meka
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Posts: 164
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Post by meka on Jun 2, 2006 0:59:51 GMT -5
I had my first ultrasound nine months ago in August 2005. At that time they saw “some small cysts” on my ovaries, and my gynecologist strongly urged me to do a laparoscopy to confirm endo, and to rule out cancer. I declined surgery and hormones, as I felt those options just weren’t right for me. I figured I would try alternative methods first, and then get a 2nd ultrasound after 6 months or so to see what the progress is, and then reevaluate from there. Well, I got the second ultrasound a couple of days ago. Judging by the ever-increasing pain, I was expecting to hear that the situation had gotten worse. I was prepared to sign up for the lap. My gyno told me that the main cysts have grown 1 centimeter since last August. The main ones, one on each ovary, are 7 and 5 centimeters now. That sounds huge to me. I was shocked to hear those numbers. In August, when she said I had “small cysts," I assumed she meant smaller than a centimeter. If I had known that they were so large, I don’t know that I would have waited (not that I wasn’t trying other methods) this long. No wonder my stomach hasn’t been flat in forever. In addition, it seems that an ovary is pulled behind my uterus, she said. Anyway, she suggested surgery again, and I agreed to it this time. I asked her whether the surgery would be excision (although I believe I said “incision”) or laser. She said, very nonchalantly, “Oh yes, I’d make an incision across your belly, like a C-section.” MAN, OH MAN, her hand stretched from left hip to right! I was expecting, and was mentally preparing for, a laparoscopy, not this (would this be considered a laparotomy?). I have to get this stuff out of me, but I’m not able to accept a huge scar. Call me vain, but I kinda like my belly the way it is now. I didn’t expect anything like this unless I ended up having a C-section in the future. Well, my gyno is leaving, and I have to work with a new gyno now, so I’ll be getting a second opinion on which kind of surgery I have to get. Has anyone had a laparoscopy that allowed large cysts to be removed?
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Post by ouchy on Jun 2, 2006 1:05:26 GMT -5
Hi, Meka. Wow!!! Sorry about the news!!! Second opinion sounds like the right thing to do. Laparotomy doesn't usually require a whole C-section scar, to my knowledge...at least my cousin's didn't! Let us know what the second opion says!!! Best wishes!!! ~ouchy
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Post by erzulie on Jun 2, 2006 11:06:12 GMT -5
I agree, get a second opinion because a laparotomy may not be necessary. Also, while the surgery should be excision, the odds that anyone at your hospital can do it properly aren't good--it really hasn't caught on yet in the mainstream (people come from all over the world to go to the CEC in Atlanta to get excision done, so it's obviously not that common). The important thing you need to talk about is how the cysts will be removed. They probably aren't cancerous, but they COULD be, and the way the doctor removes them could be the difference between life and death for you. Sometimes doctors say they are "removing" cysts and they are really just draining them, so if there are any cancerous cells they get all over in there! If they remove them correctly without spilling them, on the other hand, then any cancerous cells that might be in there will ahve been removed, and if they ahven't spread, you'd be cancer free! Like I said they probably aren't cancerous anyway, but it's a really good idea to make sure they take that precaution.
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Post by Janet on Jun 7, 2006 7:42:40 GMT -5
My c-section scar is down in along the pubic hairline, it is not on my stomach at all. Now my laparoscopy scar in my belly button is completely obvious to anyone who looks at me. My c-section scar is maybe 3 inches long too, but it isn't a huge thing. I understand you don't want scars, I'm just sharing that it really isn't visible unless I'm nakes, underwear, even lowrise ones, cover my c-section scar.
Janet
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Post by ouchy on Jun 7, 2006 11:25:38 GMT -5
Yah. That reminds me. During my last laparoscopy, one surgeon decided to go just lateral to (to the side of) my belly button...and then the second surgeon stitched me up wrong...so now I have to have plastic surgery on my belly button to essentially open up my belly button, as it was/is all bunched up and closed. Find out if your doctor intends to go inside the belly button or to the side of it. Makes a big difference on the scar...Also, for some reason should you have 2 surgeons, make sure one knows how to close up the other's incision!
