I had surgery 6 weeks ago to remove 2 large tumours that were found in my pelvis back in September, one that was 13cm from my right ovary and a smaller one on the outside of my uterus along with several chocolate cysts that were on my other ovary - all were removed successfully and thankfully, the ovaries didn't need to be removed as well.
The tumours were detected because my husband and I had been trying for baby number 3 and months were passing by and still no pregnancy along with some other worrying symptoms, so I went to my GP.
Anyway, to cut a long story short - We had the results just before Christmas and thankfully the results were great and the biopsies taken from the two tumours and the surrounding areas were all benign! We had a follow up appointment with my gynecologist to discuss the results and of course one of the main questions was pregnancy! He explained that I should now not experience any problems with conceiving and that the two tumours were endometriomas caused by endometriosis.
I have to return to hospital in February for an ultra sound which is purely just to check if any new cysts are beginning to form, if so then I'll be put on some temporary medication. If none are detected then all is fine and no further treatment will be needed unless the same problems begin again later in the future.
We asked when he would feel it would be safe to begin trying again and he said (and I quote) 'as soon as you want to'.... he said I should wait 6 weeks for the scar to heal (my scar runs from my belly button down to just above my pubic bone) and I then asked if I should wait until the ultrasound in February and he said, no, it's no issue if you're pregnant already.
I explained that during my past pregnancies my tummy gets very big and my concern is the scar tissue and the external scar won't stand the stretching, he basically laughed it off and said it's fine! He said that pregnancy is the best medicine for endometriosis because your ovaries technically go to sleep during the pregnancy so no new cysts will form. He told me my ovaries are the cleanest they've been in years and it's probably the best time to concieve.
So.... I'm just wondering if anyone has been through something similar. I'm so ready to begin trying again, I'm extremely lucky to have two gorgeous boys but we are desperate to bring another baby into our family but I'm so worried, although my gynecologist seemed to think it was fine, I'm anxious that my scar won't stand the stretching.... I have dreaded thoughts it will open.... I'm driving myself mad worrying about it.
I'd love to hear from someone that perhaps got pregnant post surgery and if at all it affected their pregnancies?
Thanks in advance! 😉😉😉
¿Hola, puedo preguntarte? Aparte de no quedar embarazada, ¿cuáles fueron tus otros síntomas preocupantes??
Creo que si el ginecólogo dice que estás bien, adelante… mucha suerte xx
Hi,
Yeh sure. I was having terrible pain, on the right side on my lower abdomen which was always at its worst when I was ovulating and after my period had finished my I was also bleeding in between periods, terrible lower back pain again on the right side ... I was also constipated and my periods were very heavy and painful for the first 3 days or so plus I was urinating all the time. Turns out they were all symptoms of the large endometriomas and the chocolate cysts I had. Since surgery they've all disappeared!! It was an awful time though as they are the same symptoms for ovarian cancer, so it was really tough for 13 weeks until the results came back xx
Hola, estoy interesada en esto porque tengo algunos de tus síntomas: micción frecuente y estreñimiento. ¿Podría preguntarte dónde se diagnosticaron tus tumores y quistes como endometriomas en la ecografía? He tenido una ecografía por un sangrado prolongado y manchado entre períodos, y esto mostró ovarios agrandados, uno con dos quistes simples y el otro simplemente agrandado con una textura compleja, pero nadie me ha dicho qué podrían ser. ¿Solo se te diagnosticó como endometriomas después de tu cirugía? Estoy tan contenta de que todos los tuyos resultaran no ser nada, porque es un momento tan preocupante esperar, ¿no? Creo que el consejo de tus médicos es sólido y te deseo un embarazo exitoso. ¡Buena suerte, Michelle xx!
Estoy sufriendo un dolor intenso durante la ovulación… y mi pelvis está muy dolorida y sensible… esto puede durar de 10 a 12 días… mis períodos han disminuido a 2 o 3 días, pero son extremadamente dolorosos… y tengo que orinar cada dos horas constantemente… tengo ruidos fuertes en el abdomen y estoy estreñido, aunque sí voy al baño… mi abdomen no está hinchado, es muy suave y estoy comiendo bien… así que no tengo pérdida de apetito, ya que sé que ese es un síntoma importante del cáncer ovárico… me está preocupando muchísimo…
Awww I would head to your GP as soon as you can, so you can have peace of mind as your symptoms may well be absolutely noting to worry about but you need to put your mind at rest.
