It has been so helpful to read about other womens’ experiences on the forums here. I have had a cyst which has been lurking for over 25 yrs (had one ovary & a v large attached cyst removed then) but I’ve had 2 babes & have been lucky to have been monitored throughout as my cyst kept hovering over the 5-7cm size, which is when they say it may need removing. I’ve had serious pain over recent months after have very little bother from the cyst & after a real ‘woman to woman’ conversation with one of the consultants last summer, she asked me why I don’t just get rid of it and made me think that she saw this with a sense of urgency. So I’ve done that & had it removed this week; & thank goodness I did because I was then told that it was unusually solid and there were a lot of adhesions so was tricky to remove. I’m now having to wait to find out that it is definitely benign. I want to say that I’ve had excellent monitoring and support over the years but if it wasn’t for the one consultant giving me her honest opinion, I may have continued with the monitoring rather than properly dealing with it.

So ladies, please follow your instinct and don’t worry about asking direct questions. I didn’t need to as it was offered but am so glad that I tuned in properly.