Kimb
A Cyst that size is bound to be painful and cause you rightful alarm! but your doctor is most likely feeding into your panic and doing your a HUGE disservice sending you to an oncologist for a cyst! A CT Scan is VERY unreliable to tell what kind of cyst it is. They only tell location and size but not content. The ultrasound was more reliable for that. But even with that all they could tell you was that it was not fluid filled. Is this right? There are some of us who suffer these types of cysts quite often. Some have them so bad it's a disease unto itself. Your ovary is only 2-3 cm big. Anything bigger than that inside your ovary is going to hurt...That cyst is INSIDE your ovary, btw, doctors don't explain that very well either!! We all get small "functional" cysts every month with our cycle. For some of us, however, a problem arises. There are many differnt types of cysts. The most commmon type is fluid filled. Filled with the same fluid as our functional cysts. It still hurts when they get big and hurts even worse when/if they burst. Most doctors say that about 8 cm is reason for removal, but truly if it's haning around for a long time and causing you discomfort I would push the issue of removal! If your doctor is reluctant it could be due to poor surgical skill and reason to find a better doctor/surgeon! Other cysts are a bit more complicated. They can be blood filled called Endometriomas or Chocolate cysts. These are common to those of us with Endometriosis. There is great risk of damage when these rupture. They are not just blood but also contain endometrios cells and when they rupture the stuff inside is like super glue and will bind organs together. This complicates everything, makes surgery worse, recovery longer and risks fertily. An endometrioma can and should be removed quickly. Other complicated cysts can contain anything that would be in our ovary. Meaning chromosomal tissue from an egg..hair, bone, etc...This may sound a bit horrific...It is NOT an eptopic pregnancy...this is purly OUR tissue. My real point to all this is that your doctor sending to an oncologist is most likely scaring more than was needed. If you are NOT menopausal the chances or you having Ovarian cancer are very slim. The one thing that would raise your risk is family history. Even then the cyst should be removed before alarms are set off! You did not or do not need an oncolgist to do this simple surgery!!! A good GYN should have been able to do it. So can a Reproductive Endocrinologist. They are trained to deal with these types of problems. An RE is probably a better choice! Until you have the cyst removed and try not to think this is cancer. It most likely is not. Good Luck!!!