February is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and the 24th will see Teal Ribbons on sale. Please support the cause if you can.
A report in Heart & Soul Herald Sun dated 21 February, there was a very good article written by Lollie Barr.
1500 women a year are diagnosed in Australia, of which 850 women will die. That’s one woman every 11 hours.
As statistics have told us before, sadly 75 per cent of women are diagnosed in the advanced stages and will not live beyond five years. It means that women do not live long enough to campaign for better public awareness of the disease - something breast cancer survivors have been remarkable good at. Pink clothes, pink bags, pink food labels, pink balloons, pink fun runs, pink, pink, pink!!
I think I quite shocked Cr Esakoff on seeing her pink ribbon displayed promoting an awareness of breast cancer, by describing it as ‘the yuppie cancer’. I had to explain that silver was the ribbon of choice to promote ovarian cancer awareness and the National Bank were a major sponsor. I’ve actually walked up to a young man in the street and thanked him for his silver ribbon awareness effort.
While the pain and suffering experienced with breast or any other cancer, can never be diminished I would just like more publicity (or at least equal) advertisements, promotions, and Government awareness heightened for cancers like bowel, testicular, ovarian,
Ir’s cruel to think that a child as young as seven, could develop ovarian cancer. Both women’s stories provided in the article were ‘young’, a 46 from Melbourne and a 26 yo from NSW. I was 57 at the time of diagnosis. The younger the women under 60 diagnosed the best chance of a successful cure IF it is caught early enough.
Tests include the CA125 blood test and a trans vaginal ultrasound, but these tests cannot be used to screen for or diagnose ovarian cancer. Diagnosis can only be confirmed following surgery.
Early diagnosis is the critical issue, as is the first stage of the disease, the cancer is contained inside one or both ovaries.
By stage two - it has spread into the fallopian tubes or other pelvic tissues, such as the bladder or the rectum.(that was me) When the cancer has spread outside the pelvic area into the abdominal cavity, then it has reached stage three
The fourth and final stage is reached when the cancer has spread into other organs, such as the liver or lungs.
Interestingly, the article tells readers that taking birth control pills decrease the risk of developing ovarian cancer by up to 50 per cent, especially among women who use them for several years.
The “Risk Factors” are mostly women over 45, never taking a contraceptive pill, few or no pregnancies, high fat diet, overweight and smoking, and a history of cancer in the family, including ovarian, breast and some bowel cancers…. An inherent gene fault accounts for about 10% and occur in one in 500 people in Australia.
Professor Quinn is reported as saying “If a celebrity had the disease (ovarian cancer) then we’d be further ahead in the funding for research at state and federal government level.
February is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, so have a conversation with your girlfriends, wives, mothers, sisters and daughters…..Buy a teal ribbon on Wednesday 24th February.
Possible symptoms can include:
back pain
vaginal bleeding
abdominal bloating (major symptom for me)
persistent stomach or pelvic pain
change in bowel habits
weight loss or weight gain (weight loss! assumed balanced diet was working well)
excessive fatigue
needing to rush to the toilet to urinate often and urgently!! (major symptom for me) (hence my nagging for more appropriate toilet facilities within the City of Glen Eira)
My optometrist remarked six months prior, that I had lost significant weight (3 cn) in the face when he checked me for glasses frames, but I still thought it formed part of my busy working life.
I had rheumatoid arthritis (very badly over a three months period) as a nineteen year old, but remained in remission thereafter a year in recovery. At 56 I woke up one morning and both hands were locked up. I thought I would never write another word!!….two diagnosis later by two specialists couldn’t explain the flare up, which normally wouldn’t have occurred once I’d reached 50 year of age…..I believe now it was a warning sign that my blood manufacture was out of whack because of the cancer, which was actually present in my body two years before discovery.
Just to make life interesting, I had two cancers diagnosed at the one time, and my abdomen was described to me as resembling a washing machine full of froth and bubble….Bowels lifted out and the machine was washed out of the cancers along with the bits and pieces…. I’ve been a very very lucky woman!
What lead me to an untimely month’s day in Cabrini was a burst cyst on my ovary which at the times was excruciating painful for a solid couple of hours (Sunday) until it settled to tolerable by the next afternoon (Monday) when I could get a 5 pm appointment. I had only turned to flush the toilet when it burst, but it probably saved my life.
One last symptom I had personally - was an obsessive need to bathe. I would be up at 3, 4 or 5 am in the morning running a bath before work. I would look at my swollen abdomen and think it was ‘getting potty’ in that area - I was so aware of it - and yet never really ‘worried about it!”….Once I was diagnosed, operated on and recovered, I never felt obsessive about the need for a bath. I enjoy the odd bath now, but don’t ‘feel the need’! I genuinely believe it was my sub conscious telling me that I had something bad in my body that needed ‘washing away’…A couple of doctors I tried explaining this phenomenon to, looked at me as it I was stark raving mad!….
The bottom line ladies is that you should always listen to your body - if you don’t think it feels right - get a second or even a third opinion! I had been to a specialist Gynecologist (practicing within Glen Eira) only two months before for a HRT abdominal implant, but unfortunately he failed his duty of care by forgetting to do an internal examination prior to the replacement being inserted!!! Needless to say, he ignored my letter of revelation when I eventually made it home….so ladies, you need to look and be aware of your own body’s messages! Don’t rely on doctors, even “specialists!”……
A study by the University of California showed that four out of 10 women actually spoke to their doctor about their symptoms between four months and a year prior to diagnosis.
Given the odds i can expect to develop cancer elsewhere in my body, and it is anticipated most likely in my bowel, breast or lungs….A year or so ago, I had a Melanoma removed from my back. I am one of those individuals who don’t believe you ’survive’ cancer, it merely goes on the back burner, turned down low….waiting! By the way! I’ve never smoked cigarettes either!
What we do with a time while we’re ‘waiting’ is the important thing about living your life!
Eleven years on, I am living proof that statistics can bypass you and the Russian roulette of life is nothing you can ultimately have any control over.
This sharing of personal information is my contribution to the Ovarian Cancer Awareness Campaign.