I didn't have any loss of appetite at all, I was eating well too but I did have a swollen tummy, very bloated particularly when my period was due and during.
Don't worry yourself, just get yourself to the docs and sort it. I put mine on hold for a while as I kept brushing it off. Thank goodness I went when I did.
Can I ask how old you are ? I'm 31 by the way. 😉
Hi I had a dermoid cyst removed laparoscopically back in May and fell pregnant shortly after my scars are a lot smaller than yours and they are not causing me any pain. the only discomfort is from my right ovary as the doctors think I have some scar tissue there following the op it's not too painful but I am aware of it but they think the pregnancy is aggravating things but it's completely manageable and I do not need pain killers. I wish you well and fingers crossed you fall pregnant soon x x
Thanks for your reply! That's what I'm worried about it the internal scar tissue and then external scar stretching!
Thanks for the advice. Been googling non stop and I'm getting such a mix of info x
Hi,
No the first ultra sound wasn't able to identify what the two larger masses were. They detected the several chocolate cysts on my ovary but they just couldn't say what the two large ones were. I had internal scans too and they took images which then a team of consultants looked over and they then decided to send me for a CT first... again they couldn't determine what they were and the CT also showed the largest mass was covering my entire left ovary and my bowel so I was then sent for an MRI - again, they still couldn't give me concrete answers as to what they were until they opened me up which is then, after the surgery once the results of the biopsies were back that they told me they were endometriomas. So it was a horrid few months because we knew there could be a chance that the tumours were malignant.
I was assigned to a macmillan nurse too, along with also before the MRI results were in, I had to see a stoma nurse as because the CT revealed the tumour was covering my bowel, they were unsure if it was attached which may possibly results in my bowel having to be interfered with to remove the mass. It was awful. .... thankfully the MRI showed differently which was such a huge relief.
If I'm honest, my self and all my family were convinced I had ovarian cancer. My CA125 levels were in the hundreds, I had pretty much all the symptoms bar the loss of appetite and the whole process just kept getting worse until finally surgery! We were so shocked when the results came back and we were told all were benign! Feeling very lucky.
Good luck to you, what's the next step now for you? Have you been assigned to a gynaecologist? For me... everything went so fast so I hope the same happens for you!
¡Oh, pobre, pobre cosa! Estoy tan contenta de que sea tan buena noticia después de leer tu historia. Siento tu alivio 
Sí, después del escaneo tuve una cita de seguimiento con el ginecólogo en el hospital el 22 de diciembre, quien no parecía muy preocupado. Solo dijo que hiciéramos otro escaneo después del período de enero y que la cita de seguimiento es el 9 de febrero, así que no entiendo por qué no es urgente, ya que tengo un ovario agrandado con textura heterogénea, lo que significa que no es liso. Tal vez he leído demasiado sobre esto en Google, ¡lol! El otro ovario también está agrandado con dos quistes simples, pero eso no es motivo de preocupación. También dijo que hago este escaneo para tranquilizarme. Pero estoy segura de que debería ofrecerme la prueba de sangre C125, aunque incluso mi médico dijo que no es necesaria. Siento que tengo una nube oscura sobre mí. ¿Sabías que el C125 puede elevarse mucho debido a la endometriosis? Por eso el tuyo estaba tan alto. ¿Sabías que tenías endometriosis antes de que todo esto te ocurriera? Muchas gracias por responder y cuídate, Michelle xx
No I had no idea I had endometriosis before all of this happened. I have two boys and my youngest is 5 so my last scan before all this was almost 6 years ago and nothing was said then so I'm pretty sure the cysts have developed since his birth as surely if they'd seen cysts during his scans they would have mentioned it. I also had no idea that ca125 levels could be high because of endometriosis until once I had my results and I started googling so I did have a glimmer of hope as most threads I read said that ovarian cancer would show levels in the thousands.
I'm surprised you haven't been sent for a ca125 blood test, purely because it can rule out things so early on.... I was sent the following morning after my first doc appointment. So maybe that's a good sign for you, that things aren't moving so urgently? Perhaps you have nothing to worry about....
The waiting around is horrible. It's the worst thing. I'll
Make sure you ring up your gynae clinic to chase up the next scan and/or appointments... make sure you let them know how eager you are for answers and how worried you are, how much it's affecting you... it's such a stressful time. Best advice I can give it try and keep yourself as busy as possible and make sure you have lots of people around you for support when ever you need it. As it was all happening with me around Christmas, once I was signed off work in preparation for the op, I kept busy for shopping and getting everything ready for Xmas incase after the op I wasn't well enough to do anything. Luckily I did as the first 2/3 weeks were tough.
