what was her diagnosis? Endometriosis? I have heard that it is a bad idea to take the ovaries unless something is wrong with them.

Poor thing, I would certainly have her write a letter, and maybe the current doctor should as well.
She needs some kind of hormonal replacement..prescribed or natural..something to help her.

Patti, this is just terrible. I think if your daughter has the will and strength to pursue this, then she needs to. Not only to get a bad doctor to stop hurting people, but also to go after compensation for malpractice.

oh, your poor DD!

And now not only does she have to deal w/ the consequences of the surgery, but also with all the "silt" stirred up by the concept that she may have gotten incredibly shoddy medical care.

WOW! I am so sorry to hear this Patti. I definitely think she needs to discuss this with someone. If she was under the impression that she had a cancerous growth and it wasn't even cancer then something needs to be done. she should have never had an operation when the diagnosis wasn't even clear to her.

I am guessing it was Endometriosis and she had a hystorectomy? I haven't seen any posts regarding this so like I said i am guessing. I agree, at her age, at least one ovary should have remained.

~Betsy

Awww geeze! I am sorry Patti. It sounds like a heck of a mess. I agree with Terri,I hope her good doc will give her something to help!

Before I'd write a letter getting the doctor that did the surgery into trouble, I'd have a talk with her to see if there was cancer or precancer. Find out why the ovaries were removed - there may be a good reason. Have her get it in writing so there's no confusion. As for the new doctor - I've seen how some doctors "read your files"...he may have missed something or possibly didn't have all of the paperwork.

Sending good thoughts for your DD! Hope she is feeling better soon.

How sad. I know the lack of hormones can make you feel like that, and much worse.
I'd look into that Dr. too. Find out the diagnosis, and why the hys. was done to begin with.
When I had mine, one of the ovaries had attatch itself to the uterus, and came out with it. I still have one, which has probably dried up by now. I was a mess at first with even the one ovary.
Leslie

She needs to see a lawyer! I feel so badly for her. I had the same thing happen to me but I was 50 at the time. I kept having a Class III pap smear and my doctor said "well let's get everything out of there"...being scared and in a very low point in my life I went along with his recommendation. Well...a Class III does not necessarily mean CANCER, and after he took EVERYTHING out of me too I went back in for a follow-up pap smear and it was still a Class III!! He couldn't figure out what was wrong and he prescribed a stronger medicine for me...and guess what? The Class III came back absolutly normal!!! If he had gone a little further and done his job I would have never had to go through the surgery at all. It was all about money with him as well. I went to work for him after the surgery and I really found out what he was all about. What a shame.

I too had a horrible time after the surgery because it puts into instant menopause...with no way for your body to help you out. The ovaries are really important to your well being and without them it's tough getting everything back in balance. I finally did but it took a couple of years. When I think of what he did I still feel so betrayed by the man. Someone who I trusted and believed in with my health and my future.

Please tell her to pursue the issue. Have her call a malpratice attorney just to get a consultation...it won't cost anything and it will make her feel empowered and better about herself.

I hope things work out. I really admire the doctor who was truthful to her. He may come in handy if this ever goes to court.

Sorry to babble on...but this is something that still hurts me and I hate to hear another trusting soul going through what I did.

~Susan

I'm sorry!
Hope for the best! Whatever!

She is going to get to the point she won't trust any doctors...Remember the one doctor having her take Avandia because her sugar are normally low...

I kept telling her NO you shouldn't be taking it. But she thought this doctor was so good. (This doctor by the way was the one who sent her to the surgeon) And the Avandia caused her sugars to run about 44 which was so low she spent several months with the shaky, clammy feeling you get when your sugars are too low.
She has had about a year and a half just feeling like a mess. I was so in hopes it would be all over for her and she would be feeling normal by now...

I wish I could tell you what the doctor said she had...it's a syndrome...but I can't remember what it is.It was supposedly what was causing all her trouble...Now I wonder if she really had it.

I wish we could be back in the day you had a good old family doctor who knew you by name and was familiar with your problems.

I remember when my aunt was so sick the doctor came to the house..

Now they have to read what the nurse has ask you and written down to know what is wrong.

patti

Please keep us posted. this is so sad.
ivamae

Patti, was it Metabolic Syndrome or Syndrome X?

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome?? (PCOS) My DD has that and just had her first and probably only baby. She had to see a specialist recommended by her OB-GYN when he couldn't help her anymore. Thankfully, she became PG in a relatively short time and is now a new mom!

Yes Frazoo....I think that is it. Did they say anything to her about being short trunked and neck? and crooked fingers?? I don't think my DD has a short neck but she is short waisted and her little finger were crooked when she was born.

It took my DD nearly 6 years to get pregnant...then she got pregnant right away with the second. Then 7 years passed without getting pregnant and not trying not to.

patti

I'm so sorry, Pattico

I'm sorry Patti....they can take it out but they can't put it back.

Actually, I have read a lot about hysterectomies...and from what I have read, often the ovaries quit working soon after the surgery any way because of the interference in blood supply to them, and because they are so fragile.

I know many people who are thrilled with their hysterectomies, but myself, I wouldn't have one unless I did have cancer. A lot of problems can be caused by them. And as for doctors...a lot of problems can be caused by them too.

Patti...I don't know about the short trunk and neck and crooked fingers. I don't think my DD has them, but she is kinda short...maybe 5'6"....I never thought about her having a short neck...maybe she does.

As far as I know, her information was all about the cysts and ovulating. She had heavy, heavy periods since the beginning and come to find out, she wasn't even ovulating. I thought that was a mean trick of Mother Nature!

She did find a PCOS support group on the internet that she joined. One of the first things she did after getting home with the baby was to go on line and let them know that she'd had the baby and they were both okay.

