thanks to you all for doing your duty

[SimplyStar]

thanks to you that do answer these posts, you know who I mean, and you know why I am posting this.  All OVCA starts out with a cyst, the initial scare is there for all of you. To the 95% of you that will never have to face OVCA, I say congratulation, to the other ones I say, find out all you can and know that you are not alone in your fight.

[Neta100]

Thanks for your advice, I'll ask him. That's why I have done so much research trying to find out something else, since I don't feel sick or have had any symptoms (urinary incontinence, severe pain, menstrual alterations, etc.).  

Take care,

Neta

[Sandymac]

I just read not too long ago that infections can cause the CA125 to rise. Did you ask your doctor about this ? Hopefully that is the reason .. Please keep us posted,

Take care,
Sandy

[Sharon2714]

awesome article .. i wish i had paid attention sooner as well
i beat myself up about frequency and incontinence for so long
i beat myself up over bloatiness and tiredness for so long ....
i had a primary care doc who filled in for my regular doc tell me
i was gaining weight because i ate too much (i couldn't understand that
because i actually ate less than my children)

thank god in heaven the beatings are over LOL

i cant find a connection anywhere but i am curious ....
have anybody found a connection anywhere about cyst growth
and an increase in cholesterol ??

i have taken zocor forever (i had high chol since early 20's and i was
a Marine then and in the best physical shape of my life) ... about 2 years ago
the zocor stopped working my chol shot up to 290!

i am thinking these guys in my tummy started about then cause i had
a normal pelvic exam last year

thanx for listening
U all are God's warriors
sharon

[TrudieC]

Today I was watching the CBC news here in Canada and they reported on a recent study that combined symptoms and a CA-125 test to help diagnose.  Here is the link to the story http://www.cbc.ca/cp/HealthScout/080623/6062329AU.html.  My husband commented on how the symptoms matched what I had before surgery.  My belief is that if we pay attention to the symptoms and force our doctors to do so too we can help to identify the disease better in its earlier stages.

[Neta100]

Since I was told that I probably had ovarian cancer, I started doing research in the net and talking to doctors.  For what I have found out it's that the CA - 125 is used mostly to see how a woman has responded to the treatment and in premenopausal woman can be elevated for other reasons like endometriosis, menstrual period, problems in the liver, bleeding cysts and other inflammations in the abdomen.  But in this group, a transvaginal ultrasound and a CT or MRI can help to have a more clear vision about what is going on.  What really determines if it's cancer or not is the biopsy and it's true that bloating, constipation and gaining weight can be lead the doctor or specialist to another problem, but women should be checked regularly.

I have had ovarian cysts for several years and in January, when they did a transvaginal ultrasound, they found out that the ones on the left ovary had grown more than normal and that there was a septum.  They ran the CA marker and it came elevated so my oncologist told me that I need to get operated.  I haven't been operated due to persistent urinary infections, but I need to have the operation.

Reading articles on the net can help a lot, but every case is different and all women and many times they get the wrong information.

Of course, I am no doctor.  I am just a registered Nutritionist who along the way has had to find out about the possibility of having OVCA.  I have worked with cancer patients who have been treated with a vaccine to improve their immunological response to cancer.  It's not specific for any type of cancer.  The vaccine was first applied to an American who had prostate cancer and in the U.S. they didn't offer him any kind of treatment.  So he came to Guatemala and was treated with this vaccine and thanks to it, he survived almost 10 years.  He was a great man and a fighter, and thanks to a vaccine he was able to have a better quality of life.

To everyone out there who is in this dilemma if they or they don't have cancer, get regularly checked even if there isn't a history of cancer running in the family.

Best wishes.

Neta

[Sandymac]

This article is from the American Cancer Society Web site. .. I know that a lot of Drs use this test (for which I am glad) but it should not be totally relied upon for the reasons mentioned below.. especially for premenopausal women. Too many things can throw the results "off".. It is really only supposed to be used for those already diagnosed with the disease rather than a diagnostic tool..There have been ladies with cancer with a low CA-125 and some with higher CA-125 have benign conditions.. But guess the test is better than nothing...

