Dermoid Cyst

[Rosie0205]

Hi everyone!

I thought I would come on here for a bit advice, not sure if anyone has been through anything similar or knows about this. On December 1st I had a Gynae appointment after going to A&E twice in the months before that and having an ultrasound. The results of the ultrasound revealed a 14cm x 12cm cyst, which they think is a dermoid cyst. They said on the scan they couldn't see one of my ovaries but they're not 100% sure which one its one and they've prewarned me it is likely I would have to have an ovary removed because of it's size. On that day they put me on the urgent list for a laparoscopy/laparotomy, which I'm still waiting on a date for :(. At the time they said they wouldn't know too much until they actually take it out and whether they will be able to do it laparoscopically, whether they'll have to take an ovary, etc.. What concerns me is they say they don't know a lot about it because they won't until they carry out the surgery because they only did an ultrasound, they didn't do a transvaginal ultrasound or an MRI. Its quite painful and i get a lot of stabbing pains but on both sides, quite low down. Is it possible that a cyst can affect both of your ovaries? I'm petrified that it could be twisting around both, what if they have to remove both ovaries? I'm only 18 so when they told me they were pretty certain they'd have to remove one that worried me enough but now I'm just waiting, I'm overthinking everything. I don't even know if that's possible for it to affect both your ovaries??

[Boxclever1]

I cant help with your specific questions, but if you really want to know more, it is possible to get a private ultrasound (transvaginal) quite easily and relatively cheaply - many of the places that offer baby bonding ultrasounds also offer women's health ultrasounds, for example Ultrasound Direct which has clinics all of the UK. Just Google 'private ultrasound' and the name of your town/county to see what's available. Good luck!

[Rosie0205 in reply to Boxclever1]

Ahh okay thank you, I'll definitely look at this! x

[Gingea16]

Hi Rosie, I hope you're ok. What a troubling time. I had a similar situation to you back in September and had an 11cm endometrioma removed. Given your age they will absolutely do everything they can to save your ovary, but it may not be possible. However don't worry, normally the remaining ovary will make up for it.

They should at the very least do a trans vaginal ultrasound before they operate, so either request that or ask for it privately? It's fairly cheap to do. Also of they think it's endometriosis they might want to do an MRI.

I hope that's helpful x

[Rosie0205 in reply to Gingea16]

Hiya,

Yes i have definitely thought about this just for a piece of mind but I'm really hoping it's not too long now till it's taken out, it's driving me insane

😂As mentioned below I have raised it again with my GP because my symptoms feel like they're getting worse and im so tired and actually feel weak somedays, and they've told me tiredness will be linked to it but this is way worse than what I was experiencing before :(. So hopefully they might listen, my GP has a habit of brushing it under the carpet in the past

[SSwift]

Hi Rosie, ive been through almost exactly the same situation as you. I had a 15x12cm dermoid cyst on my right ovary 3 years ago. My surgeon told me that I would almost certainly loose that ovary and that it would be a laparotomy, I wasn’t really happy with that outcome so I went for a second opinion (during COVID this is a little bit trickier to do), the second surgeon was confident they could do it laparoscopically and most likely save the ovary! Which she did 😊 it might not be possible for you to get another opinion but you should definitely stress to the surgeon that if it is at all possible for them to please save the ovary. The tricky thing with a dermoid is that the images they take often aren’t really clear so if they find any cells that they are worried about they might have to take more but this is very unlikely (according to my doctor). Final thing I would say it that I had internal and external ultrasounds and an MRI before surgery so it is surprising your doctor doesn’t want you to get the extra images. I really hope it goes well for you, try not to worry yourself too much it all sounds so scary but you’ll be ok! Worst case you can still live normally and have a baby with one ovary. Xxx

[Rosie0205 in reply to SSwift]

Hi!

Yes they did reassure me they would try laparoscopy first and the laparotomy is a last report and they said they'd try their best to preserve as much of everything else as possible. I think initially they were like oh we have all the information we need, still not sure why they didn't do an MRI. That's great that they managed to remove yours they way they did and without taking the ovary. I'm just hoping it's not too much longer now, I've pushed it with my GP because I feel like my symptoms are getting worse xx