What should you know about hormone replacement therapy before having your ovaries removed?
For women with BRCA1, BRCA2 and other hereditary cancer risks, preventive ovary removal can bring another major consideration: surgical menopause and what comes next.
In this episode of BRCA & Beyond, Marisa explores the questions many women have about HRT before risk-reducing ovary removal. What might surgical menopause actually feel like? How can hormone therapy fit into care after surgery? What happens if the first approach doesn't work well for you? And who should be helping manage your menopause care along the way?
Through her own experience approaching this decision with BRCA2, Marisa discusses concerns around mood, energy, weight, sexual health, quality of life, and simply feeling like yourself after surgery. She also shares an important shift in how she's preparing: instead of waiting until after ovary removal to figure out menopause care, she's asking what that plan should look like before surgery happens.
The conversation also explores why HRT experiences can vary so widely, why another person's experience isn't a preview of your own, and why preparing for risk-reducing ovary removal should include conversations about both cancer prevention and quality of life.
Whether you're considering an oophorectomy, a risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy, navigating surgical menopause, or simply trying to understand HRT in the context of hereditary cancer risk, this episode can help you think through the questions to bring to your own healthcare team.
Trusted resources:
The Menopause Society
Patient education on menopause, surgical menopause, and hormone therapy.
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
Patient guidance on BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, risk-reducing surgery, and menopause care.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Evidence-based information on BRCA1 and BRCA2, hereditary cancer risk and risk reducing surgery.
FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered
Hereditary cancer information, research updates, and support for people with inherited cancer risk.
This podcast is for informational and educational purposes and does not replace individualized medical advice. Decisions about risk reducing surgery, surgical menopause and hormone therapy should be discussed with your healthcare team.
","author_name":"Marisa Stachelski, Cancer Survivor & BRCA2 Previvor"}