Offered Surgery

Hi Lyns,

Sadly, the uncertainty is one of the things most of us who’ve been on this journey have struggled with and, when it comes to such big decisions as which path of treatment / surgery to follow, there is unfortunately no 100% guarantee we will get it right.

Very daunting I know, and only natural that we look to our medical experts for answers but, all the scans, blood tests, and other assessments we go through during the early stages of assessment can unfortunately only provide indicators - the real answers are in the biopsy taken during the surgery itself.

In my case, all indicators pointed to cancer and, being 58 and already post-menopausal, I didn’t have all the same factors to take into account that you do at 38 - and I’m thinking maybe it might help you to connect and chat through this site with others of a similar age to yourself?

In December 2020 I underwent a full hysterectomy, but was offered the opportunity of a frozen section - which allowed the large tumour on my ovary to be analysed while I was sedated, and for the remainder of the op to be carried out immediately once cancer was confirmed, so that no second  op was needed and no time was lost in stopping the cancer from  spreading.  I’m not sure if this option has been discussed with you, but maybe it’s something you might want to explore with your medical team if not?

For sure, whichever path you choose may come with risks and only you can really decide which are worth taking and which are not for you personally, and do what you can to mitigate them.

Wishing you all the very best,

Bx

Hi B, 

Thanks for your reply. I've got two kids so don't want to take risks with my life but not knowing if it's cancer is causing me so many conflicts as I'm frightened of early menopause and the health risks that brings. I read that they don't give HRT to people who have had ovarian cancer because of the recurrence risk.

Are you cancer free now? I hope so. I'm still in shock as i wasn't taking the symptoms seriously that I went to the GP about and now I'm facing this. I just thought I'd check since my partner had just had melanoma I thought to be careful.

I don't know when my next consultation is to discuss my decision. I wish there was a middle ground offered. I thought biopsy results took weeks. I'm squeamish about surgery too so I don't know how I'd cope being sedated.

Take care, thanks again,

Lyns

1. Hi Lyns,

Well - I’m hoping I’m cancer free now (or almost anyway). My surgeon was confident she’d managed to remove all the cancer, and my blood markers are now back in normal range, so it’s looking promising - and I’m now half way through my 6 cycles of chemo, which I’m told is mostly precautionary.

Looking back over the past few months though, I can definitely relate to your anxiety re. not knowing for sure whether you have cancer or not, the shock of reaching this point when you didn’t think your symptoms were that serious, and also to your fears about undergoing surgery. Sadly, it’s the way this thing hits most of us who’ve been on this journey  - like a bulldozer out of nowhere ! So don’t be hard on yourself about how you’re feeling.

For sure there are some decisions to be made and risks to be factored in, and I hope you get the support you need in respect of those. If it helps at all, l can honestly say that for me just being at this point, and now able to see myself with a future life again, has made all the tough bits along the way worthwhile. 

I really hope you get your follow up appointment soon, and some answers to your questions about HRT, biopsy timelines,etc, so that you can be comfortable with whatever you decide, and it would be great to hear from you again when you feel ready to post an update.

All the best until then, love

Bx

Hi B,

Sorry it's taken so long to reply. I've been processing a bit and avoiding thinking about it since I made my decision. I'm having the ovary and tube out plus the cyst and hoping biopsies are benign though they think it might be immature teratoma. My surgery is in a couple of weeks. My ldh levels are 500 something but my CA125 level is only 50 something so I'm hoping for the best.

I'm really glad they think you're clear. I've got everything crossed for you to remain so x

Hi Lyns, many thanks for your reply and kind wishes. I’m now on cycle 4 of my chemo and doing OK. 

I really hope all goes well with your surgery and you make a full and speedy recovery, and it would be great to hear how you get on when you feel ready to post again.

Love Bx

Chemo is so tough. I hope you have plenty of support. I've just had my surgery and it went well though my blood pressure is low atm. Thank you for your well wishes, equally I hope yoir treatment will be completely  successful. 

Keep me updated,  love Lyns x

Hi Lyns,

Great to hear that your surgery went well and really hoping for a positive outcome from your biopsy (which I guess will take a couple of weeks?).

I also had low blood pressure after surgery, which I think is quite common, and was told it was likely to be due to the anaesthetic. It didn’t last long though, and hasn’t been a problem since, so hopefully it’ll be that way for you too.

I start cycle 5 of chemo tomorrow....mostly doing ok still - just a few blood challenges with having low white cell count then low HB in recent weeks. The medical team have been great though, and always seem to have a fix for anything that comes up, so I’m being well looked after.

Keep well and keep in touch,

love Bx

Hi hun. I've just had my results back yesterday from scans, ct and having ca125 elevated and severe anemia. Was told they are pretty certain I have stage 1 or 2 ovarian cancer. They are taking out everything womb ect in 6 weeks. Then if I have any spores from the cancer they will do chemo. I'm 47 and post menopausal. Can u tell me is this a diagnosis as me and partner atm arguing x

Hi Chatterbox,

Sorry you find yourself here - but sounds like if you do have OC your medical team think they’ve caught it at an early stage. Quite uncommon for this disease and definitely something both you and your partner should be grateful for.

What you have is as close to a diagnosis as  most of us get pre- surgery/biopsy I think. Generally, only when the surgery/biopsy has happened can they be 100% certain whether it is cancer or not and whether chemo or any other treatments are needed.

Best of luck on your journey, and try not to argue with your partner over this. It’ll really help if you can support each other and be on the same side for this fight,

love Bx