Hi folks. Not a woman but I’m asking on behalf of my 19 year old daughter so I hope that’s ok.
She has a huge dermoid cyst on one of her ovaries. It’s slightly larger than a baby’s head.
We’re just out of a consult with the surgeon a few hours. Surgeon felt the ovary was salvageable and she basically has three options.
- Ovary removal, this can possibly / probably be done through keyhole. Results in about 25% reduction in fertility. She does want kids in the future but had mentally already said goodbye to the ovary until today.
- Horizontal incision. This will leave a scar about 13cm / 5 inches around her knicker line but if there are any complications during the surgery, the scar would extend to cover the width of her tummy. At the moment this is her preferred option because of lower visibility but we’re both kinda shaken after the whole thing.
- Vertical scar from her belly button. This makes the surgery easier and is the least likely to cause any complications.
He’s urging option 3.
The thing is she’s an athletic kid and very young obviously so the scarring is a big consideration for her. She would wear belly tops a lot and has since she was young. She doesn’t want a tattoo to cover.
We tried looking for examples of post-op scars online but they’re all fresh after surgery so obviously look very rough (and I presume some of them are “omg I got butchered” pics) so she was very upset after seeing those.
What I’m wondering is if any of you have experience or know anyone with experience with this and wouldn’t mind sharing what choice you made and if you’re happy with it and how well the scar healed over time?
Also if anyone would be willing to share a healed scar picture I could put you directly in touch with her (or you can of course DM me).
Thanks so much ❤️
About 12 years ago, I went into surgery to fix the ureter that was pushed into my kidney because of a car crash, it was causing my kidney to malfunction and making me sick. I was supposed to be in and out in a day because the surgery would only involve small incisions. Instead, my doctor had to open me up and remove my kidney because it was not going to get better. I ended up with a 10 inch scar following the rib line on my right side. I knew losing it was a possibility but I didn’t actually think it would happen. I do not mention this to scare you, I mention this because even if your doctor thinks the ovary may be salvaged, you should at least mentally prepare yourself to support your daughter if she does lose it. Crossing my fingers she has good luck with surgery.
That said, my scar today is a noticeable semi-jagged white line but not nearly as gnarly as it was initially. I still wear bikinis when swimming because idgaf what anyone else thinks about it, but I’m also in my 40s and idgaf about what other people think anymore. I sometimes have folks ask about that one and my back scar (spinal fusion surgery also due to car crash), it doesn’t bother me because I get to tell my story of survival. I did not use any salves or anything to reduce the scaring and I think it still looks pretty ok. I also have a couple of small scars on my belly from a bilateral salpingectomy surgery. Those are small and barely noticeable unless you are looking for them.
I know she’s young and concerned about what the scar will look like, but I hope she remembers her health is far more important than a silly little scar. Hopefully your daughter will get to a point where she loves her scars the way I do.