Ovarian Dermoid Cyst - Very Painful!!

hello all me Margaret,"awaiting kidney op now 23rd oct,but I must tell Bernie,i had to be cut across bikini line 10inch,to remove my dermoid and ovaries,well good news ,it is fading so fast,and im ok,i came home the next day ,honest its ok,dont worry,i have had it done so if u need this op its fine,i feel great now.well apart from kidney prob,please don't worry,all will be fine ,see u all soon godbless keep healty mags xx

also make sure you rest and it heal fast.tc mags xx

Hi everyone! First of all I want to say how thankful I am that I found this forum I have a large ovarian dermoid cyst that they found on September 5th, 2013. At the time they said it was 13x11x11 dm (grapefruit sized) but I am thinking it has grown since then. I have a surgery date set for 10/23 and am, umm for lack of a better word or phrase, freaking out. They have to take it out c-section style because of the size, and I am assuming my right ovary will go along right with it I read all of the discussions here and one said that these dermoids can grow in pairs and another post said they have a 20% chance of coming back. I wonder should I have both of my ovaries removed? I am 30 y/o, never been pregnant and my health is my #1 concern right now. I never have planned for kids in my future anyways. One of the blood tests (not the CA 125) came back a little above normal and they are saying the dermoid looks a little weird sometimes because of "septations" but right now everyone (2 radiologists) are saying it is a dermoid but I guess they will know more when they remove it. I hope the scarring isn't too bad or the recovery. I will definitely keep you ladies posted as this continues and although I am very scared of the surgery, I really look forward to having this period of my life behind me. I noticed symptoms starting this past May but thought it was hormonal, stress etc. I also noticed my lower stomach looked "bloated" this summer and thought it was a food allergy. Now I know it was a HUGE cyst popping out! ahhh At any rate, I know this will can only get better after surgery. I just can't believe how big it is *sigh* Thank you for sharing your stories here, and I hope that mine can help someone, as well. Oh, I was in severe, SEVERE pain on and off for the last 2.5 months and thought it was sciatica because this cyst kills my back. I mean I was vomiting, couldn't move, etc. I suppose it was because it was just growing and pushing stuff all over the place. Take good care. Oh, if anyone has any advice or feedback it would be greatly appreciated!! Many thanks again. All the best. xx

Hi Elizabeth and welcome to the forum! No wonder you have been feeling so unwell and uncomfortable; mine was only 'lemon' sized and my symptoms were bad enough. The whole fruit comparative does make me smile, my consultant told me to consider myself lucky that mine wasn't a cantaloupe melon! The reason I had both ovaries removed was mainly because of my age and the fact that I am post-menopausal so basically I didn't need my ovaries and fallopian tubes any longer. I know that with younger ladies such as yourself they prefer to leave your healthy ovary in situ as the oestrogen it will continue to produce protects your bones and heart. I have had two c-sections in the past and I have to say that I found the bikini line incision easier to manage than having four smaller holes with the laparoscopy but it didn't help that I had a nasty reaction to the dressings. Try to see the surgery as a positive step and a means to getting your life back; you will feel so much better afterwards when all your horrible symptoms have disappeared. Trust the medical professionals to look after you and act in your best interests and you will be absolutely fine. If there is anything we can help with on here then please ask, that is what we are here for. Take care xxx

Hi Margaret, wishing you well for the 23rd! I am doing well following my op on September 23rd and all the advice you gave me was spot on! Wishing you a speedy recovery and a fast return to good health following your next op. Take care xxx

Its great that there is a sequence of pre op and post op people, so helpful to get all the advice pre surgery and what to expect after, so thank you to you all. I too am freaking out Elizabeth at least we are not freaking out on our own

Thank you so much for your feedback and friendly words of wisdom Yes, the fruit verbiage is pretty funny, and I hadn't thought of it until you brought it up lol And now that I think of it, I am glad it is not the size of a cantaloupe or watermelon I agree with you 100%- I am more looking forward to the surgery than anything else as I know it is an important step in my healing that I am super ready to take. I feel like I am pregnant because the size of the cyst really sticks out of my lower abandonment and kills my back. I do hope they do it like a c section as they mentioned they might have to cut through the stomach and create a line on it and that seems like a worse option as far as scarring goes. I just can't believe how fast this grew. I had a cat scan done this past December as I was hit by a car crossing a street (it's been an eventful year) and nothing showed up then which means in less than a year it got this big- craziness! Again though, I truly look forward to October 23rd and will totally keep everyone posted. In the mean time, I am thankful to have you guys here as you totally understand what hell this is... hard to explain my situation to others who have never dealt with it before.

