meka
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Posts: 164
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Post by meka on Mar 30, 2006 21:43:07 GMT -5
I'm wondering (because I don't have the energy to look it up myself right now) what are the different symptoms of ovarian cancer. I think it was erzulie on another board that mentioned how the symptoms of ovarian cancer and endo are similar. What are the similarities and differences? I refused a laparoscopy, but I just assumed that I have endo because I have all the symptoms. The doctor wouldn't (of course, couldn't) confirm the endo without the lap. She said it's possible that it could be ovarian cancer. I guess I'm not worried because my pain symptoms are sooo cyclical. (But then, I guess anything having to do with the ovaries would be. )
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Post by erzulie on Apr 2, 2006 14:01:23 GMT -5
Sorry to take so long in responding. Here is what I found on the web: From this website: www.aicr.org.uk/ovariancancer.stm?source=AdwordsThere are few clear symptoms of ovarian cancer. Typically it can cause pain in the abdomen, a feeling of being bloated, fatigue, weight loss, or problems with urination. However, these can all be caused by a number of other diseases. This makes it difficult to diagnose ovarian cancer by symptoms alone. And from this website: www.emedicine.com/med/topic1698.htm * The signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer are nonspecific. Most patients present with symptoms of several months' duration. * Symptoms include the following: o Abdominal/pelvic pain o Vaginal bleeding o Bloating o Abdominal distension o Irregular menses o Change in bowel habit Physical: * Physical findings are uncommon in patients with early disease. * Patients with more advanced disease present with the following: o Ovarian or pelvic mass o Ascites o Pleural effusion o Abdominal mass or bowel obstruction And from this website: www.ovarian-news.org/aboutovariancancer.htmlDo you recognize some of the common symptoms of ovarian cancer? * Pressure or bloating in your abdomen * Constant and progressive changes in bowel or bladder patterns * Persistent digestive problems * Ongoing excessive fatigue * Abnormal bleeding * Pain during inercourse Ovarian cancer symptoms are often subtle and easily confused with symptoms for other disorders. Frequently, women don't recognize the symptoms, and too often doctors lack sufficient awareness to effectively diagnose the disease. The tragic result is that too many women never have a chance against ovarian cancer. I'm sure you get the drift. A lot of the symptoms are like endometriosis, and sadly, those of us with endometriosis are at higher risk of getting this cancer, and are likely to get it at a younger age than other people. For some reason a lot of doctors don't seem very aware of this. The mortality rate for ovarian cancer is something like 90%, but the chances of survival are actually really good if it's caught early. The problem is that it's most always caught in the advanced stages. That's partly because it can easily be mistaken for endometriosis, and also because those of us who really do have endoemtriosis may not be able to separate the cancer symptoms from the endometriosis symptoms. That's why it's a good idea to pay attention to your pain so if it ever changes you'll notice. Fortunately, when you have surgery for endometriosis the doctor will take samples of tissue and test them for cancer. If your doctor is actually acknowledging that it could be ovarian cancer, I would definitely have the surgery. I know it's scary, it scared the living daylights out of me, but once it's over it's over. You do survive, and you feel ebtter knowing for sure what's going on in there.
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meka
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Posts: 164
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Post by meka on Apr 3, 2006 20:31:10 GMT -5
erzulie,
Thanks for the info about ovarian cancer. I really appreciate it. I forgot that I even posted the question. I'll look into those websites.
Actually, I'm not afraid of the surgery. I just have very little faith in its effectiveness. I don't want to put my body throug repeat laps, as it sounds like so many people go through. I want to solve the problem, not band-aid it.
But I tell you, the more pain I go through each month, the closer I get to making that call.
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Post by erzulie on Apr 3, 2006 20:48:35 GMT -5
Well, that's reasonable enough. I've had one laparoscopy so far, and aside from giving me a for-certain diagnosis it was really a waste of time. I wasn't expecting it to help for long--most people report feeling better for about 4 months after a laparoscopy--but I got no relief from the pain at all. However, I have heard from people who have had excision surgery that they feel MUCH better afterwards, sometimes for years. I have decided I'm not going to get another surgery done until I can do that, but I DEFINITELY want to do that. I think you're really limited in terms of how much relief you can have unless you get the crud that's in there out. I still don't regret my first surgery, though. It's good to know for sure what's going on, and to be certain it's not anything more sinister. That's how I felt about it anyway.
