questions

stepet
stepet Member Posts: 69
edited March 2014 in Ovarian Cancer #1
Hi everybody, let me start with some history, I finished treatment for hodgkins disease in March of 2003. I had radiation thearpy and no chemo. Since then I have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I have always had trouble with my cycle. Now I seem to be back to the old not getting a period, terrible pain in my ovary area and lower back. I feel bloated and it seems as though I am going to get my period, but it doesn't come. I went to the doctors today and she is sending me for a pelvic ultrasound next week. I just wanted to know if this sounds familar to anyone, and whether I should be concerned and what questions to ask about all this. Thanx for your help Sandi

Comments

  • groundeffect
    groundeffect Member Posts: 639 Member
    #2
    Hi,

    You have some symptoms that might indicate a problem with your ovary(s) or uterus. I don't know what type of treatment you had for hodgkins, but I believe I've heard that radiation can affect the reproductive organs, as well as chemo.

    One thing I would ask is what type of ultrasound they'll be using. I just learned that there are different types, which might explain why my OVCA (and uterine cancer) didn't show up in the ultrasound I had. Today I looked up ultrasound, and found there are three different types:

    Doppler ultrasound can be done during each type of pelvic ultrasound procedure, which provides additional information about blood flow, helps diagnose blockages in pelvic blood vessels, and is used for examining ovarian tumors. Transvaginal ultrasound with color doppler can be used for individuals at high risk of developing ovarian cancer. Color doppler, duplex doppler and power doppler are three different techniques of doppler ultrasound.

    A doctor at a seminar I went to Friday mentioned the use of color doppler ultrasound to determine if there's a tumor. They show up "hotter" than normal tissue, because of the blood flow.

    No one suspected me (at the tender age of 48) of having OVCA, but I was having horrible trouble with my periods. The ultrasound showed fibroid tumors that would explain a lot of my trouble, but when I developed a pulonary embolism (PE) because I had deep vein thromobosis (DVT), I was found to have uterine cancer - DVT is a symptom of lower body cancers. I'm very thankful that both of my cancers were found in early stages, which might not have happened if I didn't also have the DVT.

    Sandi, best of luck to you. Please come back and let us know what was found!

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