Hello all, I'm a brand-spanking-new member, so I'd like to start off by saying that I think that this is a great place to voice opinions, concerns, and whatnot. I actually decided to join because I have a few questions that have been on my mind lately, and I really feel that I am unable to adaquately voice my concerns to the people in my life, due to the simple fact that they are not my problems. My mother recently told me that she has had endo for about 15 years now, and that a few weeks ago, she went to her doctor for an ultrasound, as she has been having very heavy periods that last about 9-15 days for the past six months or so. The doctor found an cancerous ovarian cyst that she told me he described as being about the size of the crown of a baby's head. They also found "a few" (I don't know how many "a few" is) tumors (they're not sure if they're malignant) in her uterus. She went in again a few days ago for a CT scan, and the technician told her that the cyst had "disappeared." In my mind, a cyst does not disappear. Hides, maybe. Isn't picked up by a machine, possibly. But just disappears? Can this happen? Has anyone ever had/heard/read of this happening? My worry with this is that my mom seems tremendously relieved, and being religious, I worry that she won't follow up on it as well as she should and regard it a miracle of sorts...
Yes, cysts do often just disappear. Not cancerous ones, though. the tumors are probably fibroids, and have no impact on her health, other than perhaps causing pain. She should seek out a specialist for a second opinion before ever agreeing to anything this particular doctor recommends. Not doing anything does sound like a feasible option to me, whether she's religious or not.
The doc can't tell if something is cancerous by ultrasound or CT. Something invasive like a needle biopsy or aspiration would have to be done, or laparoscopy. They could do a CA-125 blood test. Most ovarian cysts are not cancerous and like mamaboogie said, most uterine tumors are fibroids, and not cancerous.
Yarrow and mamaboogie are correct (except that on rare occasion, cancerous cysts do dissappear.) But, she needs a second opinion. Endo cannot be diagnosed with an ultrasound, or any other imaging device. Actual VIEWING, either by open abdomial procedure, or endoscope (camera on the end of a long wire) needs to be done. As Yarrow said, many cancers will show up on a test which looks for "cancer markers" but these are not always definative. Sometimes there is cancer with no markers and sometimes the markers mean something else BUT, the marker tests ARE a good idea, anyway, as they are usually accurate. If she had cysts, she still needs to keep in touch with a doctor, and maybe keep tests going on. I am not sure how they knew it was cancer, because, as the others have said, you can't "see" cancer, usually. It has to be either tested by biopsy or by marker. I hope she is well. My guess is that it was benign cysts which did dissappear, and maybe the doctor said "This may be cancer." and she took it to mean "this is cancer." (my mother does this kind of misunderstanding ALL the time) but, if they even suspected cancer, she needs to be watched, as treatment could mean the difference between life and death. I hope she is OK.
cysts generally aren't cancerous tumors are. If what they saw dissapeared, maybe the first scan was incorrect. She needs a second and third opinion.
