Ovaries - to keep or not to keep - what were you told?

Hi My doctor has studied at at cancer center before coming to my area. He has told me that ovaries are cancer magnets. Mine went bye bye!

I was to have them removed because my mom had colon cancer
and i understand having numbness i have it on the left side if my stomach next to my incision and some pain still its been 6mth since my Jan 25th

They removed one of mine and left the other. It had attached itself to the abdominal wall. The doctor said it was normal sized. I had been thru menopause for 6 years by then, so I was fine with it going. I actually wish they had taken the other too because ovarian cancer scares me.

I told my GP i wish I could have kept an ovary and he said why, I said because of the vaginal dryness issues and energy issues. He said they take them so that the endometriosis doesn't continue to grow. So... kind of a catch 22.

Since I was just diagnosed with lichen sclerosus and given the steroid cream for it (instead of what my GP dx as vaginal dryness/atrophy) maybe I am ok without having my ovaries. Time will tell.

Prior to surgery, I'd pretty much already made up my mind that I only wanted removed what absolutely ad to be removed. My surgeon said she was fine with that and that I should not experience any issues by keeping my ovaries. It was a different story from others who thought I should have had them removed saying that I by keeping them I open myself up to the possibility of ovarian cancer. My OgGyn told me recently not to worry about what others think/say. I made the right decision for me at the time. She said at my age, she would have done the same thing.