12cm Cyst on Ovary

[FurryFox]

My MIL has just been told she has a 12cm cyst on her ovary. She originally went to the docs because she said she felt 'funny' down below and she felt like something was pressing on her bladder. Anyway a scan has shown a cyst.

She is going to be sent for an x-ray. Does anyone know what the x-ray would show up that perhaps the scan wouldn't?

She didn't ask any questions and I have no experience of cysts at all.

I'd be gratful to hear your experiences, good or bad. She is worrying herself silly thinking the worst, I however am not that worried at the moment as after reading a few threads on here I know it's not always bad.

Does anyone know what the treatment might be? Is 12cm considered big in terms of a cyst?

Thanks

Are you sure she has been sent for an Xray, as that doesn't sound the most likely investigation for a 12cm ovarian cyst
An MRI or CT perhaps, and definitely referral to the Gynaecologists
Has she been referred to the Gynaecologists?

That is what DH and I were saying last night about the x-ray, that it sounds unusual but that's what MIL said (it wouldn't surprise me if she had got the xray mixed up with something else tbh).

Yes she is being referred to the gynaecologists.

Furryfox, I think the main thing is to be reviewed by the Gynaecologists, at this point a 12cm cyst could be any number of things, so speculating is really not a good thing
(although easier said than done I know)
Good luck

Thanks DR, I am trying not to speculate, I know you're right that it could be any number of things. MIL said the 'xray' has been requested as urgent so hopefully we won't have to long to wait until we know a bit more. Thanks again

Hi furryFox

Ive had an experience with ovarian cysts and mine were diagnosed as dermoid cysts. I had an initial cat scan which diagnosed this and they where removed pretty swiftly as cysts can be painful.
Am sending hugs to u and your mum (((())))
and contact me if you want to talk further.

xxx

i had two 10cm cysts.i collapsed one day and insisted on having a scan and thats what they found. i had aninternal scan and eventually they went - no treatment.
i too was very worried. good idea to get them checked

It's unlikley she is going for an X ray. I have a small cyct which is monitored by internal ultrasound every few months. So far, mine is shrinking, but it has taken 18 months to do so!

A cysyt under 5cms is considered something "not to worry about" but should be monitored. Any larger cysts need to either be monitored or removed. A lot depends on what they can see, how old she is ( assume 50s at least?) and whether there is any likelihood of cancer.
Cysts in younger women are most likely benign, and are very common- in older women they can be cancerous and need either monitoring, further investigation, or removal.

Some gynaes are very conservative and want to remove any large cyst in a post menopausal woman, others prefer to "watch and wait." as it's called.

i had an 18cm cyst on one of my ovaries (at 41). they found it at a scan, next stop was was a CT then removal of ovaries, uterus and appendix. they called it a borderline cyst, neither benign nor malignant. i now have regular blood tests. it was a major op, but all fine now. good luck for your MIL.

Thank you all for your replies.

MIL had in fact got the x-ray mixed up and it was indeed a CT scan she had. She had the scan on Sunday just gone and she has her follow up appointment on Tuesday next week, so at the moment just waiting.

Shineoncrazydiamond - Thank you for sharing your experience, great that your Mum has had the all clear now. Your story hasn't scared me, it is just a positive example that it won't necessarily mean the worst, thank you.

Tiredbuthappy - Am pleased you are ok now and that the operation went well. Can I just ask how long your recovery period was after the op? Thanks

I was off work for 8 weeks, then part-time for another 4 weeks, so 12 in total before I was back to normal. My surgeon said that was what I should expect and she was right. My op was on a Friday and I was out of hospital the following Wednesday. Worst part was catching a nasty kidney infection just as I left hospital, which slowed my recovery initially. I had HRT patches for a few months, but they made my migraines worse, so I stopped those and had a fairly symptomless menopause. I have an 8 inch scar on my tummy, but no more periods or PMT... Hope you MIL gets good news on Tuesday. Happy to answer any more Q's. xx

Thank you. MIL has a holiday booked for a week towards the end of October, a cruise. So I was just wondering (thinking ahead of myself) if she had some sort of operation within the next few weeks would she be able to still go on the cruise.

I have no idea if she will have an operation, although imagine she will need something as it's causing her a bit of discomfort and even if she was to have surgery I've no idea how soon they would do it.

Anyway thank you for answering all my questions, very much appreciated

Hi there, I know this is a REALLY old thread but I was just wondering how your MIL got on in the end??? My auntie has been told she has a 12cm ovarian cyst and is going for further testing soon. We are all so worried and wanted to hear other peoples experiences, good or bad.

Hi Cozloz
I'm not one of the posters above, but my mum had a massive cyst on her ovary a few years ago. She was referred to a gynaecological Oncologist for a CT scan and then had to have a full hysterectomy to remove it and everything else incase it had spread. Anyway, it turned out to be borderline (not quite normal, but not cancer either).

Surgery took a while to recover from, but no further action and she's fine now.

I hope everything turns out okay for your Auntie.

Has she had a CA125 blood test?

Thanks for your reply Miiaaoow. Glad to hear your mum is ok, it's such a worrying time. My Auntie is in quite a bit of pain just now and is hopefully having surgery within the next 2 weeks and is going for the CA125 blood test tomorrow. If you don't mind me asking how old was your mum at the time?

My mum was 51. They believe it had been growing for a few years. I hope the CA125 test doesn't show anything sinister. But if it does, try and keep in mind that it can be raised from general cysts/benign tumours too. It's an indicator, not an answer.

Best of luck to you and your Auntie.

Thank you so much, really appreciate you taking the time to reply to me.

My cyst/tumour was 22cm and my Ca125 was 130. (Meant to be 30/35)

The CT scan was to have a better look at the tumour and to see if there had been any spread, which would help with diagnosis. Also had an MRI and a biopsy - not generally recommended for ovarian, because rupturing the cyst/tumour can spread malignant cells so no idea why they did it. Result was 'inconclusive'.

Local hospital, no gyne-onc, v pessimistic. There's an index they have. Too many boxes ticked and it's likely to be malignant. Post-menopausal, Ca125, fluid etc. They said 'no surgery, just chemo'.

Fortunately, I was transferred to a big teaching hospital. From the same scans, my gyne-onc surgeon said he thought it was benign and would operate in 2 weeks' time. (Phew!) Had uterus, ovaries, omentum removed. Tumour was Borderline. Cells not normal but not cancer either. Safe to Google as it has v good survival rates. 'Cured by surgery'.

The bottom line to all this is 'big is beautiful', less likely to be cancer. They can't tell for sure from scans. It's the pathologist who has the last word. And, VERY important, get a Gyne-Onc to do the surgery. It might be more than just the cyst/one ovary. I ended up having both ovaries, uterus and omentum removed on the grounds that I was post-menopausal, didn't need them any more and they didn't want to have to go in twice if the lab report found something dodgy.

Do hope your Aunt has as happy an outcome as me. The waiting is the worst.

Have you got any news yet Op ?