Dear Professor Winston,
I am 29 years old and have been trying for a baby for 10 months now. I know this isn’t a long time, however, when I was 20, I had a dermoid cyst removed from my right ovary resulting in my losing my ovary and tube. I have never had regular periods however since January of this year my periods have got worse; I bleed a lot of the time. The most I have gone without bleeding is 15 days. I have just had a laparoscopy and dye test done which have come back clear. What else can I do?
Best wishes,
I.
Dear I.,
Ovarian dermoid cysts are quite common and often disturb fertility. Do you know if the surgeon took photos of your remaining tube and ovary? It would be useful to review these. I think I would also advise a careful ovarian scan to measure the ovary’s volume and also to make certain that nothing is going on in your remaining ovary as mermaids sometimes appear on both sides. I would also want to measure your hormone activity – particularly the FSH (which should be done more than once in different cycles) and AMH to try to assess your remaining ovarian function, and the lining of the uterus to see why you may be bleeding so frequently. If these tests are normal, then clearly you still need help to get your cycle regulated and to check on the frequency of ovulation.
Once you have had these tests, by all means get back in touch if you feel we can offer you further impartial advice.
Best wishes
Robert Winston