Hi Anita,
I was 44 when I had my chemo and radiation - I had six weeks - 5xweek radiation to the pelvic region, and was told that it had probably completley fried my ovaries. Having gone through to hell and back, when my surgeon recommended a double oopherectomy (removal of both the ovaries and fallopian tubes - left the uterus intact) at the same time as the mesorectal excision, I agreed - figured the increased risk of ovarian cancer due to the radiation damage was not worth it; I had my two girls and had no plans to have any more children. Once I woke from the surgery (and they got me off morphine, which I reacted really badly to) nothing was said about the oopherectomy. I ended up back in hospital a week after my eventual discharge (14 days after surgery) due to an ovarian DVT. While I was in hospital, I started panicking that I had another infection as I was sweating and practically hallucinating. My gp stopped by to visit me, and she asked me what the surgeon had given me to counteract the onset of surgical menopause. The penny dropped, and I realised that what I was going through was just extreme versions of the hot flashes I had had a few times before my illness. She said that it was inconceivable that I had not been given anything and recommended that I go back on Seasonale, a low-dose three month birth control that I had been on before my cancer. I did, and within a week, all the menopausal symptons went away. She wants me to stay on this until I am about 52, which she says is the "normal average age" for natural menopause. This should also help prevent any issues with osteoporosis, which is a greater risk due to all the radiation. I did question her about the potential for increased risk of breast or uterine cancer, and she said that because this was both a progesterone and estrogen combined pill, and a low dose pill, she felt that the risk was minimal, if at all, and the benefits were significant. Do talk to your doctor, but make sure you also talk to your gp or obs-gyn (my gp is my family doctor and delivered both my girls). Good luck and let me know what happens.
jess