cysts

August 2, 2002

I do not have any symptoms at all from my follicular cysts. Would have

never known about them if I had not had ultrasounds for my fibroids.

Carol

__________________________________________________

August 2, 2002

I have a 4.5 or 5.0 cyst that was found on flowing sonogram last week when the

docs were rummaging around checking out my submucosal fibroid and wondering

about the origin of my abnormal bleeding....why do you have to remove the

ovarian cyst if it is non cancerous? I did the C-125 test with negative results.

Since I am now in a similar situation I am curious. The doc also just casually

mentioned that he might just go in and remove my ovary as well, and as long as

he was in there he might as well just remove the other ovary as well. even

though that other ovary was normal. Well, I'm just seeing red right now and I'd

like some feed back in case I am being unreasonable....feed back from all would

be appreciated. I am symptom free with that fibroid and the cyst....gg.

Loretta Tague wrote:

> > Some of you have said you also have cysts on your

> ovaries. Do they cause different symptoms? How did you

> find out you had these and fibroids? <

>

> As I understand it, there are " normal " cysts (called functional cysts) that

appear on our ovaries all the time, and I apparently also have cervical cysts

(seen on MRI) which apparently are not alarming to any of my doctors. I was

told the " functional " cysts on ovaries are what happen every month (at least for

some women?) when an egg is about to be released. These are apparently the kind

of cysts that come and go all the time.

>

> But I also have another kind of cyst now which is more cause for concern

basically because of it's large size. (My gyn told me the cut-off for concern

about size is 4-5 cm & mine is 9.5 cm) This cyst is not " normal " and not

expected to just go away on it's own. It is the main reason why I am scheduled

for surgery in September, and since I'm having surgery anyway, a subtotal

hysterectomy is also planned at the same time, to address my fibroids (I have

pretty serious " over-crowding " symptoms including severe back pain, am

unfortunately not a candidate for UAE, and am infertile anyway - scarring from a

previous myo blocked my one viable fallopian tube, plus I've been told that more

scarring in my uterus from the last myo + any new myo scarring would make my

womb a really bad bet for IVF - not to mention that I'm now 43 years old and

have " old " eggs.).

>

> Anyway, my BIG (9.5 x 6.9 x 9.5 cm to be exact) cyst showed up in a recent

ultrasound, which was just ordered to check for fibroid growth. It also showed

up in an MRI I had done a couple weeks later (pre-consultation for UAE).

Unfortunately, I did not know about the cyst from the ultrasound before having

the MRI, so the MRI was not done in such a way to " see " all around (above) it.

>

> Neither test can say for sure whether it is an ovarian cyst or if it's

paraovarian (next to the ovary). But either way, both my gyn + another gyn (my

uncle, who has also reviewed my situation) say there is a definite need to go in

to get a first-hand look at this cyst, and to get it out.

>

> Having said that, the cyst is filled with clear fluid ( " does not appear to

have significant internal echoes " according to the ultrasound) and that, coupled

with some good results of a CA-125 blood test I just had, means it is very

unlikely to be " bad " ( " bad " and " badness " is how my gyn avoids using the word

" cancer " ) - hence why my surgery isn't happening immediately.

>

> FYI - it really pissed me off that my gyn didn't call (as promised) to discuss

the results of my ultrasound when he got the report, because I really would have

liked to have been aware of this cyst before the MRI. (And it scared the poop

out of me for almost a week while I waited to talk to my gyn about it, and get

the CA-125 blood test back.)

>

> Now that I have the ultrasound report in my hands, regarding the cyst, I see

that it says " Consideration of CT or MR for further evaluation is suggested " and

the MRI report says " Correlation with ultrasound or CT suggested. " Because of

this, I wanted to have another MRI to " look " further up/around this thing, but

both my gyn and my uncle the gyn say this wouldn't change the fact that I need

surgery. I don't dispute that, but my thought was that it might help prepare us

for what's " in there " before going in. (As the IR said when he initially looked

at the MRI films, he couldn't see what else, if anything, was " involved " from

the picture taken.)

>

> What does everyone else on this group think I should do? Especially if there

are any doctors out there, would you agree that another MRI would not provide

any more meaningful data in preparation for cutting me open??

>

August 2, 2002

My roommate (49 years old) had a D & C and a laproscopic procedure in May. The

D & C was to treat heavy, non-stop bleeding (due to multiple polyps). The

laproscopic end was due to a large ovarian cyst. The cyst was filled with clear

fluid and they just drained it and sent the fluid for evaluation (it was fine).

The GYN never suggested that the ovary be removed at all. As a matter of fact,

she stated that she would do everything she could to make sure she didn't remove

it.

I don't think it is " normal " to start removing body parts just because there is

a cyst there. Don't get me wrong, if the doc gets in there and it is a mass and

not a cyst, that is another issue.

I think it is calous to look at this as " well while we are in there, we might as

well clear a few 'unnecessary' things out while we are there " . You don't see

any of them suggesting that they remove your appendix while they are in there

because some day it might rupture and kill you.

Just my thoughts.

Ann M.

August 2, 2002

Acutally, I have heard of them removing the appendix while they were " in

there " , at least for hysterectomies. Am I the only person who's heard of

this?

Re: cysts

My roommate (49 years old) had a D & C and a laproscopic procedure in May.

The D & C was to treat heavy, non-stop bleeding (due to multiple polyps). The

laproscopic end was due to a large ovarian cyst. The cyst was filled with

clear fluid and they just drained it and sent the fluid for evaluation (it

was fine). The GYN never suggested that the ovary be removed at all. As a

matter of fact, she stated that she would do everything she could to make

sure she didn't remove it.

I don't think it is " normal " to start removing body parts just because there

is a cyst there. Don't get me wrong, if the doc gets in there and it is a

mass and not a cyst, that is another issue.

I think it is calous to look at this as " well while we are in there, we

might as well clear a few 'unnecessary' things out while we are there " . You

don't see any of them suggesting that they remove your appendix while they

are in there because some day it might rupture and kill you.

Just my thoughts.

Ann M.

August 2, 2002

No , my sister had surgery for her cyst years ago and doctor did the same thing.

> RE: cysts

>

> Acutally, I have heard of them removing the appendix while they were " in

> there " , at least for hysterectomies. Am I the only person who's heard of

> this?

August 2, 2002

Geraldine,

My recommendation would be to hold on to those ovaries (or at least one) as long

as you can! That's my plan. Unless you're already in menopause?... Especially

if you have no history of ovarian cancer in your family, why does your doctor

think they should come out? My doctor said when he goes in to take care of my

cyst he'll try to preserve the ovary that is attached/next to it, and has no

plans at all to even touch the other one.

As far as my understanding of why my cyst needs to come out, my doctor says it's

the size (9.5 x 6.9 x 9.5 cm), he said anything bigger than 4-5 cm can be a

cause for concern.

And now I see, according to this article to which B referred in her

post...

http://webmd.lycos.com/content/article/1680.50981

" If you are experiencing a lot of pain, are over forty ... you'll need to be

treated immediately. "

Which describes me as well. (Thanks !)

The article also says... " if the ovary is unusually large, the cyst is removed

and your ovary biopsied via fine-needle aspiration. If no cancerous cells are

found, once the cyst is removed, you'll also be cured. "

This is what I'm counting on, and my doctors have assured me is MOST PROBABLY

the case, based on the CA-125 result, the " look " of the cyst (filled with clear

fluid), and my lack of family history for ovarian cancer. (Though I know that

the CA-125 test result is not 100% definitive -- maybe you didn't you know

that?)

Loretta

Geraldine Schaumburg wrote: