In shock

[Lisi251]

I just cant get the earlier post out of my mind(Silent Killer) I am hurt & angry at the same time for all you ladies
that are having to go through this.If the transvaginal us is the only way to detect this disease to me it should be as
routine as a pap & insurance without a doubt should cover this.
Am I missing something here?Call me naive but I really thought are paps were for this reason...
Cant something be done about this?Why is there procedures for early detection of breast cancer & not ovarian?
Someone please answer

Lisa

[wannasmile63]

This is all total madness. It is very clear that women need to be informed properly. At this stage I am being treated for ovarian cysts and waiting for surgery. Before they were found, I was twice given antibiotics (on seperate occasions) and pain meds, and told I PROBABLY had a UTI. Seems as soon as you tell a new GP you've had a hysterectomy, miraculously all your womens issues are over. If only this was true!!!!! The scarey part is I didn't even think of my ovaries myself, but I was just lucky to see a DR who seemed to pick it straight away, gave me a pethidine shot and called an ambulance. Would anyone know how to make a link with information all women should know, and maybe we could all add it to our social networking pages, facebook etc.

[Ramsay14]

As unbelievable as this sounds, my doctor said that even without a cervix OvCa survivors still need to have an annual PAP smear!  

[kim293]

I am new to the forum and have read your posts.  I just want to say that everything you ladies have said is so true.  My mother-in-law passed away two years ago from ovarian cancer.  What a shock!  She had been having issues with her stomach and was in Florida for six months and when she came home her Dr. couldn't find anything wrong and they ended up at University of Iowa hospital where she was diagnosed and seven moths later, she was gone.  I am nervous because I too just recently have been having pain in my right ovary.  I have had a vaginal ultrasound and a sonogram done.  I went again today for my second sonogram and will get the results on Monday.  The first time, nothing was detected but I am still having the pain.  My mother had breast cancer and I know now they are saying there could be a link.  This all makes me a nervous wreck!  I just had my annual pap and it came back good but my doctor felt that I shouldn't have the BRAC test done.  I am wondering if I should get the CA125 done just to be safe.  So, you are saying if there were anything there, a vaginal ultrasound or sonorgram should show?  Please give me some insight since this is all so new to me.  
Thank you,

Kim

[Lisi251]

I can only say how sorry I am to hear this.All day yesterday seemed to be a day
of shock for me.I plan to get more educated about this , write letters to goverment
officials,doctors & speak out in High Schools. I would love to hear any and all
other suggestions since I sadly had know ideal about any of this.

We should all try to rally together & maybe one day it wont be silent anymore.

Blessings
Lisa

[septembersun]

My daughter's OVCA was missed by a chief gynaecologist at our hospital.  After pains for 2. years she was given a hysteroscopy, whereby they have a look inside the womb.  Her ovaries were not checked at all! She was sent away with this tumour growing inside her and prescribed hormone tablets. 6 months later and in terrible pain, they finally did an ultrasound and found the tumour, now the size of a grapefruit. They removed the ovary and tumour and no further treatment. After biopsy, a rare ovarian cancer was diagnosed. This professional gynaecologist should be taken to task!

[wannasmile63]

I to always thought that it was pap smears that found this horrible disease, until I had my uterus and cervix removed 9yrs ago. I'll never forget the nurse raving on about how great it will be for me now I don't have to have annual pap smears!! I asked her how will I know if I ever got OVCA, and she just said, "believe me you'll know", and that was the end of it. Well I just want to yell at her, " thanks for the lack of information, and maybe in the future, be a bit more specific". I have just spent the last 9 yrs with her so called "words of wisdom" in my head, and have only just realised, I've got no idea.
Maybe part of the medical professions training could include coming on to informative sites like this one, and reading real peoples stories, and what the total lack of awareness can cause to all these beautiful women. I agree its all about breast cancer and prostate cancer awareness in the media, and more needs to be done. Sadly, the words, silent killer, are making more sense, everyone wants to keep silent about it.

[Lisi251]

You are so right about the cost etc.I am so happy you are educating women about
this the world is a better place because of people like you & I am sure you save lives
along your way.
I am glad you let me know about the pain when you ovulate thing.I guess educating
ourselves is the key & educating others as well.

God Bless You
Lisa

[nyc lady]

There is no test that will diagnosis this disease.  A sonogram in concert with a CA125 and maybe even a CT Scan will let the doctor know that surgery is required.  While in most later stages, the trained eye can pretty much be confident in knowing if someone has cancer, technically the only way to diagnosis this disease is by having the actual tumor biopsied.

As I have always said, we need a mammogram for our ovaries.   When I do seminars about the signs of OvCa....I always encourage women to tell their OB/GYNs that they have pain when they ovulate...this way they will do a sono as it is not part of a routine visit and if there is anything there, at least it can be watched and monitored.  The price of a sonogram is nothing compared to the cost of treatment, etc for a cancer patient.

[Burnzie]

Hi again Lisa,
I just posted after you on the "silent killer" post so you can refer to that but I'll add this.
Right now the stats in Canada are 1 in 9 women will get breast cancer in their lifetime.  With ovarian it is 1 in 68.  This is still high, but its still a numbers game. We are that much farther behind  the breast cancer people.  Anatomically and historically speaking, I don't think that ovarian was diagnosed much in the past because by the time the person got sick it had spread to other areas and diagnostics weren't what they are today even.
Karen