Another surgery?

[JulieW]

Cancer runs rampant on my mother's side of the family.

 

My gynecolologist moniters me closely due to this and the typical discovery of the pre-cancerous cells in my uterus.

 

I had surgery for endomitriosis three years ago. Other than irregular/short periods, I've been great.

 

Now, I'm preparing to leave for London in April so I went for my pap. He thinks there's a new cyst on my left ovary and I have to get an ultrasound done next week.

 

At best it's just a byproduct of the endomitriosis at worst....ovarian cancer.

 

[RayKay]

It could very possibly be a non-cancerous ovarian cyst, but it is of course very good to have it checked out. The fact that ovarian cancer is quite rare, and you are quite young, is a bonus for you right now...it is more predominant in woman whom have a certain breast cancer gene (one of the BRCA genes) so odds are on your side even with a high risk, as not all cancer is automatically related to each other. When you have a genetic risk, there is a mutation on one of the genes responsible for that TYPE of cancer, and something else happens that causes another mutation which leads to cancer growth. If you are NOT born with one of these markers, it takes "two mistakes" in your lifetime to get cancer, and generally people die of something else before this. When you have a specific genetic marker, you only need one more mistake to occur, hence the higher risk.

 

Cancer is terrible in my family too, on my mother's side. My mother is battling Stage III breast cancer now, my grandmother, great-grandmother and so on all died of it in their 30's-early 50's. We do have a genetic risk for it so my risk is quite high and I need to be very careful about exams, and screenings. We also have another marker, interestingly enough, that I found out about, that causes a high number of miscarriages.

 

My grandfather died of lung cancer, my other grandfather has colon cancer, there is skin cancer...

 

I myself have been okay so far, and do pay attention to my body; though I did have a very scary experience with cervical dysplasia a few years ago which required a lot of treatments.

 

It sucks, but I definitely refuse to live in fear and definitely embrace what I have, appreciate my family and remain vigilant about my health, and wellness.

 

Good luck, I know it is scary, and I wish you the best of luck! Let us know how it goes.

[Maria1980]

I have cysts all the time on my right overie, it can get really painfull somtimes... just go to regular check ups.. I go every 9 months..