Ovarian Cyst Removal

[Danex]

My DD (24) has been having some female issues and getting tested, the possibility of PCOS has came up and she went for an internal ultrasound on Friday afternoon, when they found a 15cm cyst on her right ovary.

The radiographer said she will most likely need surgery for it to be removed because it’s so large, in fact she couldn’t actually see her ovary on that side because of it.

She’s ringing her GP tomorrow morning to ask about getting a private gynaecologist appointment asap to see what happens next, does anyone have advice as to what we should do from here?

If she has a private appointment can she get the cyst removed on the NHS? If we have to pay privately for the operation does anyone have any idea of costings?

Is it likely she’ll have to get opened up for the surgery rather than it being doing laparoscopically because of the size of it?
What’s the recovery time like?

Also she had an abnormal smear result back and has been waiting since before Christmas for a colposcopy appointment.
Is that something she should be getting done before the cyst removal or does it not matter?

Sorry for all the questions but why do these things always happen on a Friday afternoon when it’s impossible to speak to anyone else!

We’re all meant to be going on a cruise in just over 2 weeks time, I’m presuming that’s not happening now, she’s terrified it’s going to burst at any moment.
She has bad anxiety at the best of times so I’m just trying to get as much information as possible to try and help her as I wasn’t able to go to the appointment with her.

Thanks for any advice

[Danex]

Also just to add she’s very worried about her future fertility, is there a possibility she could lose one of her ovaries?

[signtalker]

She can self refer to a private gynaecologist she doesn’t need a GP to do it , check out spire look up a consultant , that also practises at your local hospital on the nhs .
You can book normally on their website or via the phone , you pay and initial consolation fee and anything else is extra which they tell you upfront ( tests etc) , you can usually get an appointment very quickly ( days ).the consultant will write to your gp with his findings , but you would need to tell him you want to be treated on the nhs ( you’ll probaly be seen by the same consultant ! ) , however you’ll then be put on a nhs waiting list which at present with covid could be horrendous , we’re talking months and months possibly over a year possibly more maybe 2 ( check your hospital website it will tell you the wait time for gynaecology ) ours is currently 79 weeks from seeing a consultant ! .

If you go private for the op you can discuss this with the consultant at your first appointment , they will give you a guide cost , my advise if you have the money is go this route !

Having been in the private/ nhs referral route recently and wait times , and currently waiting for two major operations myself I sympathise .

The consultant I saw privately , was the same one I saw this week on the nhs at my local hospital !

Jules

[Jaybeez]

Hi, your poor daughter having to go through this. I had an 8cm cyst removed last year, although as I’m 51 & have a history of breast cancer they decided to remove my ovaries and Fallopian tube at the same time as a precaution. The surgery was keyhole and even though there were complications due to endometriosis, they just did one extra small cut rather open me up.

Everything happened very fast with me and I was offered a surgery date for a week after seeing the NHS consultant, although I did delay it a few weeks.

Good luck to your daughter. I’m amazed at how much better I’ve felt since recovering from my surgery, I think I had just got used to the problems that the cyst had caused.

[Danex]

Thank you both for your advice, I’ve had a look on our hospital website but I can’t see anything about waiting times, we’re in Northern Ireland, so I don’t know if that’s published here or if I just can’t find it.

We do have some savings we could use and if it comes to that we will, her health comes first.

I’m hoping like you Jaybeez that if she sees a consultant privately they may feel it’s urgent enough to be operated on and she wouldn’t have to wait too long, unfortunately I’m not sure that’s going to be the case

[Jaybeez]

Originally Posted by Danex

Thank you both for your advice, I’ve had a look on our hospital website but I can’t see anything about waiting times, we’re in Northern Ireland, so I don’t know if that’s published here or if I just can’t find it.

We do have some savings we could use and if it comes to that we will, her health comes first.

I’m hoping like you Jaybeez that if she sees a consultant privately they may feel it’s urgent enough to be operated on and she wouldn’t have to wait too long, unfortunately I’m not sure that’s going to be the case

See more...

Fingers crossed that she gets to see a consultant and have her surgery soon x

[Wee_Red]

Danex I'm sure you can go back to NHS so if she goes for a private appointment and it's too expensive, you can switch back to waiting on NHS.

I understand her concern regarding fertility (I have PCOS) myself, haven't had anything removed but if there are eggs, she's still able to have kids.
My friend had a cyst removed from her ovary after she gave birth, took a while to have the second baby but she did become pregnant without the need for fertility treatment.