CA-125 Tests

Email:
This email says women should demand a CA-125 test for ovarian cancer each year. It quotes a woman who says her ovarian cancer had been overlooked when it was misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome. The writer says she insisted on more tests and had a CT scan that revealed fluid in her abdomen, at which point her doctor ran a CA-125 blood test and her level came back at a highly elevated 754. The email says: "This is an inexpensive and simple blood test. Please tell all your female friends and relatives to insist on a CA-125 blood test every year as part of their annual exam. Don't take 'No' for an answer. If I had known then what I know now, we would have caught my cancer much earlier before it was Stage 3!"



Fact:
Debbie Saslow, PhD, director of breast and cervical cancer for the American Cancer Society, says CA-125 protein levels in the blood can be measured as a marker for ovarian cancer, but should not be used to screen for the disease. “The test is not appropriate for routine screening because of its poor accuracy; there are some harmless reasons CA-125 levels can be elevated, and not all women with an ovarian tumor will have an increased level,” she said.
"Testing is recommended for women at very high risk, such as those with a family history of the disease," she added. The CA-125 blood test is routinely used for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer to measure their response to treatments, as well as to watch for recurrence.

Additional Resources

[Sharon2714]

i agree totally

like i said ... aunt alice had a 20lb tumor removed and is gone now
she never passed on her knowledge to anyone about the potential for OVCA
ladies from her generation couldn't even talk about pregnant without blushing
knowledge is the ability to have power over illness

you are a wonderful mom and i pray for u and ur daughter
sharon

[SimplyStar]

Regarding the cyst forum, while I think it is a great idea, I do have a problem with it, If my daughter had been the one to come on here to the cyst forum or to the other forum {OVCA}with her problems,  in the beginning it was told to her that cysts are a normal function and that she should wait and see how it was next period. This she did,  and after 5 trips to her GYN doctor, that had delivered all 3 of her girls, told her that it could be one of many things, never a mention of OVCA,  It took me, her mother, to come to the OVCA forun and ask the important questions, I am the nurse, my daugther is not, she didn't understand what was going on with her,  Then she went to another doctor and 4 days later was getting operated on, stage 3,  I do not want to see another woman going through this,  would her cysts been passed over as nothing to worry about,  be very insistant that ALL women see their doctors and tell them to RULE OUT OVCA.  that is something any doctor can do with the right knowledge nowdays. Ordering a TVUS, a good internal exam and the CA125.  If it is just a cyst, thats great, but just the slight chance it is OVCA, lets help them catch it early enough to make a difference.  My daughter would probably have been stage 1 had this been done correctly.

[Sandymac]

Regarding the CA-125 ; isn't it also true though that the results are not necessarily accurate especially in premenopausal women? I've been told that the reason they are not used routinely is that there are too many other reasons for an elevated CA-125. In my case, being post menopausal, a little more attention was paid to it. Also, a lot of women don't respond well to the test.. some who have ovca have a low ca-125. And conversely, there are those with high Ca-125 with no cancer.
When I asked my Dr. why it was used at all, the answer was "it's all we have at this time, but by no means, 100% reliable.".. Just wanted to clarify..

Sandy

[Sharon2714]

bless you

i am in the cyst stage of life right now as are others i bonded with here
best part of today is that i found out i dont hafta beat myself up if i didnt
get the laundry done

i never even heard of cysts til a week or so ago and i am 42

ty for helping me .. please read my post about my docs visit today under
ovarian adenomas

thaks for being here
prayerfully
sharon

[SimplyStar]

- Results of a new study support the theory that adding specific symptoms with a blood test can accurately diagnose a woman's ovarian cancer.

The study was published by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, who state that by combining a certain blood test with a woman's symptoms such as abdominal cramping and feeling bloated, the likelyhood of making a correct ovarian cancer diagnosis is high.

The blood test looks for the presence of CA 125, which is the name of a protein that is found in large amounts in ovarian cancer patients.

The study featured more than 250 healthy women at high risk of developing ovarian cancer, comparing them to 75 patients who were about to undergo ovarian cancer surgery.

When both detection methods - symptoms plus blood tests were used, the detection percentage of ovarian cancer was more than 90 percent.

By being able to detect the presence of ovarian cancer in its early stages, the researchers say that treatment options are much better and so is the survival chances.

The American Cancer Society estimates that each year in the US more than 21,000 cases of ovarian cancer are reported.



I put this here because I know that some of the women that post here are afraid of having OVCA, I want to show them that there is an early detection  method of finding that out, and if  it is OVCA, the earlier that it is caught the better it can be taken care of.