Ovarian cancer occurs when there are abnormal cells in one or both of your ovaries. They are the parts of your reproductive organs that make hormones and store eggs. There are many ways to treat ovarian cancer, including surgery or chemotherapy. People with ovarian cancer want you to be informed about this condition.
Ask questions and be your own lawyer.
Kate Welsford was only 19 years old when her first ovary was harvested for a low-malignancy tumor. These are tumors with certain cells that can become cancerous. Five years later, her doctors found another tumor in her
other ovary. “At that point, we were preparing to remove my only remaining ovary. And we wanted children, ”she says.
Today, Welsford and her husband have three children, ages 2, 6, and 8. But she says it would not have been possible to have biological children if she hadn’t had open and honest conversations with her doctor in her early twenties.
Welsford and her doctor decided to postpone the ovarian tumor surgery to do a round of ovarian stimulation. This allowed her to save her eggs so she could still have children.
“I think most of this whole trip for us was asking questions,” she says. “If we hadn’t asked what our future would be like, I don’t know if we would think about it right now [fertility] or pursue options. “
Early symptoms can be mistaken for something else.
Kate Thompson-Maher, a 66-year-old retired doctor, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer almost two years ago. She remembers symptoms like pelvic cramps, gas, the need to pee more often, nausea, and heartburn but never thought they were signs of ovarian cancer.
“They were so vague that I ignored them,” she says. “I attributed them to other things and completely ignored them.”
Thompson-Maher’s doctor later diagnosed her with early stage III ovarian cancer. She often wonders if her medical team would have noticed sooner if she noticed symptoms sooner.
This situation is common. Early ovarian cancer usually doesn’t have many warning signs, and advanced cancer symptoms are often mistaken for other conditions.
“We need to get the word out about the vague symptoms … don’t ignore them, let them look at them,” says Thompson-Maher.
Get a second opinion.
After strange symptoms like heart and body pain, 62-year-old Benita Dallas scheduled multiple appointments to narrow down the cause. Her doctor at the time took an ultrasound and eventually diagnosed
Dallas with ovarian cancer. Immediately thereafter, Dallas was hospitalized and said her forecast was bleak.
“I went through 12 days three times a day [doctors] I told myself I had Stage IV cancer and I was going to die. And that I had to put my affairs in order and there was nothing they could do for me, ”she says.
Dallas was determined to pass the odds and fight for their lives. She decided to get a second opinion from another doctor. Two days after a PET scan, she received a call from her second doctor saying that her prognosis was not as severe as the initial diagnosis suggested.
“I screamed for probably 2 minutes. It was like an out of body experience. I’ll never forget that, ”she says.
Dallas urges other people, especially those diagnosed with late-stage cancer, to speak to multiple doctors. “The second opinion changed my life.”
Ovarian cancer is an ongoing disease, but treatment is manageable.
Certain diseases such as ovarian cancer are not always curable. You may have to live with symptoms similar to diabetes or heart disease for the rest of your life.
But you can control your ovarian cancer with therapy. “Treatments now available will really put you in remission for periods of time when you are feeling normal. It’s not like you feel awful all the time, ”says Thompson-Maher.
In some cases, certain type of treatment may not work. But there are other options to explore as experts study new therapies all the time.
Take things one step at a time.
By juggling ovarian cancer surgery and future family planning at the same time, Welsford learned to take things slowly. “If you take it piece by piece and problem by problem, you can tackle that. But when you look at the ending, all of the things down the line that need to be done, it’s overwhelming, ”she says.
Find support in many forms.
Maintaining your mental health is an important part of ovarian cancer treatment. The good news is that there are several ways you can help alleviate anxiety or manage depression. Support groups can help you learn from other people who are going through similar things. You can also speak privately with a psychologist.
Dallas remains optimistic through her work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). She can help others, which means she can focus less on her own fears and more on the well-being of those around her.
It is crucial for them to stay positive in all parts of their life. She finds that reading funny material, watching comedies, and trusting a higher force keep her from sinking into negative thoughts. And her family, friends, and counselors help her find and maintain courage.
“As soon as you get up, you have to stay up. You have to be busy, “she says.” Mentally, I am now stronger than me. “
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SWELL:
Kate Welsford, woman with ovarian cancer, Yardley, PA.
Kate Thompson-Maher, woman with ovarian cancer, Port Orchard, WA.
Benita Dallas, woman with ovarian cancer, Baltimore.
Mayo Clinic: “Ovarian Cancer”.
National Cancer Institute, “Treatment of Low Malignant Ovarian Potential (PDQ) Tumors – Patient Version.”
Emory Healthcare: “Step 1: Stimulate the ovaries with fertility drugs.”
American Cancer Society: “Dealing with Cancer as a Chronic Disease.”
Cancer Commons: “New Treatments for Ovarian Cancer in 2020.”
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