Surgical Menopause

The day before my surgery I received the results from a genetic test stating that I have the BRCA2 gene mutation. Women who have this mutation have up to an 85% chance of having breast cancer in their lifetime. They also have an elevated chance of ovarian cancer. I had already decided to do the bi-lateral mastectomy because my left breast had cancer in two places and was aggressive. It made sense to me to get rid of all the tissue that might bring cancer in the future. My cancer is highly estrogen driven. That coupled with being BRCA2 meant that removing my ovaries was necessary now too.

I had a few hours to get my OB-Gyn on board to do the oophorectomy the next day during the 4 hours my surgeon had the operating room reserved for me. She agreed after taking me in her office for a sit-down to make sure I understood fully what was going to happen. She said that removing my ovaries meant instant menopause. I would feel menopausal side effects immediately after surgery and they would be more pronounced than typical side effects, which normally appear gradually over a period of years while your body gets used to lowering estrogen levels. She was not kidding when she said I would turn into a “raving bitch”. Whoa, I was already overwhelmed with what I would be dealing with after surgery. Now my personality was going to change too? Would I end up alienating the people I needed to help get me through recovery and then chemo? This new worry really got to me and kept me from sleeping much that night. I felt so bad for my new husband, John. Didn’t he have enough to deal with already? I felt bad for me, I did not want to change into someone I was not.

Here’s where I lucked out. I’ve had perhaps 5 hot flashes in the past 10 weeks since surgery. Big deal, sweating is just sweating. Its strange but it dosent hurt. And no, I don’t believe I have sprouted a new personality. Well maybe you should ask John, perhaps I just don’t realize and he’s too nice to tell me just yet. To anyone debating about whether to do an oophorectomy to lessen their chance of a recurrance, I am happy I went through with it and am comforted by the thought that I reduced my estrogen load down to almost nil.

The one downside that I am concerned about is osteoporosis. It’s pretty common for post-menopausal women to get it and the drug I'll be taking for 5 years called Femara causes accelerated bone loss. Darn it. I want to keep my bones strong so I can continue to be active. I take my calcium supplements daily and run when I can to hopefully hold osteoporosis at bay.