Hysterectomy

jamjar62

Hello and long time no talk! I have a little problem that I need some help with.

I had my yearly GYN exam last month and she did a uterine ultrasound because I am on tamoxifen. During the test, she found a calcification on my left ovary which of course freaked me out. She ran a CA125 on me and it was normal. She wants me to have the ultrasound repeated in 4 months to see if the calcification has grown.

I asked her about a hysterectomy and she was very receptive to the idea, saying that she favored an aggressive approach. I figure that a hysterectomy would take away the estrogen problem and the uterine cancer problem. My oncologist says that a hysterectomy is "too radical". As if pumping my body full of poison and radiation is normal!

Any opinions or advice? I would appreciate it!

Karen

DeeNY711

I do not know whether or not this will help you with your dilemma, but I was monitored every six months for a period of 4 years for calcifications in the right breast. Although the radiologist saw no changes in the calcifications, I developed a lump which he assured me did not show up at all on mammogram or ultrasound. Meanwhile. my lobular carcinoma was marching on aggressively while we monitored and saw nothing. My gynecologist agreed with the radiologist that there was no need for biopsy at that point. They were both so very wrong. If you choose not to proceed with the hysterectomy, the question you have to ask yourself is whether or not you will regret your decision if it hits the fan. I elected to have my left "unaffected" breast removed along with my rigbt breast to make sure I would not be on this page twice. Post-op, pathology found spots of lobular carcinoma in the "unaffected" breast.

sassysally

go for the hysterectomy. Mine wanted me to wait, did for four months then sheepishly said "gee we need to do hysterectomy . GO FOR IT !!!!!!!!!

hummingbyrd

sassysally said:

go for the hysterectomy. Mine wanted me to wait, did for four months then sheepishly said "gee we need to do hysterectomy . GO FOR IT !!!!!!!!!

Couldn't agree more! SS and D are along my line of thinking. I was dx w/ BC 6/00. Had a bone metastases to arm in 8/01, low back 10/01. After radiation I opted for a hysterectomy. Rad Onc said, 'kind of invasive don't you think?'
Gee, I don't know doc, like shooting me with 10,000 cGY of radiation doesn't invade my body?
LOL You gotta laugh, just to keep from going nuts!
Anyway, had my hys, and by the grace of God I'm still here. My philosophy was, I plan to live as long as God wants me to; and while I'm here I'm not going to worry about uterine or ovarian cancer! That's just the way I feel. Like, they give us all these drugs to stop the estrogen production anyway. One of which has a slight risk of uterine cancer....tamoxifen. Best thing I ever did was have my hysterectomy, course they substitute another drug for tamoxifen. Now I take aromasin, but it's ok, at least no carcinogenic side effects, so far.
May God bless you and guide you in your decision making. hummingbyrd

jake10

hummingbyrd said:

Couldn't agree more! SS and D are along my line of thinking. I was dx w/ BC 6/00. Had a bone metastases to arm in 8/01, low back 10/01. After radiation I opted for a hysterectomy. Rad Onc said, 'kind of invasive don't you think?'
Gee, I don't know doc, like shooting me with 10,000 cGY of radiation doesn't invade my body?
LOL You gotta laugh, just to keep from going nuts!
Anyway, had my hys, and by the grace of God I'm still here. My philosophy was, I plan to live as long as God wants me to; and while I'm here I'm not going to worry about uterine or ovarian cancer! That's just the way I feel. Like, they give us all these drugs to stop the estrogen production anyway. One of which has a slight risk of uterine cancer....tamoxifen. Best thing I ever did was have my hysterectomy, course they substitute another drug for tamoxifen. Now I take aromasin, but it's ok, at least no carcinogenic side effects, so far.
May God bless you and guide you in your decision making. hummingbyrd

Same here, Go for it! I think doctors should look a little bit closer at these calcifications. From what I hear at this site and read elswhere, almost always develop into cancer. So why are they so eager to wait and see? Good Luck Beth

Sandis

Another thing to consider is whether there is any family history of breast or ovarian cancer. I'm having a hysterectomy December 2nd and I don't have any symptoms but I have the BRCA1 gene and my mom, aunt, and cousin all died of ovarian cancer. I don't want to wait and see and my doctors have been very supportive of the idea. If I had calcifications I wouldn't "wait and see" since ovarian cancer is so often caught when its too late. Good luck. Sandi

TylersMom1

Hi Karen,
I agree with everyone; go for the hysterectomy. I just went through what you are going through now. My gyno found a tumor in one of my ovaries. She did not want to do the hysterectomy, saying it was too radical. She wanted to only take the one ovary. I got my oncologist involved and he thought having the hysterectomy was justified (currently on tamoxifen for the bc). I requested a meeting with the two thinking I was going to have to talk my gyno into it but after she spoke with my onco she agreed that the hysterectomy was the way to go.
I think what you have to ask yourself is if you want to live with always wondering if the calcification has changed. I know for myself, I didn't want to always worry about what might be growing down there. I wanted to give myself the best possible chance to live a long life.
I had my hysterectomy on September 8th and am very glad I had it. The one thing about the hysterectomy is it takes a lot out of you. When the doctors say the recoop time is 6 to 8 weeks, they mean it! It has been 8 weeks for me and I am still exhausted. Some of that is because my body is still trying to recover from the chemo and radiation, plus I ended up having to go in for a second surgery because of severe bleeding. I ended radiation in February 2003. With a hysterectomy, you can't drive for two weeks and can't do much of anything for 6 weeks (good and bad; no housework, no lifting, no sex)
Good luck with your decision and remember, it is YOUR decision. God bless...Cheryl