Ovarian cysts need Hysterectomy?

Cysts on the ovaries are pretty common and rarely dangerous... as long as the woman is still having menstrual cycles. Once menopause is reached, such cysts are more often dangerous--potentially cancerous--and must be treated quickly. I would imagine this is what's going on with your mother. However, you didn't mention if she's menopausal or not. About half of women age 50 are not menopausal, so I can't even guess in this case. I don't understand why they're saying "hysterectomy" when the key here is ovary removal. They should at least have specified that and said they were removing the ovaries. If they're worried about cancer, then at your mom's age, doing a total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oopherectomy (TAH-BSO) is pretty normal, since docs don't see any point in having uterus and ovaries after menopause. Yet it is major surgery, and shouldn't be undertaken lightly. And if she does have cancer, then she NEEDS to have this surgery done by a gynecologic oncologist, not just a regular gynecologist. Gynecologists don't see ovarian cancer all that much--maybe once or twice in their career. But gynecologic-oncologists see it every day and have done thousands of these surgeries. She needs to get an opinion from one before the surgery, and she needs to get the surgery done by one.