Pam
I was 45 and my left ovary had 2 cysts, 1 that appeared normal, and 1 that appeared suspicious. With a maternal aunt that died of ovarian cancer, I was very supportive of a hysterectomy and yet my gyn. wanted the "wait and see" approach with close follow-up. Needless to say, if the 1 cyst was malignant (which I had previously thought only solid masses were subject to being malignancy) a few months could have made a difference between life and death. So I went to the University of Cinti. Barrett Center for Obstetric Oncology. They were surprised that my my gyn had still been trying to spare my ovaries with ongoing problems at my age. (I also had other problems, excessive bleeding from too frequent periods, mild dysplasia of the cervix, in addtn to the cysts.) A hysterectomy was scheduled. Then suddenly I became panicked about the hysterectomy deal. I found a support website at hystersisters.com just for women agonizing and recovering from this decision. It put my fears to rest. Inform yourself thru legitimate medical websites to fully understand the pros and cons of the surgery (I must admit...the more I knew of the cons, the more scared I became, but I believe you should arm yourself with all facts. But just know this, I had the surgery, everything went well, and I can't believe I endured the suffering with female problems for as long as I did "after 40". I feel totally liberated...no more pain, no more excessive bleeding, and no more having to consider my fatigue from chronic anemia that resulted from the bleeding. It was much easier than I would have expected (procedure was done vaginally). I now change a little clear patch once a week for estrogen replacement. Inform yourself but unless you are still considering having children, seriously consider the removal of your ovaries. Good luch either way!