Ladies health question (for my sister)

I know I can always count on you guys for good info, so here goes. My sister has been having some pain in her lower abdomen,(she also went about 3 months with no period than the last 3 weeks slight bleeding) and she just changed insurance, so she had to go to a new gyn that she has never been to before. To make a long story short, she had a sonogram that showed a growth of 8.5 cm on one of her ovaries. The doctor acted like this was no big deal and told her that it means her ovaries are still working! (she thought she might be starting early menopause-49yo) The doctor then said that this is normal and it will disolve on its own. Now I know absolutely next to nothing about women problems but this seems really strange to me. Anyhow, I told her she needs to get online and research this more because something sounds bogus to me. Problem is that she isn't really that good at searching, plus she gets bugged out if she finds anything that says cancer! SO, I know you guys know more about this stuff than I do, so if you know any good sources of information for this stuff, that would be appreciated. Also, if you agree or disagree with my thinking I would like to know about that too.

cysts on the ovaries are not uncommon...i had one at 12 and didnt know until its ruptured, which was quite painful.

i would just get a second opinion when she has insurance. i doubt that a doctor would totally blow it off with no labs or anything else if he wasnt sure. maybe there some charictiristics of this cyst that dont match those of caner..i dunno..

but def 2nd opinion

I second the second opinion-

but I also had ovarian cysts for the first time in my late 30's- common and they do usually go away. They are called "functional cysts" because they come about during the ovulatory phase. Sometimes they are painful, sometimes you don't even know you have them.

No advice about your sister but its really nice that ya'll are close and can talk about things like this. My younger middle brother likes to come and talk to me about sex which infuriates my mom to no end since she's the sex police.

I have Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, and it's pretty common.

It never hurts to get a second opinion.

I have PCOS, too--but the cysts associated with PCOS are usually much smaller than the one your sister has. I second (third, whatever) the second opinion.

Cysts can be pretty harmless, believe it or not.

I have little experience this, but will relate mine. I had an ovarian cyst occur while pregnant with my son (it literally sat on top of him). Three weeks after his birth (3 weeks early), it was drained...the cyst contained 5.7 liters of fluid! EEK! It was hoped that draining it would force it to go away. It didn't...and wouldn't rupture (something I was not looking forward to anyway). Initially, even up to surgery, it was thought to be a mesenteric cyst. The surgeon who did my surgery removed my ovary and cyst (already the size of a football). Ah, well. In light of my own experience, I would definitely get a second (and third, if needed) opinion. One can never, never, be too informed about one's own health issues. If you personally know a dr (a good one), ask some questions and get to know what can/should/could happen. Best wishes.

I am constantly encountering dr's, nurses, whatever who miss things... make little of things that shouldn't be, ect. I would get a second opinion.

If it is a cyst, that's fine but it should be confirmed. My dr was unfortunate enough to reach up and pop my cyst. Needless to say... I attempted to pop some of his body parts! Lol.

Second opinion, definitely.

Thanks everyone, it sounds like it might be "normal", but also worth a second opinion. I guess I just look at it like anything that big that isn't supposed to be there, I want removed. YKWIM? I'll pass this along to her.

Yes, that is large even for an ovarian cyst. If it was me, this is what I'd do. If she can tolerate the pain, leave it alone. (Remembering that ovaries are as sensitive as testicles). However, have it rechecked by another ultrasound in 4-8 weeks to make sure it hasn't grown. If the pain gets to bad they will have to pop it... drain it... whatever. Depending on it's location they may have to do surgery in order to do it.

I never trust the word of one dr without doing my own research. If I did, both my kids, myself and my future mother in law would be dead several times over. Every doctor has many patients. Since it is MY life or MY child or MY family member I am much more inclined to put more time and effort into making SURE it's harmless. They see so many of the same thing over and over that they kind of get immune and keep treating things the same way. My mother in law was diagnosed with Renal Cell Carcinoma... a cancer that you do NOT treat with chemo and radiation. However, the dr who diagnosed her didn't know that and treated her with those things for 6 months before I came into the picture and threw a fit! The chemo and radiation almost killed her and did NOTHING for her cancer. It progressed while they should have been treating her with other methods.

Cancer doesn't always mean chemo... cysts don't always mean your are ovulating, not every patient with a fever and vomiting just has the flu, ect. I think sometimes dr's are guilty of "Assuming" since they have seen this several times, this patient is the same. But not every patient is the same. It's just hard to know when you need to look further than the most likely cause.

I have stories... including one about my future mother in law from this last week... which are frightening. The things that medical staff can miss, or blow off.... I just have a very hard time trusting them immediatly. Especially when they miss or blow off something that I immediatly catch. I didn't even go to college!

So, if I seem paranoid about this subject I'm sorry. I PROMISE my stories about it would definitely justify it though! No offense against any dr's at all. I would not want to be in their shoes.

I think it's great you are asking and concerned....and dude... a man who even talks about a period... wow! You are a rarity for sure!