An oophorectomy or in plain English, removing the ovaries, has put Pace into the start of menopause.It would be counterproductive to go the hormone therapy route. While hormone therapy would keep Pace like feeling herself, it would increase our chances of estrogen stimulated cancers. For most women menopause starts when a woman is about 51 and some doctors feel ovaries are a risk after that time.
Menopause causes a significant amount of changes for women. Pace is already exhibiting some of them and I've been warned that this is a 3 year process before the body stabilizes.
On the bright side, Pace will never have a period again so she won't have to deal with the irregular menstrual periods that accompany menopause. However, there is a grocery list of other physical manifestations of menopause specifically;
- Hot flashes & night sweats
- Fatigue, memory problems, irritability, and rapid changes in mood
- Urinary symptoms Hot flashes & night sweats
- Vaginal dryness, itching, or irritation causing painful sexual intercourse
- Increased risk of urinary tract infection , more frequent urinate and possibly incontinence
The oncologists have mentioned that there are new drugs that target these symptoms. However, they are still not in clinical trials. Pace has volunteered to participate if they become available Me, I'm all for it.
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