There is no harm in contacting your GP and having an appointment with him/her to discuss what's been happening and how you're feeling, they may be able to shed some light on things for you and also you could ask for the ca125 test?
Good luck and fingers crossed for you that you don't have to wait too long before you get some answers and help x
Sí, lo haré. Ya tuve una cita y me dijo que no quería hacerme el CA 125 porque tengo un fibroma, que puede causar un falso positivo, al igual que muchas otras cosas como tu endometriosis . No estoy segura de por qué el ginecólogo no me lo ofreció tampoco; no estaba preocupado, solo dijo que volveríamos a escanear para mi tranquilidad en Akan y que me vería para seguimiento en febrero. Me siento un poco mejor al pensar que no hay prisa, pero aún estoy muy ansiosa por todo esto. Pensé que un ovario agrandado era algo de lo que preocuparse y que debería investigarse rápidamente, pero mi médico general dijo que textura heterogénea significa que mi ovario está compuesto por diferentes cosas; no es liso, dijo que podría ser un endometrioma, etc. ¿Puedo preguntarte si tus ovarios estaban agrandados como los míos en la ecografía? Gracias por todos tus consejos y ayuda. xxx
Hi Michelle,
No my ovaries were not enlarged as all my cysts and the endometriomas were all outside of my uterus and ovaries....I was told before surgery that I'd need my left ovary removed as one of the masses was attached to it but they managed to save it thankfully.
Not sure what an enlarged ovary means but obviously... your cysts are inside your ovaries am I right? I'm not too clued up on this sorry but speaking from experience, I wouldn't be happy with the lack of urgency and I would push for more information? I understand the reasons for the ca125 test as yes endo can give false results but.... I still feel you need more help and support? So sorry for you that things aren't moving forward much for you.... I can only advise that you lay it on thick and push and push for more help or a second opinion? 😕
Sorry I can't help much. Let me know the latest x
Gracias, tengo mi escaneo el próximo miércoles, así que se está acercando. Un ovario está agrandado con dos quistes simples y el otro también está agrandado, pero en el informe no se mencionan quistes, solo que tiene una textura heterogénea. Pronto lo sabremos. Tuve una cita de 40 minutos con el médico de cabecera, quien dijo que podría haber tenido esto durante años, ya que no tengo síntomas aparte de una sensación de pinchazo debajo de la costilla, que debe estar relacionada. Fui al médico en octubre porque tuve un periodo de tres semanas, así que me mandó a hacer una ecografía que mostró un fibroma y ovarios agrandados. Pero la derivación tardó cinco semanas en llegar al ginecólogo, quien no estaba preocupado y solo ordenó una nueva ecografía para la próxima semana con una cita de seguimiento el 9 de febrero. Tengo que confiar en ellos, pero simplemente parece mucho tiempo de espera. Espero que te sientas mejor día a día, tu historia me conmovió profundamente, puedo sentir lo ansiosa que debiste haber estado, debe haber sido un momento tan terrible para ti, pero qué final tan feliz 
Glsd it's only a week away now for your scan and then hopefully you'll have more answers then to stop all this worry you must be going through. The waiting is the worst.
I haven't heard the term heterogenous texture before but I can only assume that things aren't moving so rapidly for you because it's something that can be easily sorted or isn't a worry for the GP'S, gynaecologist? I'm not sure hun.... but I would definitely take it as a good sign to put your mind at rest beacause there is nothing worse than constant worrying 😕
With me, I think from the start, docs and my gynae including my self pretty much thought it was cancer... I'd completely convinced myself and although the fact that everything happened so fast was a good thing. ... it made me worry even more that they were rushing my onto every next step so fast.
The pros know what they are doing hun, they're the best people to help you and they will..... fibroids are very common from what I've read and heard, though they can cause lots of issues the little buggers, they can be sorted and I'm sure the gynae would be pushing for things to happen a lot sooner if he/she was worried.
Try not to worry yourself. ... try not to Google and try to keep yourself busy and remain positive. I know it's hard but the waiting around is the worst and that's when your mind starts to wander...... scan next week - one step closer to sorting everything out for yourself! Xxxx