Hi There,
Firstly congratulations on your pregnancy!
My name is Yvonne (Sconnie) and I had my 10cm dermoid cyst removed 4 weeks ago (I was 14.5 weeks pregnant with my 1st child) I too was very scared - concerned about cancer and the baby. My cyst was proved non cancerous (despite it showing very suspicious on ultrasound) and my baby is fine so far!
I had open laparatomy - a 5 inch incision in my bikini line. When I came round from the operation I had a morphine pump fitted which they said was safe to use, but I chose not to use it, I also didnt take any pain meds, I did this for the baby, it was painful for the first couple of days, and my advice is get up and walk a little everyday, everyday really does get easier, they baby was fine afterwards, and still is now! Although I have not had a scan for 3 weeks ( i had a few in hospital), I am due to have my 19 week scan this Friday, Last week, I went to see my midwife and the heartbeat was strong. I was advised of the risks before surgery, and the biggest risk was not with being put under, but trauma to the abdomen and movement of the organs, my womb had to be moved as the dermoid inside the ovary had fell behind my womb. I asked my Gyno to just take the ovary too, rather than trying to spend extra time finding good tissue to salvage. The operation took 1 hour.
As my baby is growing, i am finding that there is pressure on my incision, so that has become a little tender again, I have my final check up with my Gyno/Surgen next week. But other than tenderness, I feel perfectly fine, I havent been sick (luckily that all stopped before the operation), and I am now able to do all my housework and walk about as normal, I also go back to work next week.
Obviously I still worry about the development of the baby, and hope my scan proves okay on Friday, but my operation was done in the second trimester, when eveyrthing was formed, I have been feeling little flutters and kicks.
I am guessing that maybe your operation is tomorrow, so you may not read this, but if you get chance, although its easier said than done...try not to worry, I feel so much better knowing my cyst/tumour is out, otherwise I would have continued to worry throughout my pregnancy, and it would have been horrible not being able to enjoy it. My best advise is to ensure you get up walking when you can, dont stay mobile for too long, but do this little and often, keep your circulation going and wear your compression stockings even when you come out of hospital...I didnt but wish I had, only because I started to worry about my circulation, which is absolutely fine, but I am a worrier!
Good luck and best wishes for you and your baby, let me know if you have any questions, and I hope to hear how you get on.
Yvonne xx
I'm glad to hear this is being resolved so quickly for you!! Im glad they'll remove it now, of course it;ll be scary to get this done at any time, even more so pregnant, but itll be best for you and baby! Surgery is soo soon! I'm glad! Good luck with the upcoming surgery, will be thinking of you that day! You'll have to update us when you're home and feeling good :)
Thanks for the encouragement Jess! And it looks like everything is gonna be ok! Met with the drs and surgeons today. They are going to remove the cyst! To me this is good news because they do belive this is where the majority of my pain is comming from. If they can make the pain go away it will make things much better for me. The surgery is scheduled for this comming wednesday. Im scared about having a massive surgery like this, and even more scared to do it while im pregnant. But i do belive that removing the cyst is the best thing. They do not belive the cyst to be cancerous, The dr says that due to the fact that the cyst has been here for so long it most likely isnt cancerous, however they will still test it before they close me up to make sure they dont need to remove more than just the cyst or ovary. Im happy this is resolving quickly now!
From my experience in reading the forum, I believe it is normal to see an oncologist when the cyst seems to abnormal in any way. This doesnt mean you have cancer necessarily. You likely will need surgery to remove the cyst, especially for the development of the baby if it is growing so much I imagine. There is a woman here in the forum, Sconnie I believe her username is. And I know she had open surgery while pregnant to remove a cyst(and ovary I believe but cant be sure) I'm sure she would be able tp help yo a little more with the concerns of the pregnancy ad cysts as shes been through this.
It sounds like you have a great support system and that will help you so much during this time.
I'm so sorry you're going through this now while you should be enjoying you're pregnancy. Please keep us updated as to what happens. When do you see the oncologist.
You'll be in my thoughts,
Jess xx