Post-tamoxifen and Lupron - Removing ovaries with hysterectomy or not? ER+/PR+/HER2-
I was diagnosed in 2020/age 40 with ER+, PR+, HER2- breast cancer. Unilateral mastectomy; no chemo/radiation; I finished my 5 years of Tamoxifen in September... and felt fine on it. When I stopped, I felt like I was on a crazy hormone rush with breast pain in my remaining side, which was scary.
Then, I started having bleeding without a period for over a month followed by a very heavy period that lasted weeks. Ultrasound > Gigantic fibroids + new uterine polyps. My uterus is as large as a 4 month pregnancy. My only real course of treatment is a hysterectomy because I can't have hormone therapies (ER+/PR+ breast cancer history).
I *assumed* I would get my ovaries out to reduce the estrogen floating around potentially growing cancers since I'd been on an estrogen blocker for 5 years, but my oncologist and two OB/GYNs all say to keep my ovaries because of the potential of severe surgical menopause symptoms (that can't be treated with HRT), bone loss, cardiovascular disease, etc.
I don't know what to do or think at all. My gut says to remove my ovaries/get rid of the estrogen. Everyone aside from my doctor seems to say, "Get rid of them!" so I don't end up with ovarian or other cancers later.
I don't usually go against my doctors' advice and am scared of these "severe" surgical menopause symptoms... but I've been hearing the same symptom list for 5 years now and have been OK so far... Will the "severe" menopause symptoms be worse than 5 years of tamoxifen + Lupron… ? Anyone been in this situation and have some advice/thoughts/experiences to share?
Comments
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Hi @traveller512 , welcome to the community. We’re sorry your post hasn’t gotten responses yet, and we wanted to help bring it some attention.
Questions about hysterectomy, ovary removal, and the balance between recurrence risk and surgical menopause come up often here, so hopefully some members will see this and share their experiences. In the meantime, you might find these pages from our main site helpful as you think through your options and prepare questions for your doctors:
Hope this helps. We’re glad you reached out, and we hope others will chime in soon to share what helped them.
Best.,
The Mods
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