September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

I also ran this last year.  I plan to run this every year until a cure for Ovarian Cancer is found.  Thank you for your attention.

Twenty-three years ago this October, I was a typical High School senior.  I was 17 years old, having the best varsity swimming season of my life, was News Editor of our school’s paper, had been accepted to a prestigious University, and couldn’t wait to turn 18 and begin my life.

Of course, life is what happens when you are making other plans, says that age-old adage.

Life happened.  That breezy, balmy, beautiful October, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  The disease that the American Cancer Society says, 

“In women age 35-74, ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths. An estimated one woman in 58 will develop ovarian cancer during her lifetime. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2009, there will be 21,550 new cases of ovarian cancer and 14,600 women will die from ovarian cancer.

When one is diagnosed and treated in the earliest stages, the 5-year survival rate is over 90%. Due to ovarian cancer's non-specific symptoms and lack of early detection tests, only 19% of all cases are found at this early stage. If caught in stage III or higher, the survival rate can be as low as 30.6%. Due to the nature of the disease, each woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer has a different profile and it is impossible to provide a general prognosis.”  (Taken from www.ovarian.org)

Why do I tell you this?  September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.  There is no test for ovarian cancer, the signs and symptoms are so vague and so like “typical female complaints”, that the disease is often overlooked by women, and even scarier, by many physicians.  Ovarian cancer can affect any woman of any age.  In my 10 years of awareness work with the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (cited above), I got calls from mothers of two year old girls, seven year old girls and 11 year old girls.  Many women with a family history of ovarian cancer will have their ovaries removed but aren’t warned of a “half-sister” cancer, Primary Peritoneal Carcinoma,

“The removal of one's ovaries eliminates the risk for ovarian cancer, but not the risk for a less common cancer called Primary Peritoneal Carcinoma. Primary Peritoneal Carcinoma is closely rated to epithelial ovarian cancer (most common type). It develops in cells from the peritoneum (abdominal lining) and looks the same under a microscope. It is similar in symptoms, spread and treatment.” (www.ovarian.org)

Just in case you missed it, over HALF of the women diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year will DIE from it.

So, what are the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer?

“Ovarian cancer is difficult to detect, especially, in the early stages. This is partly due to the fact that these two small, almond shaped organs are deep within the abdominal cavity, one on each side of the uterus. These are some of the potential signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer:

• Bloating
• Pelvic or abdominal pain
• Trouble eating or feeling full quickly
• Feeling the need to urinate urgently or often

Other symptoms of ovarian cancer can include:

• Fatigue
• Upset stomach or heartburn
• Back pain
• Pain during sex
• Constipation or menstrual changes

If symptoms persist for more than two weeks, see your physician.” (www.ovarian.org)

Persistence of symptoms is the key.  If you do not feel right, go to an OB/Gyn and demand an examination.  A rectopelvic exam, along with a transvaginal ultrasound, and other diagnostic imaging tests are the only ways to find evidence of “something” wrong.  Only through early detection, diagnosis, and treatment can women survive this monster.  Without my early detection, diagnosis and treatment, I would most likely not be alive today to tell my story; and if I were, I would most likely not have had the ability to have my children according to my gynecological oncologist.

There is no blood test for ovarian cancer.  Often I talk with women that think the CA-125 blood test is the “ovarian cancer test”.  The CA-125 is simply a tumor marker.  Benign conditions such as pregnancy, endometriosis, uterine fibroids (a benign tumor), pancreatitis, normal menstruation, pelvic inflammatory disease, and liver disease that are detected by the CA-125 (www.medicine.net),

“Although CA 125 is a useful test in monitoring women who are being treated for ovarian cancer, a single CA 125 test is not considered to be a useful screening test for cancer. Some women with ovarian cancer (up to 20%) never have elevated CA 125 levels, while most women who do have elevated CA 125 levels do not have cancer. In fact, because CA 125 can be elevated in so many non-cancerous conditions, only about 3% of women with elevated CA 125 levels have ovarian cancer” (www.medicine.net)

I was one of the women for whom the CA 125 would never have read abnormal.  If a woman has a type of ovarian cancer that does cause elevations in CA 125, it can be an excellent tool for her gynecological oncologist to use to monitor her treatment.

A woman’s best defense against ovarian cancer is self-education, self-monitoring, and being an advocate for herself with her physician.  If she is not feeling herself and does not get the answer she needs from one physician, go to another and another until answers are found.  DO NOT DIS-COUNT THE FEELINGS OF DIS-EASE!

All too often, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month is usurped by Breast Cancer Awareness Month (which is in October).  Breast cancer is also a horrific disease that deserves awareness, but not to the cost of ovarian cancer.  While breast cancer affects more women each year (230,480 women according to the National Cancer Institute, www.cancer.gov), fewer women die from it (39, 520).  17% of women die from breast cancer, and over half, 67.7% actually, die from ovarian cancer, yet we almost never hear about ovarian cancer.

Why is this?  Awareness.  We cannot buy a yogurt or a bottled water without seeing a pink ribbon, but how many of you would know what a teal ribbon meant?

I am by no means belittling breast cancer; as an ovarian cancer survivor, I have much higher chance of developing it as the average woman (the opposite is true for breast cancer survivors and ovarian cancer, by the way.  See www.facingourrisk.org for more information the close relationship to breast and ovarian cancer).

What I am asking for is equal awareness.  Breast cancer has more cases diagnosed than ovarian cancer, breasts are visible to the general public whereas ovaries are not, there are tests to help detect breast cancer earlier and earlier (thank goodness!), and women are more empowered about breast cancer.

Help me raise awareness of ovarian cancer to equal that of breast cancer.  Wear teal as much as you can this month in support of ovarian cancer (and when people start to ask why you’re wearing it so much, or when they compliment you on the color tell them why you’re wearing it), wear teal ribbons, tie a teal ribbon on your car, tell your daughters, mothers, sister, aunts, nieces, cousins, friends, wives, girlfriends about ovarian cancer.  Point them toward some of the links I have posted here.  Help get the word out and slowly we will help all women all over the world learn about a silent, but deadly killer.