Cramping

• By Plonanon
• Posted October 8, 2009 at 6:23 pm
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There was a thread here some time back on this topic:

http://www.inspire.com/groups/ovarian-cancer-national-alliance/discussion/h as-anyone-else-experienced-cramps-after-hysterectomy/

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• By ErinH
• Posted October 9, 2009 at 11:23 am
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Rose408,

The women in the discussion linked above pretty much cover everything - talk to your doc about a CT scan to rule out adhesions/fibroids after surgery.

I had my left ovary removed 4 yrs ago with Stage IV OvCa and didn't start chemo for another 4 months after that.

When the 8-wk healing was passed, I still had cramping that felt like menstruation on my left side.

After chemo, a year later, I still had cramping, quite bad, on my left side.

A year or so after that, my periods were back to normal (hey - don't worry about your periods, if you rule out adhesions and fibroids, I can tell you it takes a LONG time for your cycles to return to normal, mine took at least one year), but the cramping was getting worse on the left side particularly.

I saw my Gynae and he told me that no-one understands how one ovary functions on its own, it can overcompensate or it can struggle to release eggs regularly. He put my mind at rest with an internal ultrasound - there was something anomalous about my left side where the fallopian tube and ovary had been removed. My womb looked 'scorched' and he told me that this was probably what was causing the cramps - he said it was something called 'powderburn' from surgery.

I always think my body is missing the part that it's lost - like people experience 'phantom limb' syndrome. I miss my little ovary every day, when I cramp on my left side it still makes me sad.

The cramping got so bad, he put me on "the pill" to try to regulate the hormones in my system, and that really helped. I don't use it for contraception, in case you have any qualms about that, I just need it to calm down my repro system.

Try to stay calm - no-one really knows how our precious systems work, except us. Always trust what you are feeling and ignore doctors when they tell you "it's impossible" - sure, they told me it was impossible for me to survive my metastases and I'm still here, 4 years later!!!

As an afterthought, I also have pain and 'cramping' sensations on the lymph node where my second tumour was removed - my surgeon tells me this is scar-tissue, and that scar-tissue is always painful afterward because the tissue surface is pocked and contracted, and the tissue is hardened-up inside you, so I live with his explanation.

Let me know how you get on, I would definitely speak to your specialists if you can and get some scans to rule out fibroids and surgical adhesions, since both can be serious.

Sending you love,
Erin

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