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Post by Janet on Apr 5, 2006 12:14:57 GMT -5
My lap was in oct and I'm still free of the daily pain, i have ovulation related pain for 2 days a month and up to 3 days of period pain. But I have the mirena IUD which seems to have already stopped my periods. For me I needed to know, regardless of what they said I needed to know. Before my lap I had daily pain, mostly right side, I had the bloating that even though my weight hadn't changed I couldn't fit in my clothes. All my symptoms were signs of early ovarian cancer. If caught early ovarian cancer has high survival rates, each year it takes to diagnose it the survival rates plummet. That wasn't something I wanted to find out later that they could've saved me if they did their jobs. Its your decision, but I would want to know, at the point of my surgery I was fully prepared to hear it was cancer I just wanted an answer, I'm relieved it isn't cancer and I moved forward trying to deal with it without using lupron or bc pills (I have hormone issues). I just don't feel there is anyway to "solve" the problem of endo at this point, everything is a band-aid some more effective than others.
Janet
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Lori
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Post by Lori on Apr 2, 2006 21:35:50 GMT -5
Sorry, I know this thread is similiar to the one below, but I'm asking a different question.
Has anyone told you that you had a higher risk of ovarian cancer because of endometriosis?
Thanks, Lori
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Post by erzulie on Apr 3, 2006 16:24:43 GMT -5
Nobody told me that, but I read it in a book put together by the Endometriosis Association. We're apparently at a higher risk of all sorts of cancers. There are a few known reasons for this. One is that our immune systems don't work quite right. Our natural killer cells are supposed to eat up cells that are misplaced, but for some reason they don't do it as much as they're supposed to. If they did, we wouldn't need surgery to clear up our misplaced endometrial cells. These same cells are supposed to munch up cancer cells if you have them, but there's a good chance they won't. I have also read that people with endometriosis are often more chemically senstive than other people. There are a LOT of chemicals in our environment that contribute to cancer, so many that your mind would be blown if you started doing the research and realised how many things you come into contact with every day that increase your cancer risks. This is a problem for everyone, but if chemicals have more of an effect on you than they do on most people, then it's an even bigger problem for you. Interestingly, when the Endometriosis Association first decided to publish reports on the connection between endometriosis and cancer, a lot of doctors tried to convince them not to because they thought it would scare people. The EA went ahead with it because they thought we had a right to know and, more importantly, because if we know we are at higher risk then we know we need to work harder to prevent ourselves from getting cancer or to at least know how catch it early so we have a better chance of survival, should our prevention efforts fail. For this reason information about endoemtriosis and cancer can be hard to come by. If you want to read more about it though, I would recommend a book called Endometriosis: The Complete Reference for Taking Charge of your Health. It has a whole section on cancer.
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Post by erzulie on Jun 24, 2006 17:40:41 GMT -5
Hey everyone I thought people might be interested in reading this article about a study done on the link between endometriosis and ovarian cancer. I know a lot of people are scared to talk about this, but the thing is that hiding from the truth isn't going to make it not true. The more we know about our risks, the better we can act to reduce our risks. Personally I've always been terrified of dying from cancer, so I like knowing about all this so I know how to fight it. I really think it's important for other peopel to know too, not so they can live in fear but so they can try to prevent it. There are quite a lot of things you can do to reduce your cancer risk, and while I thinke veryone should be doing these things, it's particularly important for those of us who have a somewhat greater risk. Otherwise it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: the idea of getting cancer scares you, so you refuse to believe that you have a greater risk of getting it than the average person, so you don't do the research to find out your risks, what to do to prevent it and how to detect it early, so you continue exposing yourself to harmful chemicals that could be avoided and then, possibly, you do end up with cancer and you don't even realize it until it's too late because you had no idea the symptoms you were experiencing could be cancer. I really believe that ignorance kills, and I think it's our duty to find out what types of cancer we are at a higher risk of getting, how we can reduce our risk, and what the symptoms are of these cancers so we can catch them early in the event our prevention efforts fail. Also remember that you really probably won't get any of these cancers. There's no use freaking out about it, but I do think it's important to stay informed. www.greenjournal.org/cgi/content/full/100/4/788
