that while he was removing my "awful looking" appendix he saw that my uterus and RT ovary/tube were positioned high above my belly button with alot of adhesions.He said in all his years of surgery that he has never seen one this high. He said that he consulted with a GYN and they decided to leave it alone and have me go see my GYN (who by chance was the GYN on call that night but didn't know it was me). The surgeon suggested that I have a hysterectomy.
To make this long story short--I have since seen my GYN and it has been 3 months since my PCOS diagnosis and I'm still having pain every month. I have opted to not have a lap. I have decided to go ahead with the hysterectomy. I will have an abdominal hysterectomy due the the high uterus. My GYN wants to take everything except my left ovary (unless the endo is too bad) so that I would not have to take HRT. I'm still undecided about that. I know I would NOT take the HRT as I have alot of family history of cancer. My mom had breast cancer and I have had 2 benign lumps removed as well. Should I leave my left ovary or not?

Thanks to all of you for this wonderful site. I'm so glad I found it. My husband is a needle/Dr/hospital phobic and absolutely passes out if yo mention anything medical!!! I'm glad I have you all to talk to.

Thanks again!!
sew-4-fun

There are so many threads right now about this very question! Here is a link to one of them that is also about endo: https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/sho...d.php?t=241927. I replied there that for me, it was the right decision to keep my ovaries, even with an endo dx. This is not true for everyone.

I wish you the best as you make your decision.

I also have endo. I have changed my mind about this quite a few times. I would highly suggest doing some research on your own and come to a decision that is best for you.

I've done alot of research and came to a conclusion which I feel is best for me.

Since I have had quite a few surgeries and have done everything, but the nose spray for my endo I have decided to have both removed.

I'm going to use natural things after the surgery. I have decided on Promensil (because I had a problem with black cohosh in the past), natural progesterone cream, multiple vitamin, calcium, flax seed oil, and coq 10.

It is a hard decision one way or the other.

Sharon

It is really your decision, but I had endo also and just had surgery to remove uterus,cervix, right ovary. The doc left the left ovary , he said it looked good. I can't really tell you what to do, but according to my doc leaving the left ovary will help me with the homone issues and I only would have to wear a patch for about 6 months or so. Talk to your doctor make sure he or she knows of your concerns. Good luck on your decision.

deedee42

I also had endo which was discovered when I had my hyst. My gyn removed everything because he said that I would develope more endo if it was left in. I was 46 at the time, so older than you and tha may be a factor. I was VERY upset about having them removed as I had not anticipated it. I am ok now and on hrt which has been fine really. I have had to get used to the dryness all over and hot flashes, it gets better over time and I am very happy to be painfree! Good luck with you decission.

Hi Sew-4-Fun, Looks like we're neighbors.

No one can tell you what to do since what is right for someone else might not be right for you. However, given the endo I would suggest that you do a lot of research on the recurrance of endo both when the ovaries are retained and when they are removed.