Pinktober

It’s October, and everyone know what that means.  The color pink is everywhere, it’s goal to raise money for breast cancer research, or so many people think.  Actually, only 20.9% of it’s annual budget goes to research, while 39.1% goes to Public Health Education.  Really?  Is there anyone over the age of 10 that doesn’t know what Pinktober stands for?  And perhaps most shocking is the fact that a paltry 5.6% goes to treatment.

While I realize that breast cancer is devastating to any women who find themselves faced with it, I’d like to point out something that most people DON’T know.  September is Ovarian Cancer Research month.  Our color is teal.  Do you see that displayed on products you buy, are you asked by any cashier, anywhere if you’d like to donate to Ovarian Cancer Research?

Ovarian cancer strikes a smaller proportion of women annually, approximately 22,000 women in the US will be diagnosed each year.  And even if detected early, the disease is most often deadly.  There is no screening for early detection.  It is often not detected by an annual exam and pap smear.  It’s symptoms generally mimic gastrointestinal problems and is often misdiagnosed as such until it has progressed to late stage.  I know this because it happened to me.

Know the symptoms, which are often diagnosed as IBS or urinary disorders:

• Frequent urgent need to urinate
• Changes in bowel habits
• Quickly feeling full when eating
• Abdominal cramping, hardness, and bloating
• Lower back pain or abdominal pain

And the next time someone asks you if you want to donate to Breast Cancer, go ahead and donate if your feel the need, but you might also ask them why they don’t recognize that September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and why don’t they publicize and support that?  Because for the sake of all women, everywhere, awareness is key.  Research is key.  The right treatment is key.  And the only way to turn the key and unlock the mystery of this disease is by calling as much attention to it as is called to breast cancer.

It whispers!

Ladies, please take a minute to visit:  

http://www.whyteal.org/

September is National Ovarian Cancer Month.  

So much is known about breast cancer. We are all reminded about mammograms and early detection.  Seems like very few know about ovarian cancer:  the cancer that whispers.   Educate yourself so that you have a stronger voice when you visit your doctor with concerns.  I had g.i. issues.  I was told it was IBS, I was told it was diverticulosis, I was told it was acid reflux.  Actually, both doctors were wrong.  This story of misdiagnosis is all too common.  Seems like way too many doctors don't recognize the symptoms either. It was ovarian cancer.  When your inner voice is telling you they are missing something, make them hear you!

Yes, really.

Hello to all who end up reading this blog.  I created this two months ago, and haven't been able to post since I set it up.  Not because I've been feeling sick, but I think mostly because I felt that if I wrote about it, then it would become real.  Guess it finally hit me that it IS real, and now that I have faced that, I may as well write about it.  People say journaling is therapeutic.  We'll see.

My journey with this beast, which is my name for ovarian cancer, began in January, 2011.  I just didn't feel right. And my stomach was bloated, as in "I look 7 months pregnant" bloated. I kept pointing that out, but nobody seemed all that concerned about it.  After too -many-to-remember visits to my g.p., and a gastroenterologist, a colonoscopy, blood work, etc., I was given several diagnosis'.  IBS, acid reflux, diverticulosis, stress, IBS, a hiatal hernia, stress, IBS, acid reflux, stress.  You get the picture.  I knew that what my body was exhibiting, and what I felt in my gut were two completely different things, but the docs didn't seem to be listening.  I do believe my doctors were beginning to consider me a complete hypochondriac, which I actually even considered myself a few times.  Until I went to the ER one night in extreme pain trying to pass a kidney stone.  The ER doctor took one look at me (well, really at my stomach) and said "Whoa....let's get a cat scan here."  Yay, someone was finally paying attention!  And the result of that attention was "you have ovarian cancer, most likely stage IV."  HUH?  Even though I was dubious, really dubious, when the other docs kept telling me IBS, stress, etc........I never expected that diagnosis.  The symptoms just didn't feel at all related to any 'female' disorder.

Thus the reason for this first post.  Ladies, KNOW the symptoms of ovca:  http://ovariancancer.jhmi.edu/symptoms.cfm  If any of them persist for more than two weeks, see your doctor, take the list of the symptoms with you and make them prove to you it's NOT cancer.  There is a wealth of "pink" information out there, but not much "teal" (the color for ovca) information.  And while your chances of developing ovca are much slimmer than developing breast cancer, the former is much more difficult to diagnosis (a pap smear doesn't do it) and treat, and much more difficult to survive.  So please, take a minute to know the symptoms, because there is no test for it, no billboards, no marathons (well, there are marathons, but unless you have the disease you're not likely to know about them). It is called the disease that whispers, and it definitely is that.  Unfortunately, my story of diagnosis is not much different from thousands of other women with this disease, which is why the majority of those diagnosed with this are already in late stage.

I will probably post more later, but my main objective right now is to get the word out to as many women as I can.  It really is that important.

~cat