Thread: Ovarian growth\ablation

Firstly,I would like to start by saying that I am not a doctor,but I am a student midwife.I guess midwives are considered to be lower on the "scientific chain" than doctors,however I strongly feel that the treatment he has suggested would be ineffective,as I find it to be irrelevant to ovarian growths and very drastic,especially for a woman of a young age(I pressume)who has not had children.It would help me if you could answer these following questions.
-What are the dimensions of the growth?
-What were the results of the ultrasound?
-How would your g/f describe the abnormalities of her menstrual cycle?Have they only recently appeared?
-Does she take any medication?
-Has anyone in her family had ovarian cancer?
-Did her doctor give her a blood test,specifically for CA-125?This is a cancer antigen and when a woman has ovarian cancer the levels of the antigen increase.

An ultrasound is often the first test done if a problem with the ovaries is suspected. Ultrasound can be useful to find an ovarian tumor and see if it is a solid mass (tumor) or a fluid-filled cyst.Using colour Doppler,which is done during an u/s exam will show if there are irregular vessels inside the mass.I do not mean to scare you,an ovarian growth does not necessarilly mean cancer.There are also many types of benign ovarian cysts that occur due to hormonal imbalances/abnormalities.In most cases,monitoring for the next few months(2-3) is suggested and very often some type of contraceptive pill will be prescribed to help the menstrual cycle stabilize.If all the above findings are still inconlcusive,an exploratory laparoscopy may be performed during which another biopsy may be taken.

Endometrial ablation is a medical procedure that is used to remove or destroy the endometrial lining of a uterus.This technique is most often employed for people who suffer from excessive or prolonged bleeding during their menstrual cycle.As you may understand,this will only address her abnormal bleeding and not the ovarian growth.After uterine ablation,nearly 50% of the women never have a period again(!).A hysterectomy is also a very drastic approach especially for a woman in the reproductive phase.Even if a cancer diagnosis is made it is not mandatory for the whole uterus to be removed.

I hope I helped a little..There is more information I can give you but I would like to know the answers to the questions I asked above

Thanks for your reply Bella. I'm the gf in question I'm 28 and have had no children, one miscarriage several years ago. I do not know the dimensions of the growth, only can tell you that after having the ultrasound done my doctor determined it not to be a cyst (which I've had several times in the past). I thought it was a cyst for quite a while in fact but the pain didn't go away as it normally does when I have had one in the past, which is what prompted me to see him about it. I've always had issues with my cycle being irregular and very heavy, actually passing what appear to be large clots of blood that are quite painful, and they've become increasingly worse over the past two years or so. They last 5-7 days and literally by the time its over, I'm very weak. I have anemia as well as infrequent heart palpitations which I take Propranalol and an Iron supplement for. The heavy cycles make my anemia much worse and my Gyno recently started me on Medroxyprogesterone as well to help with that. I've only been taking that for a month so I'm not sure how effective that will be yet. I had the CA125 blood test done today so I do not know the results of that yet. Other than my anemia, I'm healthy (lab wise at least). The only cancer in my family is a great aunt with breast cancer, no ovarian that I'm aware of although many of the women in my family suffer from endometriosis which I have as well. Thanks again for any information or hope you can offer. -J