Take care and God bless

Elizabeth xx

I'm new to this site & it's been interesting reading all your experiences & nice to see realistic, factual information unlike other forums.

I am having a dermoid cyst removed by keyhole surgery on Monday. My question is, what is the recovering time like? Some of you mention you felt very tired for a few days. I have a 4 year old & a 6 month old & whilst I'll have help the day I come home (I'm staying in one night), is it unrealistic to think I'll be up & about feeling ok the day after I'm home?

My 4 year old is at school during the day & my 6 month old is very easy .

Thanks.

Hi Sonar and welcome to the forum. It is difficult to say how you will feel following your surgery as everyone is different; at 53 I am much older than you and I have discovered that past 50 you don't bounce quite so easily but you are younger and probably fitter and stronger so if everything is straightforward you should feel ok after a few days. Are you having your ovary removed or just the cyst? You will be advised not to do any lifting for a couple of weeks so that may be a bit of a problem for you with a six month old to care for and if your abdomen is tender you may not feel up to driving straight away. The anaesthetic stays in your system for a while and you will almost certainly feel a bit light-headed and not quite with it for a few days. Most of the ladies on here will agree that for the first few days the gas pain is the worst thing as it can give you quite intense pain in your shoulders, chest and back. Providing you take the pain relief offered regularly any discomfort should be kept under control. If your baby still has an afternoon nap then you should try to rest at the same time as ytou will almost certainly feel tired as you recover, ignore the housework and accept any offers of help and TLC. Your body will have been through trauma and you need to look after yourself and give yourself chance to heal. Take care and let us know how it goes for you, Shaunagh xx

Thanks for your reply Shaunagh.

At the moment it's just my cyst to be removed unless the cyst is wrapped around ovary then that one ovary will be removed too.

Sounds like should get some support just in case rather than cope in my own. Thank you.

I've been reading about the gas/shoulder pain so hopefully not worse than my reasonably recent labour pains !!! Although shoulder & chest pain doesn't sound nice.

Will definitely rest when baby sleeps, thank you.

gosh sonar hope you did get some support! I am worried about how I will cope after op next tues. I cannt imagine having to look after a baby and a toddler!! I hope your op went ok and you are recovering.

Op went well thanks & I haven't had any of the shoulder/chest pain described so feel very lucky. The girl opposite me seemed to suffer badly with it.

I had cyst (10cm), ovary & tube removed. Was all done keyhole.

Quite tender & feel tired but otherwise ok. Tomorrow will be the real test as husband back to work tomorrow.

Good luck with yours x

heavens I hope I recover as quickly as you! try not to overdo things as you are still healing

I have the added benefit of having had no symptoms. I only found out about the cyst by accident.

I'm also reasonably fit & relatively young..ish. Positive attitude helps too.

Good luck.

Hi everyone!

I had my surgery on October 16th, this past Wednesday. They thought they "might" be able to do it laproscopy but because my cyst was so big (11cm x 13cm) they did a "mini c section" instead. I was in the hospital one night and came home yesterday. Very sore and painful but as soon as I woke up from surgery I felt so much RELIEF that this mass was out of me! I did have dissension (it popped out of my stomach) and haven't been able to lay on my back for months. I am feeling much MUCH better now though. I don't think anyone in this forum had their dermoid as big as mine was but I have been to other forums where some of the ladies had theirs bigger than 20cm! Apparently these guys get really big Anyways, they ended up not having to take anything else, which I was glad for because I was certain they might have to grab an ovary or something. They checked my tubes, ovaries and uterus and everything looked good. Oh, inside the cyst there was approximately ONE LITER of fluid!!!! No wonder my back killed me!! It was like I was pregnant.... SO glad it is out girls. Really, so glad.

I just had a quick question:

2 radiologists and an oncologist looked at ultrasound and CT scan and thought "dermoid" but my doctor, who is very young and still doing her residency, seems mildly concerned about the calcification on the dermoid (the white parts) and wants to confirm everything is normal with me AFTER we get the pathology report back. But the senior doctor did my surgery and she stood there because she is in training and I am thinking if he thought anything looked suspicious he would have grabbed the ovary too, as I had consented to them taking what they needed IF they thought it was cancer.

Anyways, she has me just a little freaked out now I googled calcification on dermoids and it seems VERY common that at least 50% of dermoids are calcified actually and I am wondering if she perhaps isn't aware of this? Did anyone else have a similar issue?

Many thanks

xoxo