For those of you who are pre-menopausal and thinking about having your ovaries removed, this message is for you. Here’s my story:

My first breast cancer was found when I was 43 and I had a double mastectomy. No chemo or radiation was needed (clear margins and negative sentinel node biopsy). The doctors recommended Tamoxifen, but I chose not to take it after carefully considering my specific risk factors.

8 years later (last September), cancer was found in my lymph nodes on the same side that the first cancer was found. After 16 rounds of chemo and when it came time for my axillary dissection, I elected to have my ovaries removed.

All of my doctors—both my awesome local doctors and the doctors at the Mayo that I reached out to for a second opinion—said that having ovaries removed was totally OK. They said that if I were 10 years younger, they would NOT have recommended it because of the significantly higher risks to developing dementia and other health issues that are associated with ovary removal pre-menopause. You can find this research with a quick Google search.

Being 51 years old, I’m at the average age for the onset of menopause. So electing to remove my ovaries was a no-brainer. For those of you who are much younger, I encourage you to look at the research. I didn’t find this research when I searched for oophorectomy vs. Tamoxifen. I had to input key words to include dementia (e.g. “oophorectomy, dementia”).

On a side note (and surprising to me) as I started considering an oophorectomy, I was advised to take an aromatase inhibitor as the last step in my treatment plan due to the fact that fat cells contribute to estrogen production. Removing ovaries was not enough to starve any potentially remaining cancer cells of the estrogen they need. But I felt more comfortable with the side effects of the AI vs. potential complications of my specific risks taking Tamoxifen.

Best wishes to you all!