Teratomas are a germ cell neoplasm. The ovaries being what they are, it's a logical place for them.

Erin, I redacted my inappropriate enthusiasm! All tumors suck, but if you have to have a @)#! one, at least it's an interesting one to have.

So, what I really want to probe the hivemind for it: anyone ever had one of these things, how long does it take to recover from a chick slice and dice?

Well, mine was about that size and I had a full-on laparotomy because my doctor thought that by doing so she could save the ovary. Sadly, this doesn't really seem to be the case, but I digress. It was basically a caesarean without the baby at the end. You might not need that.

I was technically on a month of bedrest but at my two week appointment I was in pretty good shape and subwayed there no problem. My doctor thinks that my quick recovery was mostly because I lived alone. The first week, I did have friends that shopped for me and came to clean (and my sister came for a whole day@@), but mostly I had to take care of myself.

Also, from my obsessive reading at the time teeth and hair are almost always a guarantee that it is not cancer.

Oh, Plei, I like the enthusiasm, No worries!

Dude, I NAMED it. And am buying it outfits in my head. @@

Megan, my doc says mini-lap...thingie and probably won't be able to save the ovary, but I told her I don'tplan to have kids; as long as I have 1 so I don't have to do estrogen-replacement, I don't give a fuck. Chop it out, put it in a freakin' dirty martini.

I figure I can be on 1/2 days after a week and a half, and sitting on my ass lecturing at 2.

EDIT: And my mom and dad are going to come down and take me home with them. They're planning on me being there a week. Hmm. I think I'll be home in 5 days.

As a point of comparison, last year my sister had a full hysterectomy at Dana Farber using robotics via a pinhole incision and was up and about after a week or so. I went up for a month to take care of her kids. Am I bitter? Oh, noooooo, not at all.

Do they live far away? I ask because the car ride home from the hospital was hell, and it wasn't that far away.

Oh, Erin. How miserable. {{{Erin}}}

{{{Erin}}} Health~ma, hon. That blows that you're going to lose money. Any chance you could sweet talk the admin? At my old school, we used to have a sick day "pool" where everyone donated one sick day a year to help cover someone who ran out, but the admin always did their best to extend our time a little if something big came up.

Also, if you don't mind me asking, did you have symptoms, or was this a routine check? I'm paranoid since I also have cystic ovaries, though none were big enough to worry about last time they checked. I'm wondering if I should get re-checked.

That's a good point, Megan. THey live about an hour away, and asked me to ask the doc about the car ride.

Thanks for all the sympathy, guys. I've had a broken arm when I was 9 and a leetle tiny bump taken off my arm, but never any kind of surgery that required a hospital stay. I'm not nervous about it, just pissed.

Kristin, I have started to have irregular, painful, long periods in my 30's, BUT my mom had horrid, horrid periods and my sister does too. They just gotten wretched, so when my annual came up, that was one of the things I mentioned, and when I was palpated (like a giant KY covered grapefruit) she said it felt like I was 12 weeks pregnant (NO possibility of that, thanks) and wanted me to have an ultrasound.

So I did today and she was all "Wow! Come look at this, nurse! Last time I thought it was your UTERUS! Take your underwear off! SQUICK! WOW! Feel that."

Except she was much more professional and jargon-y.

Apparently, even my cyst is an overachiever.

{{{Erin}}} Surgery~ma.

vw, definitely either call back to complain tomorrow or go in to complain. That is unacceptable.