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meka
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Posts: 164
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Post by meka on Jun 12, 2006 0:10:44 GMT -5
Thanks for the replies, everyone.
Janet, it gives me hope to hear about your C-section scar not being so visible. I've always had this image of my brother's girlfriend's abdomen. After she had my niece via C-section she had this horrible, highly visible scar, while wearing her bikini. Of course, that was a good 15 years ago and technologies have surely improved.
I hope I don't annoy the new doctor too much with my page-long list of questions. I figure it's my right, my body, and I should ask lots of questions. But that doesn't mean the doctor will agree with me (I wouldn't want to upset someone I'm trusting to operate on me).
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Post by erzulie on Jun 12, 2006 10:15:30 GMT -5
Well, it's a good test of how good the doctor is. Before my laparoscopy I printed out a list of questions for my doctor, and when she saw me pull it out and open my pen she just said calmy, "Well, I see you have a list, so go ahead." She seemed really impressed that I had taken the time to research what sorts of things I should ask (as well she should have been, because it meant I cared about my own health). She answered the questions with an attitude that told me she was not afraid of being questioned because she knew she had the answers. It made me feel a lot better about the surgery because she seemed to actually know what she was doing. When doctors get disturbed about questions it maskes me think they're insecure, and I REALLY don't want an insecure doctor operating on me.
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Post by ouchy on Jun 13, 2006 21:28:05 GMT -5
If you see any signs that your long list of questions upsets your doc....dont' let that doctor touch you with a knife!!! find another one!
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meka
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Posts: 164
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Post by meka on Jun 19, 2006 0:18:19 GMT -5
UPDATE: Well, unfortunately, I have to go searching for yet another doctor. I went in on Thursday, list in hand. After waiting 10 minutes for the doctor to come in the examining room (which I actually didn't mind. I saw it as a good sign that the doctor is thorough with her patients), I found out that the doctor was not a woman afterall, but a man. After I had specifically requested a woman, I was pissed, but had to get over it. So, I told the doc that I had questions (he saw my list in hand). He said no problem, "just wait until after I examine you." I thought that was reasonable. But after he finished examining and talking to me for a while, he packed up all his stuff. I said, "Wait, you look like you're ready to leave, but I have those questions, remember?" Get this. He rolls his eyes and sighs, "Okay, but make it quick, 'cause I have other patients." The nerve. The audacity. The inhumanity!!!! My first question: "How long have you been working with endo and doing surgeries." His response."Thirty-five years. Is that enough for you?" He smirks and wobbles his block head smugly. That was only the beginning of his complete and total suckiness. (I'll save the rest for the rant and rave message board.)
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Post by ouchy on Jun 19, 2006 0:28:00 GMT -5
OMIG! I am soooooooooo sorry! The nerve of that guy!!!!! You should report him! That is SO wrong!!! Sorry you have to go hunting down another doc, but smart*A*S*S* doctors like that should be banned from practicing!
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meka
Full Member
Posts: 164
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Post by meka on Jun 19, 2006 0:31:26 GMT -5
UPDATE on topic: This second gyne told me that he, too suggests the full incision rather than a laparoscopy. He said the mass of cysts is so large, and since the ultrasound is not definitive, he doesn't want to risk not being able to get everything, or damaging anything. He actually did an ultrasound himself (my third vaginal ultrasound in less than a year) right there, and he let me watch. The black mass of cyst(s) is as big as my uterus, and stuck behind it. I asked about excision vs. laser. He said he didn't believe that any one method works miracles. He said, ambiguosly, that he does a combo of things. He also said that he wouldn't promise me that he could save my ovaries or any other reproductive organ, although it would be a last resort to remove anything. He even said that he would not agree to closing me back up, organs intact, if the endo/cysts couldn't be removed without damaging the organs. Basically, he thought I would give him free reign over my body! Of course I'll be getting a new doc.
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Post by ouchy on Jun 19, 2006 0:36:27 GMT -5
yikes!
