Anybody have any personal experience with ovarian cancer?

[skygazer]

Have you had it or known someone who did? I'm not looking for medical advice - I guess I'm looking for reassurance.

I had my annual physical yesterday and my doc found a strange mass in the area of my ovaries. She has ordered blood tests and an ultrasound to check for ovarian cancer. My stomach just dropped out of me when she said that. "Don't worry," she said. Yeah, right. Happy Valentine's Day.

The web sites I've visited are not reassuring, since they name many of the vague symptoms I've had over the last year and say that most women feel no symptoms at all until the cancer has reached an advanced stage. The odds of surviving advanced ovarian cancer are not good. I'm 44 years old. I survived cervical cancer. I was depressed and suicidal for 20 years. Now I'm happy and enjoying life. How fucking ironic is that?

Sorry, I'm just in a really strange place right now. It's not knowing for sure that really sucks - when you know for sure, you can focus on fighting it. Now I'm just worrying blindly, you know?

Damn it. If anyone has any good stories with happy endings, I'd love to hear them!

[RubyDuby in GA]

1. I just had an ultrasound this morning

for the same reason. Strange pains in pelvic region. Knot on the right side.

I do hope things turn out well for you, especially since you've found your happy place :)

I'll be thinking of you. :hug:

[skygazer]

3. And I of you

Pretty crappy feeling, huh? Funny how much it helps to know you're not alone in your fear. Thanks. :hug:

[plcdude]

2. go here

http://www.ovarian.org/

this is a pretty good site.

[KT2000]

4. A friend of mine

was diagnosed with a mass the size of a walnut on her ovary. The physician's assistant had her take estrogen!!! In a month the mass was the size of a grapefruit.
She was put in the hospital right away and she had a hysterectomy and the test showed cancerous tumor. She then had chemo. That was over five years ago and she is free of cancer now. She has regular tests and ultrasounds to make sure that is the case.

Best wishes to you.

[skygazer]

5. That's a good story

I'm so glad your friend made it. Thanks.

[Bunny]

6. I don't have any answers, but I wish you luck with the diagnosis.

It's probably nothing, but it's agony to wait, isn't it? When will you know anything?

Last summer the doctor found a lump on my breast, and I had to wait 30 days just to get the mammogram done! I wasn't overly alarmed, I have a history of non-cancerous breast lumps, but still...having to wait 30 days just to get tested was upsetting!

Anyway, here's a :hug: for you!

[readmylips]

7. I know someone who had ovarian cancer at 30..

My step-nephew's wife (Emily) found out three months before their wedding that she had aggressive ovarian cancer. She comes from a large family, 6 sisters, 4 brothers. Four of the sisters had ovarian cancer and one had breast cancer. Knowing that she could not have children, Emily (then fiance) wanted to call off the wedding. Her dream was to have a large family. They had a beautiful wedding and have been married for ten years. They have beautiful adopted twin girls and about to adopt a boy.

She suffers from mild depression that has turned her into a super obese woman. We all love her and support her but we're afraid to bring up the obesity problem.

Hang in there my friend. Damn it. We love you and this damn cancer shit better find the door out.

[amazona]

13. no use bringing up the obesity problem in my experience

Sometimes the steroids given during chemotherapy create a kind of very resistant weight gain that won't be lost even when the patient has been in remission for a long time. It has nothing to do with being depressed. She is just as likely to be depressed because her weight gain is untreatable. This happened to a good friend of mine who was a dancer, very slim and fit, and became quite large as a result of his treatment for Hodgkin's disease. There is no use focusing on what can't be regained. At least she is alive and able to enjoy her family.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[HamdenRice]

8. My ex wife

was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when we were first married. We had two second opinions that confirmed it.

The day before surgery, they discovered there never had been a tumor. She had some other medical problems that mimic cancer.

Hope this helps!

[KitchenWitch]

9. My husband's aunt had it like 6 years ago

She underwent treatment in London, UK (she lives in the UK - has for 35 years) and is hale and hearty today.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

10. My Mom...

who is 72 was diagnosed with a very large mass (14cm) on her left ovary just over two years ago. She also had the blood tests done at the time. Her GYN told her he felt it was cancer, the person who read the MRI said it was cancer, and everything we read on ovarian masses said it was probably cancer. She was sent to one of the leading ovarian cancer specialists here in SF for her surgery to remove the mass. Heck, even the hospital's admitting nurse told her it was probably cancer (I could have killed her for it).

They got in there, took the nasty thing out, and testing revealed it was a benign mass.

There used to be nothing more scary to me than ovarian cancer for the reasons you mentioned. But I now know that not all ovarian masses are cancerous, and I found a wonderful online board full of ovarian cancer survivors who showed me not all ovarian cancer is terminal.

I know you must be going crazy right now. Hang in there until you get the news -- and if it is cancer, get all the infromation you can and talk to as many women as you can who have been there. I'll try to dig up teh link to that board I was talking about.

Good luck! :hug:

[dean_dem]

11. Yours might not be malignant.

Lots of women get ovarian cysts, my mom is actually going into surgery Wednesday to have one removed (her's is the size of a baby's head according to the doctor). They have to run tests to be sure, but yours might also be just a cyst. If they do a hysterectomy, unfortunately you might not be able to have kids anymore, but that will should rid of it. Good luck, though.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

14. You brought up something...

that I wanted to further -- Skygazer, when you find out exactly what the mass is, decide with your doctor in advance what you do and don't want removed and under what circumstances.

My 50 year old sister recently went in for a hysterectomy -- she was also diagnosed with a marble-sized cyst on one of her ovaries. The doctor tried to convince her that it would be best to remove EVERYTHING at that time. Instead, my sister told her that remove the one ovary only of it looked bad.

Well, my sister wakes up and finds out she had the works taken out -- her uterus and BOTH ovaries. And the kicker is the doctor said that when she went in the cyst had already ruptured! To add insult to injury, the doctor (butcher?) refused to give her hormone treatment for months after the surgery "until her hormone levels settled down". What my sister experienced was surgical menopause without hormone treatment and it almost made her lose her mind. I was fuming when I finally heard about it all.

So be forwarned: should it come down to surgery -- even for a benign mass -- be very, very clear with your doctor about how you want your treatment to proceed.

[skygazer]

15. I appreciate all the good advice and kind words

It's good to hear all these stories of benign cysts and non cancerous growths. I'm not worried about what i might lose as far as organs - I had a hysterectomy in '97 when I had the cervical cancer and I've never missed my uterus! I have three grown kids and three grandkids - I just want to be around to see them all grow up.

I'm so sorry about what your sister went through. I'll make sure I get second or even third and fourth opinions and be very pro active in my treatment.

[amazona]

12. yeah they checked me for that, it's hopefully just a cyst

Ovarian cysts like to create scares. The doctor has to check it out to be on the safe side. Chances are you're OK. No point in stressing before you know there is something to stress about...sending some good thoughts your way.

As far as those "vague symptoms," DON'T WORRY!!!! I swear all women in their 40s have those symptoms. I had them in my 30s, and like you as soon as I heard I had to be tested I was freaking out and reading up and thinking, "Oh my God, all those weird little pains now make a horrible kind of sense." It was still just a harmless cyst, and after awhile it went away. Now years later I have fibroids which is a pain too and provide pretty much the same "vague symptoms." But I've been checked out pretty recently and it's all harmless. Just part of the human condition, I guess.

It was probably 15 years ago I was first checked for this. There has never been any problem. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you will be equally fortunate, I suspect the odds are excellent that you're fine.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72