Is anyone familar with ovarian cysts?
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive August 2004:
Is anyone familar with ovarian cysts?
Well,
My ultrasound came back and it shows that I have a small ovarian cyst on my right side. It also shows that my right kidney is slightly enlarged. The strangest part about all of this is my discomfort and pressure have all been on the left? I go into the doctor on Thursday morning so I have the oppurtunity to ask many questions.
Just curious if anyone else has or had any of these complications?
Back in 1997 I had extreme pain on my right side and both my doctor and a surgeon thought it was my appendix. I was actually vomitting from the pain. My pain originated in the middle and then moved to the right. That's one reason they thought it was appendicitis; well that and the vomitting. They did a catscan and it showed a 5cm cyst on my right ovary. The next day I went to the gynecologist and it was gone and everything was fine. It had burst on its own and thankfully it wasn't serious.
It's been a while since I've had any that painful.
I found this site and it describes it exactly how my doctor described it to me. I thought you might want to take a look.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=DS00129
Maybe it will help you think of questions for the doctor.
Carol,
Thanks for taking the time to post that link. It really helped, with some of the questions I had. I will follow up with my doctor tom. and hopefully all will be fine.
You're very welcome. I was going to tell you what my doctor told me, but I couldn't remember it all. So I looked up ovarian cysts on google  When I read about it on the site, it's exactly what I remember my doctor telling me. I knew the period was related to ovarian cysts, I just couldn't remember how.
I had an ovarian cyst (and my right ovary) removed when I was about 21 - and it was major surgery then. If you do have a cyst and it is not cyclic (i.e., related to your periods) it is probably wiser to have it removed, as they can grow and can become very painful. Mine caused painful periods, and that ended after it was removed. The cyst and your kidney problem may or may not be related.
As for the pain being on the other side, there is something called "referred pain", which means simply that if something is acting on a nerve it may be a nerve that says "ouch" in a part of your body removed from the actual source. When my spinal disc started going, although the problem was the disc pressing on the spinal cord, the pain was in my outer hip and thigh (sciatica). I now have some arthritis in my cervical spine and it first manifests as pain in my shoulder and around my shoulder blade (at which point I start doing my home exercises again and the pain goes away).
Here is a page from the NIH with several topics about surgery, including laparoscopy, which would be the most likely surgical method used for an ovarian cyst. These topics are partly directed to older adults but I think they apply to anyone considering surgery. I am breaking up the link because it is so long. Copy it and paste it n your address window and go through it to remove the spaces - the final link should have no spaces. http://search.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/query?FUNCTION=search& PARAMETER=surgery+questions&DISAMBIGUATION=true&SERVER1=server1&SERVER2= server2&START=0&END=25&MAX=500&ASPECT=1
(just copy and paste in your address window).
If surgery is recommended, I strongly urge you to get a second opinion from another doctor qualified to do the surgery but not in the same practice or hospital as the first. Your insurance company can probably give you the names of qualified doctors for second opinion purposes.
Some questions to ask: How often do you do this procedure (the procedure you want to use on me), and how many have you done. What kinds of complications can occur and what kinds of complications have you had to deal with.
If your doctor does not often do the procedure, then you want a doctor who does it often - the more experience the better.
If you wind up actually deciding to have surgery, I have several suggestions about things you should and should not do/allow.
I'm so sorry, Stori! I have a friend who just went through this. They thought she had PCOS at first. I think that's it. It turns out they gave my friend hormones and her cysts went away. I have no idea what kind of a cyst she had. I could find out for you. I hope it's easily fixed for you. ((hugs))
I had a corpus luteal cyst with my first pregnancy, but I had no pain or symptoms. My OB just noticed it during an ultrasound to date my pregnancy and it went away on its own. Hope you are feeling better soon and that it can be easily treated. I have been having some pain on my left side and plan on discussing it when I see my GYN in 2 weeks. I know I have 2 small fibroids...we'll see. Take care of yourself!
Thanks for all of the advice and support. Ginny,
I will check out the link you provided.
I have many questions for my doctor in the morning so wish me luck!
Well, I was going to post, but Ginny said everything I was going to say, so I'll just say I hope you're better soon, Stori!
I had one when I was in my early 20's. Didn't know that's what it was until after it burst and had laproscopic surgery.
For me, I had sever discomfort and bloating for sseveral months. couldn't button my pants. Then on the last day I told my associates at work "if I just felt a little worse, I wouldn't be here" Then I went home for lunch. Started feeling weak and faint. Called the office "I'll be late from lunch," took at shower, almost passed out. Called work again "I'm going to the dr. I'll be in tomorrow" Saw the dr, had a fever and faint. They said "Go to the hospital". Called the office, "I'm going to the hospital, I'll let you know." Looking back, unbelievably I drove myself to the hospital. Amazed I didn't pass out. Ready to die during registration. Just before getting my room, IMMENSE pain in my abdomen. I could not stand up. Wheeled to room and was expected to get undressed and into gown. Luckily, mom showed up. She helped me undress. The pain was unbearable. I don't really recall much after getting my pants off. I was in hospital for 5 days because of increase in white blood count and decrease in red. On 3rd day did the laproscopic. they found the signs of a ruptured cyst. Went home. Recovery due to surgery and then all was fine.
So the symptoms were long lasted, severity was quick and painful, but then it was over. Not something I wanted to do again. And haven't.
Good luck to you.
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