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Post by erzulie on Aug 11, 2006 16:45:15 GMT -5
Since everyone just went wild over this thread, I figured you'd love some more information on endometriosis and cancer:
Parallels Between Endometriosis and Cancer - Some experts call endometriosis a benign cancer because cells are growing in the wrong place and overwhelming the cells that are supposed to be there - Natural Killer cells are less active in women with endometriosis, leading to a higher risk of tumor progression - Endometrium and endometriosis both contain oncogenes, which can potentially cause cancer. - Angiogenesis happens in both endometriosis and cancer. Angiogenesis is the growth of new blood vessels which supply the blood endometriosis—and tumors—need to survive - Endometriosis cells and malignant tumors both have a type of genetic damage known as “loss of heterozygosity,” which happens in tissue when control of proliferation is breaking down - Research has shown that in all likelihood, endometriosis can sometimes transform into cancer - Apoptosis (normal death of cells) is decreased in cancer and endometriosis patients
Percentage of women with endometriosis with particular cancer as opposed to percentage of the general population in U.S. and Canada with the same cancer
Type of cancer % Women with endometriosis % general population Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma 0.05% 0.02% Ovarian cancer 0.2% 0.04% Breast cancer 0.6% 0.1% Melanoma 0.8% 0.01%
Cancers Linked to Endometriosis
Breast Cancer Symptoms - Breast lumps - Thickening or swelling of breast - Dimpling - Skin irritation - Distortion - Nipple retraction - Nipple discharge
Risks - Estrogenic exposure - Early menarche - Late menopause - Never bearing children - Later childbirth (30s) - Long-term use of birth control pills - Alcohol
Ovarian Cancer
Symptoms - Bloating - Back pain - Fatigue - Constipation - Flatulence - Water retention - Frequent urination - Nausea - Abdominal discomfort - Abdominal mass
Risks - Fertility drugs - Menstrual problems - Bearing no or few children - High-fat diet - Early onset of periods - Late menopause - Previous experience with breast, rectal, or intestinal cancers - Exposure to asbestos or talc in the genital area
Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
Symptoms - Painless swelling of lymph nodes in neck, underarm, or groin - Night sweats - Fevers - Tiredness - Weight loss - Itching - Reddened patches on skin - Liver or spleen enlargement
Risks - Organ transplants - HIV/ AIDS - Autoimmune diseases - Exposure to excessive radiation - Occupational exposure to chemicals - Exposure to herbicides and fungicides - Exposure to glass wool (insulation)
Melanoma
Symptoms - Asymmetrical moles - Moles with irregular or ragged borders - Moles with varied colors (shades of tan, brown, black, red, blue, or white) - Moles bigger than one-quarter inch - Moles growing or changing
Risks - Sun-sensitive skin that freckles easily - Spending a lot of time in the sun - Abundance of moles - Family history of skin cancer - Family history of melanoma - Immune-system related health problems - Heavy, intermittent sun exposure - Tanning salons
Ways to Reduce the Risks
Diet - Avoid fat, especially trans fatty acids, animal fat, saturated fat - Avoid red meat - Eat lots of fruits - Avoid high-calorie diet during childhood - Eat lots of Vitamin A during adolescence and beyond - Eat lots of beta-carotene (yellow and dark green vegetables) - Consume lots of vitamin D (fish oil, egg yolk, liver) - Spend at least 15 minutes per day in the sun without sunscreen
Ways To Decrease Your Cancer Risk
· Maintain a healthy weight · Eat lots of fruits and vegetables · Stay physically active · Don’t drink alcohol · Avoid milk from cows given BGH · Tell your doctor any family history of cancer you have · Do regular breast exams · Demand a thorough pelvic exam · If you are high risk, get transvaginal ultrasound screening · Sleep in the dark—bright lights may curb production of melatonin · Don’t use talc · Filter your water—both shower and drinking water · Don’t use herbicides or pesticides · Drink lots of (purified) water · Limit sun exposure · Limit radiation exposure—don’t get an x-ray you don’t absolutely need · If you have a hysterectomy, make sure all endometriosis is removed · Do tons of research before doing any hormone replacement therapy
Vitamins & Nutrients that help prevent cancer
- Selenium – in seafood and whole grains - Glutathione (GSH) – in dark green leafy vegetables, fresh fruit, fish, and poultry - Calcium D-Glucarate – in broccoli, potatoes, oranges - Beta-Carotene – in green and orange fruits and vegetables - Coenzyme Q10 (Ubiquonine) – in heart and liver - Catechin – in green tea - Genistein – in soybeans
Taken from Endometriosis: The Complete Reference for Taking Charge of Your Health by Mary Lou Ballweg and the Endometriosis Association
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