Possible hysterectomy—opinions

hi Carrie

I have been wading through the hysterectomy information myself because of fibroids mostly. In my particular case my gyn was strongly suggesting uterus and Fallopian tubes but leave ovaries. Saw a gynecologist oncologist and he recommended the da Vinci which he has done over 1700 surgeries of and said I was grey area to take or leave ovaries being perimenupausal. And history of BC. Then I saw my MO. He said in my case I should leave the ovaries. I am low risk for ovarian cancer and Soft/text trial saw no benefit in removing ovaries for someone with my stats. The cardiovascular, dementia, bone problem risks were not worth it for me. So I feel I have talked to all the “experts” I could and will make the appointment for surgery next week but i am dreadin

Hi Carrie37:

I have had hysterectomy/oophorectomy after chemo stopped my periods. I was 41 years old at the time. When chemo ended and I was on tamoxifen, my periods came back with a vengence. I had several D &C's actually because they were so heavy. My uterus was like a large soggy bag I was told, so hysterectomy was recommended. And, MO was going to shut down my ovaries chemically anyways to give me aromatase inhibitors instead of tamoxifen, so I had my ovaries out too.

Like you, I was terrified of what this would do to me.

I am now 54 and have no issues after the hysterectomy/oophorectomy. I was delighted with my periods ending, which surprised me because I thought periods meant "youth" and "health". But no periods is really freedom, I must say. My PMS disappeared too! I also thought it would age me faster too. But just the other day, a GP who I had never seen before that I went to for something, thought I was 40 years old and premenopausal. So, thats not bad right? I look 14 years younger than I am!

The surgery was open abdomen for me, so I have a scar along my bikini line which is barely visible. I was in hospital two nights after the surgery on morphine. After that, I took tylenol. I was very tired though. It took me a good 6 weeks to recover.

If you want to PM me, please do.

wallan

I just had all the baby making parts removed including cervix Nov 2. Lap-vag procedure. Very little to no pain afterward. I’ve had a little increase in amount of hair in the drain when I shampoo, memory issues and fatigue. This may just be my body adjusting to the new normal (without estrogen). Hopefully it’s temporary (had the same symptoms on tamoxifen too). Hands down it was the easiest surgery I’ve ever had (and I’ve had a lot of them).

In my case, the cysts looked suspicious for ovarian malignancy on CT. And, since I am BRCA2+, all 3 gyn oncologists I consulted with, recommended the ooph. They all said that if I was not BRCA+, they would have observed the cysts for a few weeks.Luckily, everything turned out benign. I grew 8 cm and 5 cm complex cysts just within 6 months from the last TVUS, I attribute this to tamoxifen.

I tested positive for the BRIP-1 gene mutation which means increased risk for ovarian cancer. Then a couple weeks later I develop blood clots in my left calf and both lungs-attributed to tamoxifen. So couldn’t take tamoxifen anymore and options were to shut down the ovaries for the next 5 years to take an AI, have oophorectomy and start AI it do nothing. Once oophorectomy was decided, OB/GYN said uterus had to go too as I was on tamoxifen which increases risk for uterine cancer.