Today is one of a couple days a year that I get on a big soapbox about something very important -- a major women's health issue.
Ovarian cancer is still quite deadly. It's also evidently one of the forms of cancer where early detection makes a major difference in survival rates. But many women, even those who do periodic breast self-exams, don't know the symptoms.
My mother had every expectation of living a long life. All four of her grandparents lived to be at least 90. A couple greats-grandmother lived to the ripe old age of 103. Her mother (who smoked for 70+ years, was an alcoholic, never ate a great diet, and never exercised) died at 91.
So, when Mum [non-smoker, light social drinker, careful eater, regualr exerciser] retired at 63, we expected to have a couple decades to have fun in. Even the minor GI complaints didn't seem important. But.... 27 days after she retired, she was officially diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Two years of chemo and other treatments later (fortunately, she had excellent health insurance!), she died way too young. She fought it, but it was at stage 4 when diagnosed - five year survival rates barely hit 15%.
Today would have been her 70th birthday. The arrival of spring has become a very bittersweet day for me. So I'm coming out of my shy introvert shell to post this, in the hopes that someone who needs to read it, for herself or for a loved one, see sit and gets an earlier diagnosis.
From the Mayo Clinic, the symptoms of ovarian cancer:
Recent studies have shown that women with ovarian cancer are more likely than are other women to consistently experience the following symptoms:
* Abdominal pressure, fullness, swelling or bloating
* Urinary urgency
* Pelvic discomfort or pain
Additional signs and symptoms that women with ovarian cancer may experience include:
* Persistent indigestion, gas or nausea
* Unexplained changes in bowel habits, such as constipation
* Changes in bladder habits, including a frequent need to urinate
* Loss of appetite or quickly feeling full
* Increased abdominal girth or clothes fitting tighter around your waist
* Pain during intercourse (dyspareunia)
* A persistent lack of energy
* Low back pain
* Changes in menstruation
Finally, the photos I mentioned to get your attention: Mum with some pooties and with my dad... and a couple of my father's photos.
Mum at 11 or so with some friends:
Reading the New Yorker with a later friend:
In honor of spring, a nice flowery background for my parents:
And some of my dad's photographic work - the camera has kept him going in the 4 years since Mum died ;-)