Menopause in steps....or just do it?!

kathabus

Hi....my MO suggested starting on Tamoxifen....get to a good point.....then do ovary suppression with an AI....get to a good point....and then ovary removal (OBGYN recommended hysterectomy in my case). MO wants to make sure I have a good quality of life.

The other side is this....just do it. Just schedule the hysterectomy. Why wait and risk a possible reoccurrence? Do I have a better quality of life if I'm worried about a reoccurrence? And I know what the end result is going to be anyway....so let's just do it.

Does anyone have any insight with this decision? Which path did you take and was it the right one?

FYI....I'm leaning toward just doing the hysterectomy. I want to make sure I'm not missing something, though. It's probably just personal preference and the way we're wired. Curious about people's experiences. Thank you!

KMom57

I did an ooph/salping a couple months after diagnosis because I was unconvinced the Zolodex was suppressing the ovaries, and because I just had a bad feeling it needed to be done for some unknown reason. My gyn wanted it sooner rather than later because of my chek2. It was the right choice for me. Recovery was quick, easy and in total, no worse than going in monthly getting the Zolodex. Probably better really, because I didn't have to worry about whether the Zolodex was working or not, or whether there was something hanging out in there. I wish I could have done the whole thing, but it wasn't the right time in treatment, so along with the ooph/salping they did a D &c and sent that to path for the uterus, with a plan to go back in later and get the rest. Oh and, as it turned out, one of the tubes had abnormal hyperplasia or something like that (but still benign), so in my case, it was the right call. I'm older than you, and much closer to natural menopause I'm guessing, so maybe that makes a difference but My menopausal symptoms didn't change much after the ooph. Maybe a bit more hot flashes, but nothing substantial. If I could have, though, I’d have probably done the whole thing at once for peace of mind and to move myself that much further down the road.

Cowgirl13

If it were me, before I made a decision about having a hysterectomy, in addition to finding out all the benefits of doing this, I would also find out all the possible side effects/draw backs and how it would affect me. That way you can go forward with clarity. For me to be comfortable with a decision I need to know what the drawbacks would be and then I could go forward. By knowing ahead of time, if any of these side effects come up, I wouldn't have something coming out of left field. When I know something ahead of time, even if it is negative, it is a different experience for me.

farmerlucy

I kind of did it in steps. First the ooph, then the hyster. The hyster was easy for me, and the no more period aspect was great! I would not do the ooph again. No. Way. Mama needs her estrogen. My hot flashes started w tamoxifen and they’ve never stopped.

You are very young and your cancer is low risk in my opinion. I don’t really understand why they want to suppress your ovaries. If ovarian cancer is what scares you, you could do the ooph and one ovary. Personally I would test out ovarian suppression before having them out. I was 55 and it still impacted me.

kathabus

I had 8mm of cancer in the sentinel lymph node. Usually that’s an automatic chemo, especially when you’re premenopausal. Since I had a low oncotype score we decided no chemo...but that my “chemo” would be menopause. Ovary removal is suggested because of a trial called the SOFT trial.

farmerlucy

I see.

For some menopause is rough. Hopefully not for you. I’d still want to “try” it if I had that option. Best wishes whatever you decide.

BCat40

What you are talking about is irreversible. If it were me, I would try the chemical suppression first and see how you react.