Ovarian cancer is very difficult to diagnose.
Symptoms can be confused with other less life-threatening illnesses and usually don’t present until after the cancer is in its advanced stages. For example, I had a friend in nursing school who was very promiscuous. Despite rules forbidding visitors in the dorms after 9 PM, this sistah always found a way to sneak men into her dorm room at night.
The next morning in class, she regaled us with graphic details of her nightly romps with men. In our final year, her stories took on an ominous tone. She complained of sharp pain during sex, spotting and vague lower back pain. She attributed her heavy menstrual bleeding to her fibroids.
In our final year, she was diagnosed with aggressive ovarian cancer, and she passed away a few months after we graduated.
She was only 21-years-old.
Ovarian cancer is very difficult to diagnose in its early stages because there are usually no symptoms. Ovarian cancer is almost always difficult to treat once diagnosed.
94% of women diagnosed early live longer than five years, according to the American Cancer Society.
For more info on ovarian cancer, visit Cancer.org.
This has been your Medical Minute.
what a pic…i just finished eating lunch my damn lunch!
Sandra, thanks for the info!
Thanks for the med min. ….and the pic, thanks a lot!
NEXT!!!
I SAW MAXWELL LAST NIGHT AND HE PUT ON SHOW. TO ANYONE GOING TO HIS CONCERT, HE WAS ON TIME. HE GOT ON AT 8:30 AND WAS OFF AT 10:00PM. HE DID NOT SING ALL HIS HITS THOUGH.
BE ON TIME!!
MY MOM & HER SISTER ARE BOTH CANCER SURVIORS.
THEIR SISTER DIED FROM OVARIAN CANCER….
EVERYONE SHOULD MAKE SURE THEY GET TESTED EARLY.
Now, I need to find out how do they test for ovarian cancer.
Scary………but any sharp pains down there warrant a visit to the doctor.
BLACKBARBIE404 Says:
MY MOM & HER SISTER ARE BOTH CANCER SURVIORS.
THEIR SISTER DIED FROM OVARIAN CANCER….
EVERYONE SHOULD MAKE SURE THEY GET TESTED EARLY.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the reason we get our yearly checkup. I don’t know anyone who has/had it but my boss’s wife. She has been clean for about 3 yrs now. It was detected early.
Sorry about your friend Sandra -BUT are you saying you get ovarian cancer from being promiscuous?….I dont think thats the case..
Test include:
Blood Test called a CA-125, Biopsy or Ultrasounds.
@Terry .W, I believe what she is saying is that her friend may have had sharp pains during sex and thought nothing of it.
I am waiting on results to make sure i don’t have that right now. Damn I just balled when I read that.
@ Amulet…i guess I just thought it was a poor example! but I get it! – thx
this is sad. real scary from that pic.
i am with terry. so she caught ovarian cancer cause she was promiscuous? how you know she wasn’t working her neck muscles? she could been giving out mad head for all we know….
dag on that picture ain’t no joke! what prompted this sandra?? i am calling my gyn tomorrow! bright and early.
I read that certain bacterias may cause ovarian cancer also.
What is the correlation between your friend’s promiscuity and her death caused by ovarian cancer? Is there a direct medical link to sexual activity and ovarian cancer? If not I think it was just in bad taste that you’d bring that woman’s personal business into your medical minute, but then again maybe you feel like the women who read your blog wouldn’t be interested in reading about their health unless you add some sensationalism to the subject.
Maybe I missed something but what does being promiscuous in this story have to do with ovarian cancer?
