Ladies only...

[sunny]

I'm doing much better now angelwing - thanks It's just a precautionary tale. My sister, thankfully, will not have to go the route I had to go, so we expect her recovery to go a bit smoother.

I (among a few of my co-workers) would have put money on the fact that I was premenopausal. There were times when I wanted to toss the guy (who sat on the other side of the corridor from me) and his speaker phone out of the 43rd floor window! Other times it didn't bother me. The tumors were messing with my hormones. I would sit here one minute as comfortable as can be, and the next was practically sitting on top of the fan here at my desk, the hot flashes would hit that quick. I was miserable. So like I said, that's why I thought I was. Now granted, I know what happened to me will not happen to all women, but when I started digging I was surprised to find out how common this is. I guess what I am trying to say is to be sure what it is you are dealing with

[Stephanie]

Great points sunny! I'm SO GLAD that you found out what was really going on with you and had the tumors removed. I'm glad that it also led to having your sister made aware of what was going on with her.

Was there a specific reason why your doctor decided to have you go through a diagnostic surgery? Was it because of the other smaller tumors that were seen in the ultrasound?

[sunny]

Men - turn away now - you are being forewarned!!!!

Steph, I've had the same doctor for 30 years now. He leaves no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of an issue. My cycle was very irregular - another reason I thought I was premenopausal. During Mardi Gras, I was having severe pain in my lower left abdomen - it felt like someone was taking my ovary and twisting it. My doctor was out of the country, so I saw one of his associates. She said I had a cyst on my left ovary that had burst. By this point I had been dealing with this for a year, and the pain had set it and stayed, I couldn't get through the day without pain meds. We tried everything to avoid the hysterectomy, including a D&C. My doctor felt the smaller tumors would not be causing issues of this magnitude. Turns out the larger tumors were blocking everything. Once we had run through all of our options, we had to go the 'big' route. I was in a complete panic over the surgery, but have to tell you I feel so much better now. It turns out the 'cyst' on the ovary at Mardi Gras was not a cyst at all, it was one of the larger tumors sitting in the area. I was able to keep my left ovary, so I don't have to go on HRT right now

[Stephanie]

You have a good doctor.

Usually you do leave diagnostic or exploratory surgery until the last resort. From what you were telling us previously, I couldn't see where it got to that point. Pain will do it everytime!

I'm glad that it finally all worked out for you.

[sunny]

Pain will do it everytime!

Too true!

I guess what I did not articulate is that the pain did not start until a year after I began to experience what I thought were premenopausal symptoms Up to that point I thought it was just the way it was. I offered my experience in the hopes that women will seek a doctor's advice rather just just assuming or going by what you hear That can/may lead to unfortunate medical conditions.

[Stephanie]

I think that a lot of doctors do wait until "pain" becomes a factor before they investigate a situation further. Plus symptoms need to add up a little more specifically to research a possible condition or disease if a blood test doesn't show up anything. Plus, I think the insurance plays a big factor.