Total hysterectomy?

Megan_C

I’m 32 years old I was diagnosed with breast cancer last August. I have completed treatment and am waiting for my final reconstructive surgery (from tissue expanders to implants). My cancer was fed by hormones so i’m now taking tamoxifen.I’’ll be seeing a gynecologist soon for a check up since being on Tamoxifen. I thought I was completely sure about wanting a complete hysterectomy, even though the risks of uterine cancer is very low, I still wanted to do it to absolutely diminish the chance. Now, after reading about the side effects of surgical menopause, i’m NOT as sure anymore. I’m definitely going to talk to the doctor about all of the options, but I was wondering if anyone here had any advice, I know everyone’s cancer is different, but I would love any advice I can get.

Thanks

Francesca30

Hi Megan, I’m 39 , My BC is erpr+ her2- stage 3A. I don’t want to take any chancesand I want to avoid the shots to stop my ovaries so I’m opting for total hysterectomy in November .

Spoonie77

You're exactly right, everyone's cancer is different and so is their journey.

For me I am at a point in my journey where I don't know what my next plan is due to a zoladex allergy, which is super rare.

However with my only being 42 I am very hesitant to go the surgery route unless it's my absolute last option.

For me I'm glad I've tried out tamoxifen and the ovarian suppression medications first because now I know exactly how my body will respond without any estrogen coming from those sources. Perhaps those side effects I experienced , which were severe enough that I barely had any quality of life, perhaps those would lessen over time.

But for me the real weighty part of the dilema was how much time? Months? Years? And how would I feel if the cancer came back and I'd suffered through years and not been able to live, not even to just be able to take my dog to the dog park etc??? This summer has been awful while going down this endocrine therapy road. I am so hopeful I can at least get back to my chronic illness/spoonie life norm. So in the end would I regret my decision to suffer through? Most likely.

That's why for me it's felt right to go through the semi temporary medications first before I commit to something permanent. Maybe that makes sense? I will say though that it hasn't been easy and it has been scary because my IMO has told me that without endocrine therapy my chances of recurrence & medistatic cancer are anywhere from 28 to 35% in the next 10 years . Even so , for now this is the decision I can live with no matter what may happen in the future for me.

That being said, there are many women that do just fine with the surgical route. You very well could be one of them. Im just an outlier and fearful of permanent consequences. Right now I feel like I have a big gun in reserve if no other alternatives work well for me in the next year.

I hope you can find the decision that will be best for you, piece of mind wise, quality of life wise, and recurrence wise. Keep posting and remember you are not alone in this.