If you, or someone you know has been diagnosed with a gynecological cancer, please educate yourself as much as you can!  Doctors don't always know the best answer for you!  Find as many resources you can about your disease.  Ask as many questions as you need to!  Don't be intimidated because you are talking with a doctor.  If there is something wrong with you, and you can sense this, don't stop trying to find out what it is!  Press your doctor to find answers.  Know what questions to ask, and know what tests would be beneficial in finding or ruling out cancers that affect women.  (Men also need to be persistant)!  The symptoms are very subtle, (but they are there), they are not bad until the cancer has progressed to a later stage (sometimes by then, it is too late).  Your chances of overcoming and surviving this cancer is far greater when diagnosed early.  Learn what the symptoms are!  (Go to www.ovarian.org for a list of symptoms). Some of the symptoms include:

 

Painful intercourse

Pelvic or abdomninal pain and discomfort

Vague, but persistent gastrointestinal upsets such as gas, nausea and indigestion

Frequency and/or urgency of urination in absence of an infection

Unexplained weight gain or loss

Pelvic and/or abdominal swelling, bloating and/or feeling of fullness

Ongoing unusual tiredness and fatigue

Unexplained changes in bowel habits

 

 BE YOUR OWN GREATEST ADVOCATE!!!  IF YOU FEEL THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG, IT JUST MIGHT BE!  KEEP GOING TO THE APPROPRIATE PROFESSIONAL.  Please see a gynecologist for a diagnosis and/or referral to a gynecological oncologist.  I went to a family practice doctor over and over again for two or three years with several symptoms.  I was told that I was just depressed.  "Go see a psychiatrist", was what he finally told me.  After that, I felt foolish going back in.  When I looked about 8 months pregnant, (due to a build up of what they call ascites fluid because of the ovarian cancer), my husband finally threateded that he would make the appointment if I didn't.  I went in and still they misdiagnosed me.  They gave me a prescription to treat me for giardia, a parasite that dogs can carry, gave me a pregnancy test, and a pelvic exam with the camera scope and told me to wait.  I was feeling so horrible by this time, that I looked up my symptoms on the Mayo Clinic's web site.  What came up shocked me, and I never once thought that it could be cancer, but all of my symptoms were typical of uterine and ovarian cancer.  I told my husband that I needed to go to the hospital, and that I needed to go NOW!  I collapsed when I got there.  After that, what happened is a blur.    

 

Several Doctors came in to look at me.  One just kept on crying.  Another one told me that this was bad and that I was dying.  A doctor told my husband that I was deathly ill and would never leave the hospital. 

 

If your doctor does think that it is uterine or ovarian cancer, please make sure that your doctor is a Gynecological Oncologist ( the top surgeon for gynecological cancers).  If you have ascites fluid build up, do not let them perform a paracentesis (draining of the fluid) until after your surgery.  Draining prior to surgery can actually spread your cancer.   Ask your doctor if he or she will send the tumor tissues out for resistance testing.  There is a lab in Tustin, California called Oncotech, which will test your diseased tissue with different chemotherpy agents to see which one will be most effective in fighting your particular cancer.  If your doctor does not do this, get one who will!  You may only have one chance to beat this disease.  My first doctor did not do this.  I guess the standard treatment is to go with what they call First Line Chemotherapy.  This is a combination of drugs called Carboplatin and Taxol.  Since my doctor did not send out my tissue to be tested in the first place, my cancer progressed and I had several more large tumors even with four sessions of chemotherapy.  It is extremely important that your tissue is tested for the right chemo agents.  It is extremely important to have the right Gynecological Oncologist.  IT MAY EVEN SAVE YOUR LIFE!!!  I am blessed that I was able to find a Gynecological Oncologist here in Florida, who did a second look surgery, had my tissues tested and gave me the right combination of chemotherapy drugs.  I am now in remission.  REMEMBER, THIS IS A FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE...  EDUCATE YOURSELF, IF YOU HAVE TO EDUCATE YOUR DOCTOR, DO IT, OR FIND SOMEONE ELSE WHO WILL GIVE YOU THE PROPER TREATMENT. 

 

 

 

Thank you

Kimberly