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Post by erzulie on Jun 19, 2006 10:05:49 GMT -5
Whoa, sounds like you're doing the right thing, meka. It's terrible to have to wait, but you want this done right the first time! I can't believe they assigned you a male doctor after you asked for a female. If they'd done that to me I just would have left. Call me old-fashioned, but the idea of baring my private parts to some strange man is a bit much for me. I know some people think I'm crazy for specifically requesting female doctors, but I've never had my request ignored. Unfortunately it is starting to sound like a laparotomy is your only option. At least you'll know in advance and be able to prepare yourself. It's always a risk when they do a laparoscopy that it may turn into something more, which is what I was afraid of. There are some surgeries that just can't be done with a laparoscopy. You can, however, demand that they not take anything out without your permission. If they discover cancer on your reproductive organs they'll take them out anyway because then it would be necessary to save your life, but otherwise they shouldn't do it. If you get a doctor you really trust, then you can decide whether to let her take something out if she feels it is necessary due to damage or whatever, or if you want to get a second opinion no matter what. It's kind fo a toss-up because one way you risk getting something removed that possibly could have been saved by another doctor, and the other way you risk having to have another surgery when you could have had it all done at once. I would have gone with the second opinion because, as long as it's not cancer, it won't kill you. It's just a matter of whether you can live with the pain a bit longer. Any doctor who does not respect your wishes is not someone you want operating on you, so I think you've made the right choice.
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Post by Hillary on Jul 26, 2006 15:07:23 GMT -5
HI ladies I'm new at this but, I myself have had both the c-section incision and the incision from above my belly button to the bottom, the first time i wasn't so scared I had 2 cysts on my right ovary on was 7x4 and 4.4cm, I went in thinking they would just remove the cyst but the next day after surgury my specialist told me I had endo and that if I wanted kids i would have to start right away(I waas not prepared for that) so obviously i was balling , when he left he told "Don't cry too much" I was so angry at that. When I got my result 3 weeks later he told me that i had endo/ovarian cancer very rare but he said it wasn't the bad kind, in other words not spreadable and that the results where being sent down to Princess MArgaret Hospital (Our Cancer Specialists), when i got my apointment their they told me that i had agressive ovarian cancer. what had happened was that i was in and out of hospitals for 8 months with sivere stomach ache, constipation, gas and everytime they did the good old, blood, urine, x-rays and of course nothing showed up cause you cannot detect endo with those tests, finally after 8 months of agony they did a ultra sound and found the cyst but because it was there so long it had turned into ovarian cancer, i am very very lucky to be alive! So when my very understanding new specialist at PMH listened to all my problems and told me that they would have to do an MRi & catscan and then we need to do a laproscopy but he said that if he finds cancer or anything else it would turn into full surgery. That is the scariest thing ever! I'm telling you i have never been through so much distress and pain in my life. Thankfully i received my results on Good Thursday the weekend of Easter, my Dr. left me a message on my answering machine, Bless him! that there was no cancer left! Mind you i had a ton of endo but no cancer. so my pain had gone away i was regular, everythings seemed fine for about a month and now I have pains, contipation you name it i have it. I just had another MRI last week and blood work and i get my results on Monday, I am soo scared. Seems everytime I go to the doctors I am in surgery 3 weeks later. Crossing my fingers i'm not, he said that if it is too bad then i will go for fertility right away to get pregnant (Iv'e tryed for 5 months now), if it isn't so bad then we will try to contain it (not sure what that means) or if there isnt(doughtful) then i keep trying to get pregnant. Anyway, thru all of this, I beleive if your doctor says you need to remove the cyst you need to remove it right away, get a second opinion but do it quickly, it's a new study that they now know that it can turn into cancer, as it happened to me. Wow, that was a vent! Thanks for listening!
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Post by ouchy on Jul 27, 2006 21:14:55 GMT -5
Hi, Hillary! Welcome to the forum! Sorry you have been through so much. Could you maybe copy/paste the first part of this post in the "Introdue Yourselves" room so that others can find out who you are without having to search for this post? Welcome to the forum again. GLad they found your cancer in time!
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