Ovarian cyst

Hi there..

At her age, is this is functional cyst?  Can they wait and see if it goes away?  I now it's scary - I had a cyst and ovary removed at age 29...  Now seems to be happening to me again on the other side... but my cyst is a nonfunctional cyst.  It is not going to go away - it is called a Complex Cyst...

See if you can find out what type of cyst it is... and rest assured, at her young age, it is most probably a follicular benign growth.

My daughter had a diagnostic laparoscopy with 14 years age

few months ago (with appendectomy and adhesion cutting, normal functional simple 3cm blood cyst was left in.)

so can let you know how she went, admitting though, that everybody is different.

I myself had a 9cm complex cyst removed laparoscopically but as a young adult.

They could pull it through my belly button (it had a tumor, still fitted through).

I would ask:

- if it was a simple cyst or complex cyst

- If the cyst was going to be drained inside first so the the 'getting out' was small and easy.

- If the operation was done laparoscopically (recovery is faster)

The fact is, even a simple (just liquid filled) cyst over 6cm tends not to burst by itself anymore.

Needs surgical removal.

Why, if it was not complex (something inside from blood clot to growth) even....because it is heavy physically, can twist ovary and can squeeze normal healthy ovary tissue.

Ask all the questions you need beforehand.

If it was likely to preserve the rest of ovary for example. (which mostly is)

Laparoscopy and cyst removal is a quite routine procedure.

Still of course scary.

My daughter got a bit of gas narcotic beforehand as she has very bad veins and the ones in hand burst day before in trials and this is the much better position than in inner elbow area. (got it into hand! at the end)

because after operation,

she will need liquid going in and medication, so drip needle is kept in.

Best is, if the drip needle can be placed in the stable hand. Just for comfort. (not inner ellbow)

Also because after operation she will be asked to get up, to get to the toilet. 

It's nice if you can bend your ellbows.

My girl was awfully pale and green in her face upon waking up and felt miserable, gaged, was nauseous. Be prepared for that look. They get their colour back eventually.

We got for the first few hours a kind of wheel chair to roll to the toilet in the room and had a 'hole' already in it to be wheeled over it.

After 6 hours were asked to walk to toilet, no chair.

Mind you, be prepared: peeing after anaesthesia can be a problem.

My girl cried, she was full and couldn't go.

Nurse wanted to wait with catheter and sure enough, after 4 hours, after a load full of bile vomiting, she could trickle a bit and again and again.

Patience, also on the toilet, no rush helps. (have a plastic bag handy in case vomiting happens at the same time)

It was exhausting going so often to the toilet, with little success with this drip and bottle on a stand, but worked.

(I, mum, could stay with her day and night, 'slept' next to her in a long chair)

Get good sleep beforehand. I was in public care and with 4 other partially very sick children in the room, there was no way to get any sleep.

We were very happy to go home the day after even she was very sore.

We wheeled her in a wheelchair to the pick up area, a nurse waited with her until I turned up with the car.

The vibration of car can hurt a lot.

Try to go a slow way and over as little bumps as possible.

Or at least warn when you see a bridge coming up with these little bumps for temperature expansion, or when changing lines and they have those bumps in the middle.

You will need to accompany to the toilet at home since they are a bit wobbly after operation or even help up in bed for first few days.

Everyday it gets a bit better,

it took my girl about 3 weeks until a carride was no problem anymore (vibration pain), but that is very different from person to person also depending what was done inside,

when I had my (smaller) cyst lap I had no vibration problems, but she had another operation inside than I had, but since I had a liver resection too, can relate to vibration pain after lap for many weeks.

All will be good!

It's good the 18cm cyst is discovered before it did some complications.

Best wishes!

18 cm is large so she will need a gynecological specialist. When I had my surgery my Dr. gave me 4 referrals and 3 were general surgeons, only one a gynecological specialist.

This is the best choice to preserve her ovary if possible. If not, women with only one ovary get pregnant all the time.

Whether laparoscopy or abdominal incision her age and assumed good health will help speed recovery.

Ask what type of cyst she has. She is very young for one so large and likely influenced by puberty onset and type will have it's own issues.

Surgery is scary but even having been 40 something my recovery was surprisingly smooth. And yes, I wanted my mommy, no such luck :-(

So take it one step at a time, take notes, ask all your questions, and stay calm. I am confident your fears are worse than the outcome. Breathe. This too shall pass.

Hope this helps. XXXX speedy recovery!