Ovaries, to keep or not? (not tested for genes)

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Summer2recover
Summer2recover Member Posts: 171
edited June 2014 in DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)

I am 51, still having regular, painful periods and wasn't tested for BRCA genes because of lack of family history & not having daughters.  I have 6 month check with ONC next week but he was very against me having BMX and spent our first appointment trying to talk me out of it and was clearly disappointed with me.  I thought I was going there to find out about possible medications he might prescribe for me after my surgery so it was an interesting appointment.  I knew that I didn't have to go with a BMX and that it wasn't a life or death situation at that point, it was just the best thing for me to do.

   I see that having a first degree relative with colon cancer is one of the risk factors with ovarian cancer and my brother passed away at age 54 a year and a half ago after being diagnosed at Stage 4 a year and a half earlier.  This makes me wonder if I should get rid of my ovaries now before I hit actual menopause.  I've been told that you often follow a pattern of your mother and I don't think she reached it until age 55.  Since I'm ER+ PR+ I'm feeling kind of like a breeding ground for cancer.  Does anybody have any advice?  I'm concerned that he is going to accuse me of having "takethingsoutitus" again.  I think I'm plenty old enough to tackle menopause at this point.

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  • shannonW
    shannonW Member Posts: 186
    edited January 2012

    I noticed u deleted your post and wanted to comment anyway. I had to make a decision on whether to keep ovaries or not b/c I needed a LAH for prolapsed uterus. I had DCIS no invasion and BMX. After much consideraton and research at 41yo I opted to keep my ovaries. I hope to have 10 more years b4 menopause and felt it better to keep my ovaries vs going into menopause at 41. There are heart and bone issues that go along with an oophrectomy.For many women it's beneficial depending on the type of cancer you are diagnosed with, but with DCIS it isn't a recommendation. I did the BRCA test and it was negative. 

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  • Summer2recover
    Summer2recover Member Posts: 171
    edited January 2012

    Thanks Shannon!

    I was on the fence about posting this in the DCIS section so I took it off but I do appreciate your input.  I agree that at your age those are good reasons to keep them.  I have not deeply researched the recommendations for DCIS at all. I think that because in my small circle of DCIS ladies I'm the only one who still has them and they are making me nervous.  It seems like there are so many women on here that also have done the Ooph. 

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  • 3monstmama
    3monstmama Member Posts: 1,447
    edited January 2012

    Summer2recover,  I think there are lots of good reasons to keep them and indeed, when I was first diagnosed, I had no intention to have mine removed even though I was found to be through menopause so I'm not sure what they were doing in there anyway. Undecided  I did not do gene testing as I wasn't passing my genes on to anyone and had no family history of cancer.

    But in November of last year, my mother was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer and I rethought my earlier decision (well actually that part took about 3 seconds) and had an Ooph in December.  I have not noticed any differences but again, I was already through menopause and its possible that I was pushed into it when I had an hysterectomy for alien baby sized fibroids 4 years earlier.

    I am happy with my decison---anything that reduces my chances of developing ovarian cancer works for me--but this is definitely one of those things where one size DOES NOT fit all.  I will say that I suspect more of us have cancer in our family histories than we think.  In the 20s-30s it was often referred to differently even though today we would call something cancer.  When I was diagnosed I thought there was no cancer in my nearby relatives--when my mother waws diagnosed, I found that her grandmother and her uncles had all died of cancer--likely peritoneal or ovarian.

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