PAGESINADIARY… My husband took me to Maxwell here is Houston last friday for my b-day… we were 3 rows from the front directly in the middle… I have to know if this was staged… Did he talk about women throwing their panties on the stage then magically a pair appears? He actually put them on the microphone and sang to them…LOL this was towards the end. But it was a GREAT show…
You know this is crazy because my sister just found out she has this and is set up to have an Hysterectomy, both ovaries and fallopian tubes removed. She first started by saying her back hurt then went to the doctor and her doctor said “lets just run a few test on your uterus and found out. She had a baby in Jan 08. and from then tell now was diagnosed…oh and she’s only 27 so ladies please go get checked even if you don’t think there’s a problem …I’ve always told my sisters “Since you’re paying for insurance use it because the time you go without makes it longer for you to know something is wrong…..LADIES SCHEDULE YOURSELF AN APPOINTMENT
@ PAGES
I’M GOING TONITE!!! SO EXCITED, AND PLEASE BELIEVE I WILL BE ON TIME!! =)
Jasmine Sullivan took an hour?? I’m surprised she was on that long.
I WILL REPORT IF THE PANTIES APPEAR TONITE!! I’M ON IT!! LOL!! =)
SORRY, @ HOUSTAR TOO!! =)
Thanks for the medical Minute .. just in from my annual .. Good News .. I’m healthy as a Mofo … Thank You Jesus and G-Momma for some HELLA lovely genes … lol
My co-worker is going through ki-mo right now yound girl only 31., Good thing her spirits are high.
Nurse Sandra,
Is this something that can be detected with your annual exam, or do you have to ask specifically to test for ovarian cancer?
Pap smears can detect abnormal or squamous epithelial cells.
Then you will have Colposcopy…with is a biopsy of abnormal cells…which in turn can also detect abnormal cells.
THEN THE NEXT procedure is a LEAP…you can google it
An annual pap smear is paramount ladies! As well as a breast exam!
purepisces.. yes please let me know… Also if it seems it is over and he walks off… Dont leave… Many did here and they missed an encore.
I won’t!! Will report tomorrow!! =)
Ielon Says:
You know this is crazy because my sister just found out she has this and is set up to have an Hysterectomy, both ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.
*******************************************
I’m truly sorry to hear that. I will pray that it was caught early
@ Divinebrown:
A pap smear can detect cervical cancer (cancer of the opening of the uterus) but not ovarian cancer which is difficult to diagnose even with ultrasound. It is usually not detected during a routine check up or annual exam, unfortunately.
A good doctor will run tests for ovarian cancer if you have a family history of ovarian cancer. That’s why it’s good to have a female doctor vs. a male. Also, if you have uterine fibroids, your doctor will test you for ovarian cancer since one diagnosis seems to coincide with the other.
There is no blood test to detect ovarian cancer, however if you do have fibroids just know that the blood test to detect some type cancer will come back elevated if you have fibroids/ovarian cyst. If you draw a ca 125 and have fibroids the test will be elevated that is why most doctors do not use that test unless they suspect a mass or a cyst that may indeed be a “mass” This test is not usually apart of the routine gyn exam and most insurance will not cover it just because. If your doctor does the Bi manual pelvic exam and feel a mass a pelvic/ transvaginal sonogram is ordered and if suspect they would back it up with a MRI and order the CA 125 blood test. I tell some of the girls don’t let no doctor go cutting on you unless it is very necessary. I see too many young women @ 32 with a Hysterectomy. (note the organs will be sent to pathology to make sure the surgery was indeed needed to back up the doctors notes on why they needed to perform the surgery to begin with)
HPV causes uterine cancer if not caught early. A lot of unprotected sex is the cause. For ex a young girl of 17 with HGSIL on her pap )is sleeping with a older much experience man, who has a lot of sex partners. She will require a LEEP or a cone biopsy. She is young and the virus which caused her pap to be abnormal will go away because she is under 30 but sleeping around with no protection will cause her to have many more abnormal paps. I have seen HPV on the outer vulva area which looks like a baby rash(pinkish) so the women just thinks she has a bad yeast infection.
prolapsed uterus is another problem i see in young women. When i see the uterus of a young women hanging out of her vagina more than 3 inches hanging that is a problem. Multiple vaginal birth sometimes would do it or pushing the wrong way in all the childbirths over the years.
