PSA

[lolaraincoat]

Fifteen months ago -- as some of you may recall -- I lost a beloved colleague and friend to ovarian cancer that was detected (as most cases are) too late to save her, but not too late to put her through four torturous years of chemo, fear, pain, weakness and wasting before she died. I miss her every day.

This NY Times article goes into some detail about the results of a new study about the possibility of early detection of ovarian cancer. It says that the symptoms to watch for are bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly and feeling a frequent or urgent need to urinate. A woman who has any of those problems nearly every day for more than two or three weeks is advised to see a gynecologist, especially if the symptoms are new and quite different from her usual state of health.

It also warns that doctors may try to convince women that it's all in our heads, or that these are menopause symptoms. If you have these symptoms, please, be stubborn: insist on a full pelvic/rectal workup, including transvaginal ultrasound. These are cheap and essentially painless interventions that can save your life. And the difference between early and late detection is a matter of two or three months, so don't dawdle and don't let your doctor dawdle either.

I don't want to have to miss you, too.

Comments

[laurelwood.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much for this; I didn't know about any of those symptoms as being warning signs. I consider myself fortunate that my OB/GYN is possibly the ONLY medical professional who I can be sure wouldn't ever give me the "It's all in your head" song and dance.

I think about E. every time I see a post of yours. Her battle with this wretched disease and your steadfast friendship and support throughout are going to stay with me for a long time.

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I didn't know about any of this until this morning, either - it's a new study. Although now that they mention it, I can remember E. three or four months before she was diagnosed complaining about, yes, bloating and abdominal pains. If she'd gotten checked three months earlier ... well, damnit.

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

I saw this in the Times this a.m. and have been freaking out ever since. It's so... vague.

The stats about how many women were misdiagnosed and sent away at first complaint were really .... argh.

& still sorry about E. :(

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the stats are horrifying. This study should help change that, especially because the first tests it recommends are cheap and side-effect-free.

I'm trying not to freak out. This is, essentially, good news: now we have a tool to make doctors take "female complaints" more seriously. Often people do know when something is seriously wrong - E. did - so this will help them either get reassurance or get the earliest possible diagnosis.

Plus, to me the two or three weeks clause makes the list of symptoms precise enough to be reassuring. Or anyway that's my rationalization.

This will undoubtably push a lot of women into doctors' offices this week, which will be annoying for the doctors, but oh well. Still a good thing overall, says I.

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's a good thing. I've just suddenly reached a point of health-fretting in the last year or two after half a lifetime of having more actual health problems than panics.

..

[whorlpool.livejournal.com]

Those symptoms cover other conditions, too, so I wouldn't automatically assume that they signal ovarian cancer. But definitely, good advice not to let a doctor convince you anything's in your head. Any doctor who tries to push unusual symptoms into the overarching category of "menopause" is a doctor who needs to be abandoned for, at the very minimum, a good second opinion.

Re: ..

[lolaraincoat.livejournal.com]

Yes, the article goes on to detail some of the more common conditions that these can also be symptoms of - notably, our friend the UTI. But it's a huge leap forward just to have anything like a checklist of symptoms to watch for, even though most people with these symptoms will not have ovarian cancer at all.

[spare-change.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting the PSA. Although I have to admit I'm a bit befuddled by this. These symptoms have been long known to be markers of ovarian cancer. Is it just a question of publicizing them, and forcing doctors and patients to take them more seriously? That's certainly important, but it's nonetheless weird for this to be presented as "new" information.

I should also add, though, that by the time a woman has symptoms, no matter how vague, the ovarian cancer will have already progressed quite a bit. That's one of the many things that makes it so deadly.

Yearly CA-125 tests and transvaginal ultrasounds are a good idea for anyone at risk. As is getting your ovaries removed once you're done using them.

posting uncaffeinated

[spare-change.livejournal.com]

Just to clarify: I meant it was weird for the NYT and the medical researchers to be presenting this as new information; not for you to be posting about it. ;)