2 different opinions-now what?

Hi, I'm new and have been gaining a lot of good info from this site. My gyno recommended an abdominal hyst last year due to my enlarged uterus with fibroids, heavy periods and anemia. At that time, I chose watchful waiting and had sonos every 6 months with no change. A year later, I'm ready to consider a hysterectomy. However, my gyno has taken a family leave and has referred me to her partner in the interim.
He believes I should have a total abdominal, removing the cervix and ovaries due to my age (45), but that it was my decision. Last year my gyn said she would leave the ovaries. Does 1 year closer to menopause make that big a difference? I've been reading pros and cons of all this and I'm more confused than ever. It would be great not to have the cancer risks, but I don't want to get rid of something I need and then regret it later. I don't feel pushed into this, but I do want to make the right decision! Any suggestions?

Dear believer:

I was 43 when I had my hyst, and my doc also offered to take the ovaries "as long as he was in there". But I have no family history of ovarian cancer, and I wanted to keep getting those FREE hormones that are good for your heart, skin, eyes, etc. The ovaries will continue to dribble out hormones even after menopause (average age 52).

You have two different doc opinions... and YOUR opinions counts too. Here are links to some articles in our Resources Directory regarding the ovaries:

http://www.drmirkin.com/women/W126.htm

http://www.medworks.co.uk/hyster.htm

http://drn4u.com/keepovaries.htm

Get smart about your symptoms and your options, and make the best choice for YOU. I am sending huge cyberhugs

Thank you...I checked out those sites and found them helpful.

Good luck, I had my LAVH when I was 30 and kept my ovaries, 6 years later and I'm getting them out. But then I've always had problems with my ovaries. I would ask your doc about the risks of keep your ovaries vs. removing them. Eventhough I have no uterus, because I kept my ovaries my endo came back, which I knew would happen. So talk with your doc about that

Hi Believer1960,

I was 46 when I had my hyst and I opted to keep my ovaries. My ovaries were healthy and ovarian cancer does not run in my family. Also, my Dr said that approx. 3% of women get ovarian cancer and I thought that was good odds for me. I thought, why remove my healthy ovaries to prevent something that might not happen??

Also, I think what Christy said is important. I did read that if a Hyster Sister has endo and/or cysts in pre-op, there can be a higher chance of post-op ovary removal. For me, I had fibroids only.

So why not keep the ~little fellas~ if they are working?? My ovaries are still working great and I am 2 yrs. post-op.

Mary

If you have your ovaries out now, you'll essentially end up with medical-onset menopause. That's much less comfortable than natural menopause. So it seems if you can keep them, it would be desirable. You can go through a more natural menopause.

I had mine removed because of endometrial cancer plus my age (54), but I'm really grateful that I had time to go through most of menopause naturally. I'm not experiencing too many symptoms post-op (some "warm" flashes but no sweats or anything). When I think back to my mid-40s, I was still in perimenopause and likely benefiting a lot from still having ovaries. I never suffered a lot with menopause.

Good luck in researching this.

Thanks for the wise words, ladies. I'm not great at making decisions, but I've got to feel lucky I have choices.

My Surgeon offered to take the ovaries and seemed surprised that I wanted to keep them! We agreed that he'd only remove one or both if there was an obvious problem with them.

Menopause happens soon enough ... why bring it forward? That's my view anyway, especially in absence of any problems or sinister family history, etc ...

Good luck!