OVC and dismissive doctor ...

[GiddyUpGo]

Hello ladies, hope someone has some advice for me.

I know that ovarian cancer is very difficult to diagnose because it has such vague symptoms. I also know that the earlier it is caught the greater the chances are of survival. So, at what point does one cross over from paranoia to genuine reason for concern?

My doctor was very dismissive when I went to him complaining of chronic pelvic pain. I'm I am 37 years old and about two months ago I started experiencing constant, dull abdominal pain, usually on the right side but sometimes on the left. About a month ago my doctor did a very brief ultrasound and he said my ovaries looked fine and that he thought the pain was just scar tissue from the c-section I had five months ago. This doesn't make any sense to me because the pain feels so similar to what I experience when ovulating, except that it is constant.

So he says I'm fine, don't worry, but I know that OVC doesn't always show up on an ultrasound and now one month later the pain is still there but starting to feel sharper. I'm worried that if I go for a second opinion that doctor will be just as dismissive, since my symptoms aren't really that severe. If the best way to diagnose OVC is with surgery, doesn't it seem a bit extreme to recommend surgery for someone who is having vague abdominal pain ... but if it *is* OVC and I don't get it diagnosed, won't that mean I'll be waiting for stage III or IV for a diagnosis and thus decrease my chances of survival?

Or maybe I really am just being paranoid about nothing (as my doctor seems to think)?

Another question: since I had a c-section five months ago, would my doctor necessarily have paid any attention to my ovaries at that time and if so can I assume my current problems aren't OVC just based on that?

Thank you in advance ....

[Rebecca_1968]

I have ovarian 3c cancer.What got me to the hospital was this pain that feels like ovulating,It was there for about 10 days and iwas was also bloated from the ascites.I did a ca-125 that came back at 885.I did a ct scan and that is where they found it,it was all over up to the surface of my liver.In the ultrasound my ovaries looked fine.
Go see another doctor for a second opinion and push for a scan.
They say ovarian cancer happens to older women,well I was 38.
Good luck,
Rebecca

[momofsandj]

I had a dismissive doctor too for a while --- I had screening ultrasounds for years because my sister died of OvCa and when I switched to this doctor because of insurance reasons he poohppohed the whole thing because of false positives and then said he woudl "humor me" and let me have them if "it will make you feel better" ---- He had to eat his words when eventually my regular doctor found the cancer on a CA125 during my normal physical --- Needless to say I ditched the dismissive doc and now only see doctors that will work with me --- My sympathies --- but don't panic until you have a second opinion because there's always the chance that the first doctor is right and you are not growing cancer ---- and when they do a C section, the last thing they are looking at is your ovaries.....Good Luck

[StillFighting]

So, at what point does one cross over from paranoia to genuine reason for concern?
when the DR tells you, you have cancer. why sweat it until then?

If you feel your Dr is being to flippant about all this, then get another Dr. This is YOUR LIFE and its up to you to help take responsability for it.

from what you have described, it doesn't sound like ovca to me.
ovca symptoms include the following

rapid weight change.
Bloated stomach
feeling to full after you have eaten very little.
wanna sleep all the time
no energy

[Mary 53]

Hi,

Thanks to Dawnlyn I heard there was a post in need of information on BodyRolling....Thanks Dawnlyn.

I hope you find this helpful. You might want to print it out. Certainly check with your doctor before doing this aggressive type of massage. For me this was a life saver.
********************************************************************************
Here is my information on Adhesions, which in my case were horrible...for about 2 years I suffered and they started after my radical hysterectomy (started about 3 months after) and were discovered during a colonoscopy, which made that procedure very uncomfortable...otherwise it would not have been too bad.

I put updated info at the bottom just verifying that this really did work (for me at least!)....hoping this helps.

Mary**********************************************************************************************************************************************************
The woman who taught me how to do this is an Exercise Instructor. She said that one reason she wanted to learn this was so that she could teach elderly people how to do it since some of our insides "glue together" as we age and that this releases much of the gluing because of all the blood, thus oxygen, it brings to the area.

In my case, I had a total hysterectomy in 2000 and suffered from surgical adhesions for about a year. The pain from the adhesions started about three months post-op. This technique seems to break up the adhesions and it worked for me.  I figured that if it worked for adhesions that formed naturally in our body, it should work for surgical adhesions. It did!

It is truly amazing. I noticed a HUGE difference immediately. When I sat up after the fist time I did this (about a 15 min. session) I could feel a "FLOOD" or a Rush of blood or something! going to that area. After having pain about 40 times an HOUR for over a year and a half after my surgery, my pain decreased to only about 10 times a DAY for a few seconds at a time. I did this procedure again about a week after the first one and that gave me even more relief. I think it was about four months til I had to do it again. Now I do it about once a year, if that. I have been virtually pain free, ,aside from a dull ache now and then, from adhesions since learning this technique.

The idea is you want to get the blood to the bone, not just the muscle....so it floods the tendons and gets lots of oxygen there to start healing and breaking up the adhesions.

**My instructor told me to think of a steak and how the tendon is sort of splotchy with blood where it is attached to the bone...well, you want to get the blood totally to the bone so as to really break things up. Regular massage is not "deep" enough.


The ball I used measures 16 inches. Again, though, I did not get the ball thru the website (Bodylogic.com) but you can go there and check it out if you want. The website is all about body rolling and about the woman (her name is Yumana and I think she is from Russia) who developed the technique. Anyway, I got just an ordinary ball in a toy section at Target and it looked similar to the one the instructor had used. The ball I have has a picture of Blues Clues on it! Hey, it works. It probably is bigger than the ones they recommend, but, if you think about it, it is squishy to the point where once all my weight is on it, it probably shrinks down to about ten inches. And, I just put my "front" onto the ball for the pelvic pain and not my back.

-------------------------------------
Here is how I did it...leaning my body wt. into it, literally placing the ball underneath me and "rolling" on it...slowly.

I would lay on the pubic bone and then take about four minutes or so to SLOWLY (while remembering to take deep breaths now and then) work my way out to the right side where the ovary once was on that side. After you get there, go back slowly to the pubic bone...breathe deeply. When you get to the pubic bone again, then go to the other side, following a path, if you will, of where you imagine the falopian tube once was. So, you are rolling in something like a "V" formation. After you get to the left side where the ovary once was, then go back to the pubic bone...and, you are done. But, take about 15 minutes to do the whole procedure.

**********************Udated information....August 2007***********************

At first I did this technique twice in two weeks. Then I had to do it about once every two months or so...then about once a year. When my doctor did the laparscopy on me in June,07 (hoping to find adhesions so we could figure out why I have been having pain, which they now think is from a ruptured disk) he was shocked at how "clean" my insides were. He said he actually consulted another doctor about it. He said that you always see evidence of any type of abdominal surgery no matter how invasive the surgery. And, since I had such a huge surgery back in 2000, he expected to see some type of adhesion debries...but did not see anything. A great testimonial to Body rolling!


I always suggest checking with the doctor. I am not a doctor, just a person miserable from the pain of
adhesions.

It does hurt a little while you are doing it, that is for sure, since you are initially pressing on the pubic bone with all the weight you can manage to put on the ball. And then you roll slowly to where the ovaries once were and yes, it is not the most pleasant feeling, but it is a "good hurt" if you know what I mean.

Simply Star has talked about using a Medicine ball for this procedure...but not the hard type. You would use the type of Medicine ball that is "squishy." I bought one and find and so far have loaned it out to a few friends who have suffered from Adhesions. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

Mary

[dawnlyn]

If you do not feel comfortable with doctor or is dx you should go for a second opinion.  Surgical adhesions can be painful.  There is a technique to break them up it involves rolling on a ball.  There is a lady on here Mary 53 who is better able to explain this technique.  Hopefully she will see this post and answer any questions you would have on this technique.  

I wish you the best of luck

Hugs,
Dawnlyn

[ellie72]

My advice since my diagnosis, i would be push and get a second opinion, because it most probably isnt OVC, but you need to find out why you have this pain.

There are many reasons for havng pelvic pain, and I guess you know that, i was stage 1 and my symptoms were different to yours, but i would always try to get to the bottom of the problem.
Good luck
Helen