This is a really informative

nkemjika — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:03:42 -0500

This is a really informative post and is still very relevant. One of the biggest indirect killers is ignorance because you can't guard against something you don't know about. I wrote a little about ovarian cancer at Menopause Lifestyle. Have a good day.

Thank You

JennaHatfield — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 21:37:05 -0500

As a woman going in for a D&C and a hysteroscopy next month, thank you for posting this. My doctors aren't sure what is going on but they're looking to find out. The squeaky wheel gets oiled.

I think I will write on this when I have more time to process my own issues. But during this month, for sure. Thank you again.

Family Living; Hatfield Style - Our Family Blog
The Chronicles of MunchkinLand - My adoption blog.
Jenna

Honoring and Remembering Women with Ovarian Cancer

Amanda Shaffer — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 10:34:06 -0500

In honor of National Ovarian Cancer Awareness month, I would like to introduce a new blog to our Health and Wellness blogroll. Dee Dee, the author of "J's Daughter," has written an intensely personal account of her mother's battle with the disease.

In her own words:

I have learned much in the last nine months. I have read that ovarian cancer whispers. I say it screams. It just needs someone to listen. The American Cancer Society statistics for ovarian cancer estimate that there will be 22,220 new cases and 16,210 deaths in 2005. This is a death rate FOUR TIMES that of breast cancer.

Almost 70 percent of women with the common epithelial ovarian cancer are not diagnosed until the disease is advanced in stage. The 5-year survival rate for these women is only 15 to 20 percent. This is unacceptable.

Women need to be made more aware of the symptoms, and doctors need to listen to their patients. Especially when the patient tells them that they fear they have ovca, as my mother did for almost a year before she was finally diagnosed. Itâ€™s so sad and senseless when a woman knows the symptoms but canâ€™t get anyone to listen to what she is saying.

Ovarian cancer cuts across all borders, and kills women both young and old. Jessica, the author of "Cancer, Baby," lost the fight against this terrible disease but her words still live on:

Though you probably don't know it, September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. As such, this is as good an opportunity as any to post a brief public service announcement so you can be vigilant about early ovarian cancer detection in yourself and your loved ones. As with most cancers, early detection is key to long-term survival.

The problem with early detection, however, is that the symptoms of ovarian cancer often mimic many truly benign or non life-threatening physical discomforts and ailments that most healthy women experience at some time or another in their lives. For that reason, ovarian cancer is referred to as "the disease that whispers," because its symptoms are often so "ordinary" that you have to listen very carefully to hear what they are saying. These symptoms include:

* Unexplained change in bowel and/or bladder
habits, such as constipation, diarrhea,
urinary frequency, and/or incontinence
* Gastrointestinal upset, such as gas,
indigestion, and/or nausea
* Unexplained weight loss or weight gain
* Pelvic and/or abdominal pain or discomfort
* Pelvic and/or abdominal bloating or
swelling
* A constant feeling of fullness
* Abnormal postmenopausal bleeding
* Pain during intercourse
* Unusual fatigue
* Persistent lower back pain

As you can see, most of these symptoms are pretty mild, and they can be occasionally normal for many women. Therein, of course, is the rub -- and the danger.

In fact, it isn't uncommon for women to go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for alarming periods of time after they initially present to their gynecologists or family physicians. In a lot of cases, it seems, women are paying attention to the whispers but their healthcare practitioners are not -- dismissing their symptoms as minor irritations, or pursuing fruitless or erroneous diagnostic paths.

Typically, women with ovarian cancer complain of gastrointestinal upset. After a standard pelvic exam that reveals nothing, they often end up getting a colonoscopy, which either turns up negative or leads to the misdiagnosis of a gastrointestinal disorder or disease, such as irritable bowel syndrome or, in my case, Crohn's. Often, it isn't until months later that ovarian cancer is eventually diagnosed -- months in which their cancer has had more time to grow and metastasize.

If you experience any of the above symptoms for more than two or three weeks, head to your internist. First, make sure you demand that he or she does a rectovaginal exam rather than just a standard pelvic exam. In nearly all cases, standard pelvic exams, which are practiced routinely by most healthcare providers, cannot diagnose ovarian cancer. Rectovaginal exams, on the other hand, are effective diagnostic tools. You should, in fact, be requesting them during your annual visit to the gynecologist. As far as I'm concerned, it's shocking -- but not surprising -- that they aren't considered the standard of care.

When you see your doctor, you should also demand that he or she run a CA-125 screening. This simple blood test detects a protein made by abnormal ovarian cells and can aid in diagnosis. However, it is important to note that CA-125 readings are not foolproof; they can be elevated in healthy people and they can fall within the normal range in women with ovarian cancer.

As a result, it is critical that if you continue to experience symptoms you keep searching for answers. If you are sent to a gastroenterologist at some point and you are not diagnosed -- or if you suspect a misdiagnosis -- you must push harder. A pelvic ultrasound, CT scan, or PET scan would bet the next step.

Although the bottom line is that if you experience symptoms the liklihood is that you do not have ovarian cancer (only about 25,000 American women are diangosed annually), I cannot emphasize how important it is to demand that your healthcare provider address it as a possibility. This is doubly true if you are young because ovarian cancer typically afflicts post-menopausal women, so physicians are less likely to be looking for it in pre-menopausal women. It is even more imperative for women with a family history of breast and/or ovarian cancers.

Please take the time to visit these blogs, educate yourself on the symptoms, and TALK to your friends and loved ones about OvCa. This disease has claimed far too many lives. It's time for us to fight back.

BlogHer - Honoring and Remembering Women with Ovarian Cancer - Comments

This is a really informative

Thank You

Honoring and Remembering Women with Ovarian Cancer