mom died from cancer new years day :………it was misdiagnosed (far different from ovarian, she had multiple myeloma)they thought it was rheumatoid arthritis (her cancer messes up the joints)
im 27 and have a 4 yo daughter so i take advantage of my jobs insurance and we get checked for everything yearly! she died 8 months after her diagnosis
crystal Says:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanx for this important info. I just met a woman today who is 33 and has breast cancer. The problem in our society is “health care”. We need to see a doctor when we are not sick . This woman that I met will go through the chemo and the radiation and although she only has one breast that is the issue she is weighing her options and is considering a double (what I call amputation of her breasts). Because of other healh issues she does not have employee health insurance. She will not w/o out of pocket money be able to have breast reconstrucive surgery.
Someone mentioned having a woman doctor. I agree. I have encouraged my daughters to have a female doctor. I stil have the same male doctor for my family since my last child was born over 19 yrs ago. A male doctor does not have a “bed side manner”. I have girlfriends who have changed their family doctor to a female and their husbands are even happier. Men docs are like “wam bam thank you ma’am”. Women docs do ask if you have questions or concerns and will not worry about the next paitent waiting in a room for them. I went to a doctors appt and signed in and saw my neighbor was also there with the same appt time as me(with the same doctor. I did ask why? Male docs receptionist over book appts in case some don’t show up. This may be just my sterotype but if I am right this is unacceptable.
Back to the 33 yr old with breast cancer. I said don’t you get reg. exams. She said no but did a self exam and just put off going to the doctors. I asked her why. She said because she is taking care of her own mother. I said that we take care of so many ppl in our lives as woman that we forget to take care of ourselves. She agreed.
Woman, breast cancer can be prevented and we need to make sure we get our yearly exams. I remember many years ago setting a appt. at the heatlh dept. for my yearly exam(s). It did take me 6 weeks for my appt., but what was I to do but wait for my appt. date being at the time I did not have medical insurance. There are free clinics and sliding fee scale clinics. There is no excuse for us to die in record nunbers as woman due to lack of “no insurance”. We can get online and gossip and talk smack about a celeb. Let’s get online and do our own research to find affordable places to take care of our own health. Sorry for my rant but woman are not just the “backbone” in a household or family but this world. We have to be healthy to continue to be by the side of our male species. They will always need us, and they know it. It is we women who make them go to the doctors. Let’s start to “practice what we preach”.
Every women should do their breast exam once a month because we have our breast with us the most! not our boyfriends, or baby daddies. Us we should do them after our monthly cycle or if your not bleeding do it when the rent is due. If anything hard like a knuckle please bring it to the attention of your medical doctor (who is quick to send you to your) Ob/gyn doctor. Get to do it every month so when you feel a change you will know what is normal and what is not. Some breast feel cystic but once you get to know your breast then you will find what is a normal lump and what is not. Drinking lots of sodas teas,and Coffee will make your breast very cystic.
Cervical cancer, not ovarian cancer, can come from being too promiscuous, or in layman’s terms, being easy. Ovarian cancer is highly hereditary and often one of the hardest cancer’s to cure. I wish we fought cancer as hard as we fight wars. Peace.
PAGESINADIARY… My husband took me to Maxwell here is Houston last friday for my b-day… we were 3 rows from the front directly in the middle… I have to know if this was staged… Did he talk about women throwing their panties on the stage then magically a pair appears? He actually put them on the microphone and sang to them…LOL this was towards the end. But it was a GREAT show.
**********************************************************
@ HouStar: I was at the same concert and I was on the side where the woman came from with those panties. It was so staged. She had on pants so it wasn’t like she took them off and threw them on stage. I’m sure that was part of the act. But it was a fabulous concert.
*********************************************************
Back to the original post- What is that a picture of? And how does one get that type of picture? Very scary!