Referral to gyno possible endometriosis

[Cherrycat32]

Hi everyone, first time posting. I had a scan and internal scan on 23rd Dec where I was told at the time I have a chocolate cyst on my right ovary and 3 small fibroids. The next day I received a text message from the doctors surgery to say I have been referred to a gynecologist.

Since this I have not heard anything, should I have received contact from which ever hospital I have been referred to?

I hadn't even heard of chocolate cysts and thought the Dr might have discussed this with me but I have been left to research for myself.

Any information as to next possible steps would be grateful for.

[the4ts]

It can take the hospital a long time to come back with an appointment, especially if you haven't been referred as an urgent or fast-track case. I think you just need to hang tight. If you are getting anxious, it might be worth checking with the GP that they did send a referral letter out and when? They might also be able to give you an idea how long it might be before you hear back from the hospital as they might know what waiting lists are like in your area. I was referred for a non-urgent Echo after an ECG in early September and am still waiting to hear back from the hospital for that but I know the waits are long for non-urgent cases where I live. Same for an ultrasound scan that I was referred for in August. I plan to chase them at the end of the month though. When I was told I had an endometrioma / chocolate cyst, my GP didn't talk to me about that either and just let me know I'd been referred to a gynaecologist. It's very frustrating, isn't it? I had to do my own research too but, luckily, the people who did my scans were lovely and very helpful / informative and had already informed me I would be referred to a gynae. Are you able to get a non-urgent or follow-up appointment with your GP to discuss the findings with you if you are concerned? Re. the cyst itself, I think they often leave chocolate cysts alone but it does depend on size and other factors and if you are in pain etc. I've no experience with fibroids and my two friends who had them were both seen quickly on the urgent pathway, which was when they were discovered (luckily they both ended up being okay). Hope it isn't too long before you get news!

[Cherrycat32 in reply to the4ts]

Thanks for your reply. Again after research I had realised that waiting times were long but thought I would have been given a letter or phone call to say it had been received. I can see the referral letter on my nhs app but it doesn't mention if it's non urgent and also doesn't say where its been sent. I think I will contact gp as you suggested, just worried its not been received or I have not received post as its been bad over Xmas.As for the cyst its fairly small at 3.9 cm and I think they will leave fibroids. The reason I went for scan was due to symptoms, pelvic pain, heavy bleeding, ibs type symptoms and recurrent uti's.

The ibs symptoms and constipation I have suffered with for years but now realise it could be due to endometriosis . What I'm concerned about is if they decide to leave it I wouldn't know if it was endometriosis or not that was causing these.

Sorry for rambling its difficult to be precise with all my thoughts on this.

[the4ts in reply to Cherrycat32]

I don't think I have ever received a letter or phone call simply confirming they've received a letter from my GP for a referral unless it is to warn of an exceptionally long waiting time. Like you, I can see one letter has been sent but not to where. Can't see the other one but then I've always found bit and pieces missing from the NHS App and no joined-up thinking at all.

So sorry to hear about your symptoms. That just sounds miserable. I hope they get to the bottom of things quickly and you get a definitive diagnosis sooner rather than later. I'm sure others with more experience in those areas than myself will post. I went from being diagnosed (at last) to having a total hysterectomy very quickly due to other issues they discovered. I was also told I had suspected IBS as well much earlier and my gynae, when I got referred, wasn't interested in those symptoms at all (some gynaes do just dismiss them and won't look into things even with endo diagnosed so push for better referrals, if needs be, such as a being referred to a specialist centre). I think my issues were most likely due to IBS now (they started to creep back 18-months after my hysterectomy but I then went on statins for high cholesterol and that seems to have done wonders - recent research seems to point to a link between statin-use and an improvement in IBS symptoms). Do keep us updated and good luck once again.

[Cherrycat32]

That's good to know thanks, yeah I think it maybe a long journey ahead to find out what's going on and get any sort of diagnosis. I'm glad you have found something which helps with ibs symptoms I hadn't heard of stating use before.

I will do an update and thanks again for your time.

[Sunset-lady]

Hi, I have a chocolate cyst on left ovary and multiple fibroids. I have stage 4 endometriosis too. Unless the cyst is causing you pain, they won't see it as an emergency although they may want to remove it at some point. Fibroids are very common 80% of us have them. We are born with them and they grow throughout our lives. Sometimes they can grow bigger depending on medication and lifestyle choices. Are you on HRT? You don't mention your age. It sounds like you could very well have endometriosis too if you had tough periods when you were younger. Please don't worry. Read some good books. Healing Endo is great. Don't Google too much or you'll start to worry and there's no point. 10% of women have endometriosis. Starr to make some positive lifestyle choices and good luck xx

[Cherrycat32 in reply to Sunset-lady]

Hi, I'm 51, I had been on hrt for about year and half but stopped in November as felt it was making symptoms worse.Yes I have probably googled too much !!

I will check out that book, thank you.

[Sunset-lady]

Also I was diagnosed with IBS 20 years ago and it was endometriosis all along xxx

[merlin-mimi]

hi there,

Unfortunately it takes a very long time to get your first appointment. I think I waited just over a year. I would suggest seeing if you can contact either your gp or the hospital that you were referred to, to see if they can indicate where you are on the waiting list? I hope you get seen soon

[Cherrycat32]

Hi, thanks for your reply. Yes think I will need to speak to gp as havnt been told even which hospital I have been referred to so its impossible to chase up.Wow thats a long time to wait for an initial consult.Might also consider booking initial consultation privately to speed things up.