Ovaries are amazing but so are we all, with or without them.

This post draws on/relates to a recurring discussion with other BOT ladies in relation to issues of health and wellbeing vs issues of (a loss of) fertility associated with the removal of an ovary/both ovaries/hysterectomy that surround diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of BOTs.

For me: it’s so difficult when all the normative pressures associated with child bearing become entangled with the diagnosis and treatment of BOT. Recomended treatment protocols (removal of part of an ovary through to a radical hysterectomy) depend on the stage of the tumour at diagnosis, previous reproductive history, and age of the patient. So, for some, treatment of BOT involves the removal of one or both ovaries, and possibly removal of the womb. This – too often (I believe) – manifests as an assumed “loss of” fertility (regardless of whether the lady in question has had or wants children) by others rather than a celebration of life
(I’ve written about this previously). I have found myself (and still do) going around in circles about what I thought pre-diagnosis/pre-surgery in relation to my own fertility choices/decisions still to be made vs what I felt others were (I assume kindly but poorly considered) indicating post-surgery/diagnosis. It’s a difficult one and we are all so different. But I maintain my frustration that (for me, and I know it is personal) too much surrounding my diagnosis has been focused (by others) on my (loss of) fertility than on my health and wellbeing. And that remains (for me) very difficult.