KEEP OVARIES????? and stuff

Well this is post #3 for me.
I really appreciate having a place to vent and ask weird...sometimes stupid questions. I had my pre-op conference today and DH went along. He is pretty wonderful, but didn't really understand the extent of all this surgery, well until now. He almost passed out in the Dr's office from the description (little chuckle). After we left he looked at me with tear filled eyes and said .."I'm so sorry I didn't realize. THIS is MAJOR surgery!" I wanted to respond ...er duh! But he was so cute and sincere. NOW, he's really worried. My surgery isn't until August 9th. I know he'll be all right. I just think I must have downplayed it and she(DR) didn't. He also read me the riot act as to how much I CANNOT do afterwards. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry..so I just smiled.
Anyway, I wanted to ask..... WHat are the opinions on keeping vs removing ovaries? I'm 45, not having anymore children. According to DR about 3-5 years until meno. Have no history of Ovarian Cancer. So do I keep them or remove. The DR gave me both sides and said it was up to me. HELP

Hi - sounds like you have a great guy there. Sounds alot like my own DH before my surgery.

Now to your question - doc gave me option as well and after much soul searching and reading and consulting with doctor, I decided for me to not keep them. Turns out once inside doc found adenyomosis (sp) uterus lining attaching to muscle and causing painful cramps and other not so fun stuff so would have removed ovaries anyway once this was discovered. I am 43 and so no need to possibly have to have additional surgery down the road. I feel like I had enough information to make that decision for me. Just my

Ultimately you have to decide for you what is best for you and if you will be happy (satisfied) with your decision. No question is too weird or stupid and that's what I think we all love about this site. Good luck to you

This is absolutely, positively only an opinion- mine! You have to weigh the pros and cons and make your own decision. I just turned 50, and according to the blood tests, I wasn't even close to menopause. I chose to have both ovaries removed, as well as the cervix. My rational was #1- my age and #2- I will never have to worry about ovarian or cervical cancer. To compensate now, I simply wear a low dosage HRT patch, which I change twice a week. I have had no problems at all. Just remember, this is only MY opinion! Good luck with whatever you choose to do- I'm sure you'll be fine!

My doctor felt that since I was fairly young (41), am having no current problems with my ovaries, and am not eligible for HRT (due to an arterial aneurysm), it is best to keep my ovaries. If a problem comes up, I'll deal with it then. As was stated above, this really is a personal decision between you and your doctor. Ironically, almost everyone in my family who expressed their opinion to me felt I should have had the ovaries removed. I am happy with my decision, in spite of some familial pressure.

Hey,
THANK YOu all for your quick responses. I know that it is a personal choice, but i wanted to hear "opinions" from all of you going through this. Thanks again!

I'm 44 years of age and had a very large cyst on my left ovary. So my dr. gave me the choice to keep my uterus and right ovary if healthy or remove everything. I chose to keep as much as possible. It was a tough decision but I feel confident I made the right choice. The first two days after my surgery I was having hot flashes, but now my ovary has kicked in and is working fine. My dr. ended up taking 1 ovary and both fallopian tubes. One fallopian tube was infected the other one had to be taken with the cyst and ovary.

Take Care!

Debbie :

Here's one more opinion for you. I too have the option of keeping or not keeping my ovaries and my Dr. won't commit either way! He says it's my decision. After twisting his arm, I finally got him to say, "I'm not telling you what to do, but if it was my sister or wife in your situation, I'd probably recommend removing them."
My mom died from breast cancer when she was 42. I'm 41 and apparently, breast cancer and ovarian cancer are closely linked. I've read that if I leave the ovaries, they will probably stop working in a few years anyway. Also, breast cancer is fairly easy to detect if you keep up with mammograms, but ovarian cancer is not as easy to detect early on. Finally, a lady that I know from church had a hyst. years ago and left her ovaries. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer about a year and half ago and is now under hospice care. That was the final straw for DH and me... we're thinking we should go ahead and have them removed just to play it safe.
This is a huge decision and a difficult one. (I may still change my mind - but I probably won't) Do lots of research! The worst part about having them removed sounds like the hormone piece but I think I'm willing to deal with that rather than risk a nasty cancer. My big fear about having ovaries removed and messing around with hormone therapy is that I'll become a dried up old lady!! I day dream about getting wrinkles, white hair, being tired all the time, etc. etc. I'm so thankful for this website so I can hear from people who have done it!!
Michelle

When I had my hysterectomy 2 years ago I kept both ovaries and both ovaries were working fine after surgery. I was 41 when I had my hysterectomy - my ovaries were healthy and I have no family history of ovarian cancer. I want to avoid HRT as long as possible. It a decision only you can make.

Here is a resource you may want to check out:

Keeping Ovaries? Will they work?

S

I too am facing the same decision- but my surgery is July 2nd. I had endometrial ablation for severe bleeding- they think it is adenomyosis, in 2000 and am now starting to bleed heavily again. I am close to 50 but not menopausal yet. My mom died of breast cancer- it was not the type that was estrogen sensitive. no one in my family had ovarian cancer. I am reluctant to lose my ovaries as due to the breat cancer risk hrt is not an option for me. I have also heard that they produce testosterone which is what affects libido- so I am reluctant to lose that. I am so up in the air and I don't have much time- they want it out before my next awful period and major blood loss. What to do?

I had a TAH in Aug 2002. My surgeon did not give me a choice because of my age nor did I have a lot of time between my doctor recommending the hyst (just for fibroids) and the scheduling of the surgery. I went into the surgery really uninformed. For the first year post-op I kicked and kicked myself for not doing more research and findng out the downside of loosing your ovaries. I didn't feel like myself and felt there was this aspect of my sexuality taken away that no one warned me about. Many sisters in the Hormone Jungle talk about it. I was really angry at both my doctors for not telling me more. I was angry at myself for underestimating the full extent and ramifications of this surgery.

A year after my hyst, my mother who was in her late 80's at the time was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. My doctor brushed it off as age related, but secretly that was one consolation among the many emotions I was going through.

I am almost two years post-op now and feel pretty good on my HRT. I don't have the regrets I had last year. My advice to you would be read read read here and in the Hormone Jungle. Even now I'm not sure if I would have made a different decision, but would have at least felt that I had made the decision based on more information than I had 2 years ago.

Good luck.