She'll have problems with this forever and may have a hysterectomy in her future, too. However, it doesn't sound like your DD was very well informed by her doctor(s). Didn't the doctor prescribe any hormones or alternatives to prescription hormones?

Has she had her post-op checkup? Does that doctor know how rotten she's been feeling?

I hope her original OB-GYN doctor can get her to feeling well enough to get back on her feet and then she can check further into her situation.

(((Thinking of you and your DD)))

Leslie/KS

I feel bad for your daughter. Sure hope she can begin to feel better soon. I also hope she's able to get to the bottom of it all and ascertain why the surgeon removed her ovaries. Sounds like the doc didn't give her any consideration for post-op either. She shouldn't have had to go to another doctor complaining about such things if hormone replacement should have been prescribed after the surgery.

Hi pattico,

I'm sorry that your dughter is having such a stressful time.

I think that it would be a good thing to run the whole story past another doctor ... but it would be necessAry for her/him to view all of the papers, if the whole mess gets taken to law, eventually.

I hope that she can attain a more peaceful equilibrium before long.

((((Pattico's daughter))))).

ole joyful

Patti,
I'm so sorry she has had to go through this. How very sad...I hope she gets to feeling better soon and finds some resolution to this. I will keep her in my prayers.
Rita

I feel bad for your daughter. That's terrible that she had to go through that. I hope she feels better soon.

Linda

I think she should go back to the doctor who did the surgery and specifically ask if she had cancer and to show her the proof. If he can't or she doesn't feel satisfied with the answer she should do something about it.

((((((((((((((((for your daughter))))))))))))))))))))))))

Sue the pants off him!

LOL
McPeg

How is she feeling now, Patti... has she contacted anyone?

I think your daughter should go back to the original doctor (the one that sent her to the surgeon) and ask for clarification about the cancer Dx she was given.
Sometimes without all the info it's easy for another doctor to form opinions that might not be correct, but her OB/GYN may be right about the surgery.

I'm confused.

She is back seeing her original OB/GYN but that's not who did her surgery? Why did she have a different MD perform her surgery? And why wasn't her original doctor in on the consultation regarding the need for her surgery? It sounds like she was seeing a Primary Care Physician who referred her to a surgeon and bypassed the OB/GYN entirely.
That's not a good thing.

If I had an OB/GYN I trusted, that would be the person cutting me open...not a different doctor. And I certainly wouldn't proceed with surgery my original doctor didn't say I needed.

Where are these doctors your daughter is seeing coming from? That Avandia story is outrageous. Your daughter's sugars at 44 came close to dropping so low she could have had seizures!

((((Patti and Dear Daughter))))

I'm so sorry. We women tend to trust other women doctors too much. I was searching for months for a female gyn doctor, and finally found one. I thought she was wonderful, until I got the bill from the insurance company. She had tried to bill them for over $800 for a single office visit and pelvic. She had billed for lab work that she sent out to have done. They denied her all but $237, and I had paid her the co-pay of $50, but she still send me a bill for a little over $4. I refused to pay it, called her and told her that was the LAST time I would see her, and I couldn't believe that after getting $257, she still had the nerve to bill me for that small amount.

Now I don't have a gyn again. I'm still looking, but I don't have to go again until next year, so that's o.k.

Moniblair...she didn't have the surgery because of cancer...there was no mention of cancer until after the surgery...they told her they found cancer in it...at the lab...but the obgyn (not the one who did surgery but the one she went to later) told her he read all her records and found nothing mentioned about there being cancer.

mona... often the gyn's won't touch you and they deferred to a ob-oncologist (as in my case) you're lucky if you can find a doc to deliver a child!

as with everything else these days, everyone goes just so far, in their "speciality"...

All of the hospital records from her surgery are your daughter's medical records and she has an absolute right to see them and get a copy of them. She should go to the hospital to make sure she gets their preferred release form, and fill out the form to request a copy of her operation report and pathology report. They may charge a small fee for the copies, but it will be worth it. If you need help deciperhing or interpreting any of the medical terminology, there are plenty of nurses here at the KT who can help with that, or you can just Google the terms and find info.

I had a hysterectomy when I was 42, and my ovaries were removed. My doctor told me (and I trust him implicitly), that ovaries without a uterus are much more prone to problems, including ovarian cancer. He left it up to me whether to remove my ovaries or not. I chose to have them removed, and I've never regretted it.

Lindsey...I had a complete also..and never regretted it...but I was 49, she just turned 37....it has really messed up the hormones.

And she is having a lot of headaches daily now.

The hormones problem is better on more meds...but I'm sorry she has to take them to feel half way normal.

She chooses to not do anything about it..

I don't know if I would ...I wish she would but she is like me...We are suers (is that a word?)

I would like for this post to just die away if you all don't mind.

thanks
patti

Patti, this is all so confusing for you and your DD. I may be clutching at straws here, but does the hospital where the surgery was performed have a Patient's Advocate? If so that person should be able to pull all of this together.

Getting that done, though, isn't going to help with the physical pain and agony that she is suffering from right now, and I would think she would need a specialist who can sort it out and recommend something for that.

I had a Hysterectomy when I was 39. One ovary was removed and part of the other was removed, leaving part to produce hormones. That worked fine for 13 years, after which I was prescribed Hormone replacement pills. Haven't taken them for several years now. I've said that to make the point that with both ovaries gone, one of those doctors should have prescribed Estrogen replacement for her. I would think she should insist on that now and it will surely help her to feel better.

I wish her well and hope she can get the replacement meds quickly. Then she will feel more like taking care of the other part of the problem.

And for you, Patti, I know Moms suffer right along with their children, regardless of age.

Take care.

Sue