Hello ladies
I am not a regular on here at all, but a few of you asked me to let you know how things went for me, post oopherectomy.
A bit of background. I am 59. Had a TVH ten years ago but retained my ovaries. I went on Oestrogen only HRT patches and gel... I alternate at times, which has always been okay for me. The dose that I have been most well on, is 37.5mg patch/ 1/12 pumps gel.
Over the past year or so I was getting the odd twinge lower left pelvis. Felt rather like period pains of the past. Over time, the twinges became painful and more frequent. In addition, I became very bloated. As I am naturally very slim with a BMI of 20, I notice extra weight gain. (Have to add that I was diagnosed with an auto immune condition around 6 years ago and so at times, when I have a 'crash', I feel very very unwell and it can get confusing with regard to health matters.
Scan showed a large cyst. Watchful waiting and a second scan showed it hadn't disappeared although it was a simple cyst. It's possible I'd had it for years but only recently was having symptoms. I decided to not only have the cyst and left ovary removed, but also the right ovary. I had considered everything and as I had been on oestrogen for ten years anyway, with the remaining little ovary kicking out only trace amounts of oestrogen, it felt better for me to have that one removed too, so that I could rule out any worries of ovarian cancer in the future. If I had been younger, I may have hung on to it.
I had the operation by keyhole surgery on 18th July. A great surgeon by the way. Surgery went brilliantly, and I had the best care at Gloucester Royal Infirmary. Not just care, but the whole process went very smoothly. A friend stayed with me for a week, as I live alone. Unable to drive, lift... just the normal common sense stuff you need to take a break from.
The 4 incision points healed beautifilly. The lower one is below bikini line, and the one on my right side, is in an appendectomy scar site. The only site that I had delayed healing with, was the one in my belly button. I guess if you have an 'outy', you're less likely to get any infection, but I have an 'inny', so even though I'm incredibly clean, it took ages for that to heal properly, because it's a naturally moist area.
three months down the line and I feel fantastic. Gone is the pain that I'd had for so long, but had gotten used to. Post op swelling went after 2 months and I can do my jeans up now. I had also experienced the other cyst symptoms of fullness after eating only small amounts of food, and that has gone too. Hence my digestive system is so much happier.
A few weeks ago I realised that i would need to increase my HRT slightly, but I was prepared for that being a possibility. I did get some hot flushes and sweats, and aches and pains, rather like I had prior to starting HRT, ten years ago. Increased gel to 2 pumps per day. All fine.
I avoided like the plague, reading books or articles that refer to oopherectomy as 'castration' and that you should 'never' have them removed. I can tell you that I feel 100% better than I have in a long time. But as our mantra is.... 'we are all different'.
Of course we can't stop the other 'wear and tear' symptoms, post menopause. HRT is good, but it can't reverse everything.
So... if any of you are having simply symptoms due to ovarian cysts and are considering surgery, I can only say that my experience has been amazing.
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Topic: Ovarian cyst removal and Oopherectomy - 3 months post op. (Read 1778 times)