Hi, I'm new here.
I am 54 and have experienced pain during and bleeding after intercourse. I don't know if I'm through menopause yet as I have a Merina coil. I also have high risk HPV but no abnormal cells at my last SMEAR test. I was worried about the bleeding so went to my GP, who tested me for infections, which came back clear. She then referred me to the hospital. I went today and they did a transvaginal scan, a biopsy and had a look around. The doctor said one ovary was very tiny but the other was large. She also arranged for me to have a C125 test. The biopsy was pretty painful and although the staff were excellent and very kind to me I felt a bit shocked. I keep telling myself that I probably have a cyst, but I have to confess I am worried. Now reading up on Dr.Google, I see that I have been experiencing other symptoms like needing to wee a lot (sometimes only just getting to the toilet), bloating, and really chronic fatigue. I also felt really out of breath doing up my shoes. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
Hi Becliz
Welcome to the Online community and the Ovarian group. I am normally in the Womb group but often pop on here to help out when needed.
I am sorry to hear about your symptoms and can understand why you are worried. I think the thing to hold on to at this stage is that you are doing the right thing in getting checked out. Your symptoms can have different causes but they normally try to rule out the more serious ones so far. So it is important for them to confirm whether the enlarged ovary is due to a cyst or something else. The biopsies can be painful and I am glad the staff were supportive. It does make a massive difference.
The CA125 test is a routine blood test and it is useful as a marker for ruling out cancer. A high level would indicate the need for further testing. It can be raised for different reasons though and cancer is only one of them. Mine was done regularly throughout my diagnosis and treatment for womb cancer.
I would advise to stay away from google as I know I was tempted and scared myself silly. A lot of the information is not accurate and out of date. Your symptoms when using the toilet, the bloating, fatigue and breathlessness may indeed show up as possible symptoms of ovarian cancer but they can also have other causes. I know during my diagnosis I would worry about any symptom and put it down to cancer.
I hope that your biopsy results come back quickly and that they give you the answers you need. It can be really hard to wait for results so in the meantime if you feel talking things through would help then please do give the Support Line a call. The details are below and they are lovely on there.
Jane
