Winnie, i have BRCA2 gene mutation and am on HRT, like you I had concerns, relatives have had both ovarian and breast cancer and my gynae consultant said you will need something. This was backed up by a genetics counseller, a breast surgeon and also NICE guidelines and info produced by the Royal Marsden.
He explained it by saying that pre op my natural hormone level was eg 75%, post op it drops to zero and symptoms will kick in. Taking low dose hrt will bring you back to about 30/35% and will make it more bearable and offers protection re osteo and heart disease.
I have read many articles on line to back this up, here is one that you may like to read
http://medicineworld.org/stories/lead/6-2011/women-with-brca-mutations-can-take-hrt.htmlI am not suggesting you take hrt but read up and make a more informed choice, in reality most families unfortunately will have someone with breast cancer.
My personal view is in addition there are lifestyle / dietary changes that we can make to reduce our risk of cancers and if we adopt those we are giving our bodies the best chance anyway. For me its a choice of quality of life.
Also I took around 5 weeks to recover from laparoscopic ovary removal so give yourself time, some people just take longer than others to heal.
Keep updating us with your progress. x