Ovarian cysts...experience?

[zoom-zoom]

Anyone else BTDT in terms of ginormous ovarian cysts? What was the outcome? I have a hard time believing that it could be anything too scary, since I feel great and I have endometriosis, which can contribute to ovarian cyst issues.

But still...until I know for certain, yeah, my brain keeps going to worst-case scenarios. And since the blood test they do to try to narrow things down can throw false positives when a woman has endo, there's some probability that I won't know anything for sure without removal and biopsy. The waiting is gonna suck. I have an appt. with an OB/gyn on 11/4...I'm guessing if the bloodwork comes back sketchy that we'll be scheduling surgery. That may be the case either way (I may just opt to have this ovary and my uterus out now. I'm 40 and will be starting 10 days/cycle of Prometrium/progesterone, as is). Looks like I might be missing the last CX race (or two) of the season for the 2nd year running. If it doesn't appear to be cancerous I'll likely schedule surgery as soon as CX season is done.

[Crankin]

Well, I had one when I was 23 or 24. My ob-gyn felt it during an exam. It hurt like hell a few weeks later, my parents took me to the ER, where they promptly misdiagnosed an ectopic pregnancy. That was a false positive from a UTI. They saw the cyst and let it be. It eventually went away. Of course, this was before ultra sound, or at least ultra sound for single, supposedly pregnant women!
The waiting sucks. Have you had a trans-vaginal ultra sound?

[zoom-zoom]

Have you had a trans-vaginal ultra sound?

Yeah, I had "dildo cam" done 2 days ago. I think that's when it was noticed. I had a pelvic early last week, but the PA who saw me sent me for the TVU more to check out my endometriosis and small fibroid situation before making a decision to do a hyst. Prior to the TVU she had prescribed 10 days of Prometrium each cycle to help stretch my cycles back out (right now I'm bleeding every 21-23 days and for 8-13 days long...so I'm on my period about half of the time, which stinks).

[ny biker]

I have no advice for you but I just wanted to say that I feel for you and I hope all the tests/treatment/surgery goes well.

[zoom-zoom]

Thanks! I am optimistic that this is NBD.

[Grits]

I used to get them fairly frequently, including at the beginning of my first pregnancy when my so helpful OB made the comment: "It will probably go away by the end of the first trimester, but if not then it could be malignant." Gee, wasn't that nice to have to worry about along with everything else for a couple of months.

With all of mine I was told to wait for a cycle then come back in for another ultrasound. It had always disappeared by that time.

[snapdragen]

I had one last year that was spotted when I had a scan of my hip. Got the lovely "dildo cam" (love that description!), my doc decided to just keep an eye on it. Went back every three months to verify it wasn't growing. It's not, so we're ignoring it. AFIK, it's disappeared on it's own.

Now, my mom, and a friend I used to work with, had massive cysts. Mom's was grapefruit sized, V's was huge, went up into her ribcage and weighed 8 pounds.

[zoom-zoom]

Now, my mom, and a friend I used to work with, had massive cysts. Mom's was grapefruit sized, V's was huge, went up into her ribcage and weighed 8 pounds.

HOLY crap!!! I've read about them that size. Did they have symptoms prior to diagnosis? I haven't had anything that stands out (aside from relatively minor bladder and bowel symptoms, which could be as much from endometriosis as the cyst -- the endo is likely responsible for that, too). I'm still nervous to hear the result of the blood work I had yesterday, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that no news is good news. At 40 I am not at much risk of it being cancer...especially after having had a child, lactation for a year, years on BCPs, etc. Part of me thinks I may take this opportunity to push for removal of that ovary and my uterus. I don't need them anymore and if I'm gonna continue to have issues like this it makes sense to remove them.

[snapdragen]

HOLY crap!!! I've read about them that size. Did they have symptoms prior to diagnosis? I haven't had anything that stands out (aside from relatively minor bladder and bowel symptoms, which could be as much from endometriosis as the cyst -- the endo is likely responsible for that, too). I'm still nervous to hear the result of the blood work I had yesterday, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that no news is good news. At 40 I am not at much risk of it being cancer...especially after having had a child, lactation for a year, years on BCPs, etc. Part of me thinks I may take this opportunity to push for removal of that ovary and my uterus. I don't need them anymore and if I'm gonna continue to have issues like this it makes sense to remove them.

Mom had said for a while that it felt like there was "something" not right. It wasn't until the doctor could feel it that she was believed. (Grrr to male doc's that don't listen) My friend felt nothing until she ended up in the ER in extreme pain.

[Melalvai]

Mine always always rupture. The first one was misdiagnosed as pelvic inflammatory disease. Apparently they are hard to diagnose. My mother-in-law also had hers misdiagnosed and I know someone else who was told it was her appendix. So if you have severe abdominal pain, be sure to mention your cyst. It might have ruptured. It will confuse you because the pain doesn't necessarily localize to where you think it ought to. It might hurt around your bladder instead of where your ovary is.

If it ruptures, it hurts like the dickens (I nearly passed out from the pain) but you are right, even if it ruptures it's not causing any damage.

It sounds like you are going to keep 1 ovary if you can, that is a good idea. Keep your own hormones for as long as you can. I was 31 when I had my ovary & uterus out. My doc tried to talk me into getting rid of the other non-diseased ovary but I said "if it lasts me even one year, that's one year where I'm not losing bone density (through lack of hormone) or increasing my breast cancer risk (through HRT)." It's been 8 years and it's served me well.

Be sure to send this link to your loved ones as a hint: http://iheartguts.com/shop/index.php...roducts_id=237

[zoom-zoom]

Ha, a plush uterus!!!

Yeah, I would love to avoid HRT for as long as possible, for the reasons you mention. My BFF had everything out at 25 due to stage 4 endometriosis and ovarian cysts. Scares me that she was on HRT for a decade (she's now in her late 30s and no longer on anything and doing well).

[thekarens]

Hey Zoom, just wondering how things were going regarding your cysts?

[zoom-zoom]

Surgery on Weds! Taking out right ovary and its silly sidecar!

[thekarens]

Let me know how it goes. I'll be thinking about you. I have one that I was supposed to have rechecked in July, but my doc went on paternity leave.

[zoom-zoom]

Will do. I hope I recover as well/fast as I have from other surgical procedures. This is the first one done since I've been so active. My biggest dread is that I won't be cleared to resume light running/nowhere biking in 2 weeks. I'm gonna go stir crazy!!