Necrotic Ovarian Cysts After Full Hysterectomy

[suzy_q2010]

Originally Posted by marlee1968

I am 45 and just had a total hysterectomy in Oct of 2012. after about 3 months I started feeling severe pain on my left side and very painful to have sex or bowel movements, even hurt sometimes to urinate. I have gained like 20 lbs in a short period of time and looks like its coming from my stomach and bloating. I went back to by GYN and he did a vaginal ultrasound which he said I have a cyst on my left ovary. At that time I told him "no I don't have any ovaries" He immediately called the specialist that I was sent to in the first place to consult with him since he is the one that done the surgery. I made appt with him and he said I was full of scar tissue and my surgery was very difficult when he did it but he was sure that he had removed every piece of ovary. He then asked for a CT scan and then concluded well yea maybe some was left behind. at that time the cyst was only 0.8 x 0.6cm. He said well I think you probably need to go to a GI doctor because surgery is just to risky. It has been 5months since I seen him and my pain as of last night has become unbearable. I went to the ER and they did another CT scan and of course came back saying that I have cyst on my ovary which is now 2.8 x 1.6 in size so its not getting smaller and that I had vaginal cuff thickening and I have no idea what that means. He stated I needed surgery and for me to go back to my GYN/ONcologist first thing Monday morning. This all is such a mess to me and the pain is affecting my whole life!!!!!!

Why was your hysterectomy done?

It is possible that you have a piece of an ovary left. The size of the "cyst" they are describing is consistent with an egg follicle.

Are you taking estrogen? If not, do you have hot flashes, or did you have hot flashes right after the surgery that went away? No hot flashes at all may mean you have some ovary left.

If you are not taking estrogen, your doctor can measure a hormone called FSH. If you have ovarian tissue that is making estrogen, the FSH will be in the range expected before menopause. If so, you could consider taking medication to suppress the ovarian tissue that is left and see if the pain improves.

If you do have a remnant of ovary left and suppressing it does not help, then surgery may be needed. However, if you make scar tissue when you have surgery, more surgery presents the risk of more scar tissue, which may just be in another spot. The best choice for a surgeon if you have a history of scar tissue is one with extensive experience treating a condition called endometriosis or a gyn oncologist.