Ovaries and ER +

HelenFaith

Hello All,

I am so thankful for this site and each of you. My cancer diagnoses was at the end of March and lucky me got a stage 4 from the start (I've always been all or nothing), so I have been trying to learn all I can about my cancer type and it is a lot to learn.

One of the questions I just started asking myself is "Why not take my ovaries?" I am done with them and it will be a quick way to get rid of the estrogen. I will take my question to my doc, but I thought I would bring my question here with hopes some of you will share both pros and cons of having the ovaries removed and whether or not it will make a difference.

Thank you in advance and I look forward to some dialogue.

Cafelovr

Being ER+ and HER2+, I opted to have only my ovaries removed. After having the ultrasound, it showed that the Tamoxifen was scarring my uterus, so we decided to take everything...tubes, ovaries, uterus, and cervix. No regrets and menopause isn't that bad at all!

Dianarose

I chose to have mine out just to be safe. Turns out I had mets in one of them that didn't show up on any of the scans

pajim

If you are ER+ your cancer grows with estrogen. So you either need to suppress your ovaries (Lupron or gosrelin) or have them out. It does not matter which one.

If your doc does not recommend this I would seriously ask for the reason why not.

I've done both. Lupron for 5 years then the surgery. Both are easy and carry the same symptoms.

Dianarose

• I had mine out at the same time they put my implants in. One stop shopping. Don't like getting put under so I figured why do it twice.
• Helen, you didn't state if you have ILC or IDC. If it's lobular I would recommend having them out. Lobular tends to like to go to the abdomen.

HelenFaith

Thank you all for your responses!

For some reason my oncologist doesn't want to remove my ovaries, yet. When I was first diagnosed she had me start with Tamoxifen which I took for 7 days. She explained to me that certain labs will continue to grow after the final result just to make sure it is completely done growing and hormone tests is one of those. So, after the lab confirmed mine was no longer changing the doc called me to tell me that I am a very pre-menopausal 52 year old (my GYN agreed it's unusual to see numbers like mine at my age) and therefore wanted to make some changes and she gave me 3 choices to pick from. 1-Get shots to suppress ovaries. 2-Remove Ovaries. 3-Start chemo, so chemo can attack cancer and put me into menopause. She highly recommended choice #3, and it was the one I felt the most comfortable with.

As of today, I have completed 6 sessions of Taxol and do not feel menopausal and continue to have my cycles, however this last one was very different from the norm. I was in pain with really bad cramps and thought I was going to need to see a doc if the bleeding didn't slow down and I was a week late. Could these be signs of menopause? My mother and other women in our family all state they had it very easy during menopause with very little side effects, so I could be like them (I hope I am)

In July, all new scans will be done to see what is going on with the cancer, as of now all tumor markers are going down. CA 27-29 went from 221 to 199 and CA 15-3 went from 137 to 120 and the pleural effusion hasn't returned, which is another good sign the chemo is attacking the cancer.

My GYN told me that ovary removal is a very simple surgery and the best way to get menopause, so now I am really questioning why not just do it, but I wanted to hear from those who have real life experiences with either removal or no removal. I will discuss this with my onco on Friday. Also, I will be going to MD Anderson at the end of chemo.

Dianarose

Helen- it is pretty simple and I have no scars at all.

Is your cancer lobular ?

Lynne

I had my ovaries (and everything else) removed, when I was first diagnosed, stage 1 IDC, ER & PR + HER2-, in 2005, at 43. I was premenopausal, so the hot flashes, mood swings, etc, were awful. I was first given effexor for the hot flashes, I felt like a zombie on it, though it did lower the number I was having a day. After a year, I switched to gabapentin. It works just as well, and I felt like my old self (much to my kids dismay! LOL). Even if you have them removed (I chose to have it done), your adrenal glands still make estrogen.

The cancer came back in 2012, in my spine and lungs (now also my liver and other bones). 5 years later, I'm still kicking.

HelenFaith

Dianarose,

I just went through everything in my records and don't see any mention of ILC or IDC, so I will check with my doc. Is there a certain test that I may need to look for that would tell me?

pajim

Helen, sometimes chemo puts you into menopause, particularly if you're close anyway, but other times it doesn't. If the Taxol doesn't do it, you can move on to one of the other options.

[Chemo did nothing to interrupt my ovaries but I was 40 at the time. Lots of women never see a period again]

HelenFaith

Lynne,

Thanks for the education.....I had no idea Adrenal gland.

KathyL624

Lynne...why did you have your ovaries out? I am surprised with Stage 1 they did not just recommend tamoxifen. Were you highly hormonally positive? High oncotype

Dianarose

Helen- they would no that from the biopsy.

HelenFaith

Dianarose,

That's why, I didn't have a biopsy. I was diagnosed from the pleural fluid and all the other scans.

Dianarose

Helen- I would want a biopsy. They can do a chemo sensitivity test with it and match it up to the right chemo. I had a surgeon go into my belly to get samples to do the test. I sure as hell didn't want them to guess atwhat chemo they thought would work. You can google about the test. There seems to be too much information missing for them to treat you properly.

HelenFaith

So the biopsy can give different information than the fluid can?

Thank you for educating me.