Please don't think I'm being glib when I say this, I promise I am not - we have two ovaries in case one of them fails. Same with men having two testicles.

People are much more informed these days regarding PCOS and fertility. My aunt was told she'd never have children back in the late 80's. In fact, when she gained weight and had all these other symptoms, her doctor was adamant she was not pregnant. She took a test anyway and turned out she was 7 months gone.

Victoria Beckham & Jules Oliver both have PCOS and multiple children.

I hope your daughter has this resolved soon. Best wishes

[Geordieprincess]

I had a 7cm cyst removed privately about 13 years ago.
I already had one child and then had 2 miscarriages.
At the second miscarriage scan they saw the cyst.
I was in total shock as didn’t even have any pain or symptoms (although it could have been masked by the pregnancy).
The consultant told me I would need to be opened up as 7cm was too big to try and remove key hole as it could burst and spread poison throughout my body.
I had private healthcare through my work so chose to go down that route but as it happened it didn’t make much difference time wise. It gave me the flexibility to chose my date and the hygiene at the private hospital was better than nhs. But I actually chose to have the same consultant that I’d seen via the nhs for my scan etc.
I was desperate for a second child and terrified I’d lose an ovary. He told me he wouldn’t know until he cut me open if it was possible to save it and I gave consent to do whatever it took as I didn’t want a second op if he needed to remove it but didn’t have consent. What he did say was often people with only one ovary the second one works harder so it often doesn’t affect fertility.
The operation only took 20 mins, it was straight forward and the cyst was not tangled round my ovary so I kept it.
I had my op on the 1 Dec. I stayed in hospital for 3 nights but that was my choice as I had a toddler at home, I could’ve been home sooner. I think it was in the region of £3500 but as I say that was 13 years ago so it will have gone up and also I’m up north so maybe dearer elsewhere in the country.
I had a scar the size of a caesarean and was signed off work and couldn’t drive for 6 weeks. Although I was ok after 6 weeks, I still got tired easily and the doctor gave me another 3 weeks off. We started trying for baby number 2 as soon as I was healed and feeling ok and actually conceived straight away and daughter was born mid November so 11 1/2 months after op. It was straightforward and natural as although externally was like a c-section they don’t cut the uterus so labour isn’t a problem.
I remember how terrified I was but it wasn’t half as bad as all the things running through my head.
Good luck to your daughter, I hope it all goes well.

[yetihunter]

I have had both a cyst burst and then 10 years later a 10cm cyst removal which did end up in also having an ovary and fallopian tube removed. When my cyst burst I didn't know I had a cyst at that point, it was undiagnosed and in all honesty the pain was horrific but short lived (5-10 mins) and the doctors were not concerned that it had happened. Roll on 10 years and a 10cm cyst was picked up on a scan and I had the surgery to remove it on recommendation. All the scans showed it should be an easy cyst removal but when in surgery it ended up being more invasive but even so still only laparoscip. They told me to not expect to drive for up to a month but that I couldn't do any damage to myself so as soon as I was ready then it was OK. I was very sore, like I had pulled every muscle in my abdomen for about a week and then all of a sudden turned a corner and recovered really fast and I was back to normal within 3 weeks. They said there was no risk on fertility because only 1 ovary works at a time so the one left will just do double the work.

I would recommend not trying to get up and do too much too soon. Recovering from anaesthesia takes it out of you and I also ended up with infected wounds because I didn't rest and recover as I should have. If I had to do it again I would definitely take my advice on that part.

I hope everything works out for your daughter and that she has reactive doctors to reassure her and do the right thing for her. I'm in Cornwall and I couldn't fault the NHS system when I was going through it but do what is right for you and your family.

[sharon190980]

I have PCOS and had a cyst moved about 8-9 years ago now with the NHS.

I remember being signed off from work for 2 weeks but don't remember being in terrible pain.

Mine was partly attached to one of my Fallopian tubes which they had to remove along with the cyst. It was a shock to wake up to that news but they explained to me that the tubes can actually move so the remaining Fallopian tube can move across to the other ovary to collect eggs. It still confuses me given the diagrams we all looked at in biology in school but it's completely true! We went on to have our 7 year old daughter (we stopped at one out of choice). I did have to take Clomid to help conceive but it is still completely possible to have babies after ovary cysts and PCOS.