Thank you, Redbook!

NoTimeForCancer

I realize this is from February but I appreciate that they are bringing this forward.  I hope you enjoy the article:

http://www.redbookmag.com/body/health-fitness/a42578/female-cancers/

LorettaMarshall

True Facts re lack of research 4 female cancers other than BC

 Dear “No time for Cancer:

 Thanks for posting this article.  I read it in its entirety.   I don’t want anyone to be diagnosed with cancer, but I do see “red” sometimes when I see “pink” ribbons everywhere, but I have difficulty finding a “teal” one!  I’ve even seen pink limousines to say nothing about major football leagues wearing “pink” in their games.  And yet as this article states, our cancers are far more deadly by comparison.  Even before I was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer, and Peritoneal Carcinomatosis in November of 2012, I was caregiver to my husband, who was first diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer back in 2002.  Thank God he is a survivor today.  But even then, when doing research, I found that the average Breast Cancer survivor lived 5 years, while the average EC patient lived only one year!  The number of EC patients are far fewer but far more deadly.  Those are the facts!  The research for BC is not proportional in a sense that they do get more of the money. 

 This article states “…Only 68 percent of cervical cancer patients and less than half of ovarian cancer patients survive five years past their diagnosis.

 Yet in 2014, the National Institutes of Health approved $682 million in grants for breast cancer research and only $131 million for ovarian cancer, while cervical and uterine cancers received even less.

 "It shouldn't be about prioritizing one type of cancer over another," explains Ginger Gardner, M.D., a gynecologic oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. "Doctors, researchers, and women need to band together to fight all of these diseases." And to do that, we need to understand what's holding us back.”…

  “Should You Get Genetic Testing? Approximately 24 genes have been linked to ovarian cancer alone. Discuss your family history with your doctor: She may suggest genetic testing, which can help you decide whether you need more frequent screenings or even preventive surgery.”

 

          (My note about Genetic Testing.)  You certainly need to check with your insurance company first to see if it is covered.  I’ve been tested but since then I saw an additional 9 genes that should be included in the test.  My doctor got approval first before he ordered the testing.  It came back negative for BRCA 1 and BRCA2, although I had 20 major cancers in my mother’s side alone.  They included stomach, breast, pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancers.  One of my mother’s brothers had lung cancer and 3 of his own boys had it as well.  So there is something to having “cancer in your genes!”  So if something positive shows up, there may be members of your family who need to be alerted to the fact that they may be carrying the gene as well.  That includes boys too.

 

Now back to another excerpt:

 “A staggering 70 percent of ovarian cancers reach Stage III or IV before they're diagnosed at all—and at that point, the disease is so advanced that the five-year survival rate can be as low as 17 percent. "The breast is on the outside of your body, which makes it easier to screen and understand," Gardner explains. "But tumors on your ovaries start out tiny. And their cells readily slough off—all it takes is a few cancerous cells free-floating in the pelvis and it's a different ball game." In a nationwide survey of 521 gynecologists, conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, nearly 50 percent believed that pelvic exams were "very important" in the detection of ovarian cancer. But the exam isn't approved as a screening tool, since it can't catch the disease early enough to dramatically improve treatment outcomes. "We can tell women to be on the lookout for symptoms like abdominal pain, bloating, or abnormally heavy periods," says John Micha, M.D., a gynecologic oncologist in Newport Beach, CA, and president of the Nancy Yeary Women's Cancer Research Foundation. "But by the time a woman notices anything, the cancer has likely spread." 

 

         

(Another comment of mine:  Even though a woman has had a complete hysterectomy that includes removal of the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries, she can still get Ovarian cancer precisely for the reason stated above.  The ovaries can slough off cells that float around in the abdomen and later are found to be cancerous.  So as for me, since my 2^nd opinion at UPMC revealed cancer in my ovaries as well as in my peritoneal fluid in my abdomen, it really didn’t matter at that point, because the cancer had already spread.  It was not just confined to my ovaries.  And so it is treated in the same way.  Stage IV is Stage IV no matter the name of the cancer.  When it is Stage IV there is no cure, but for a miracle which God can perform if He so desires.

 

 “…Cervical cancer is the only one of these types of cancers to have a reliable screening tool.”Since the Pap smear became standard protocol, the number of invasive cervical cancers we see each year has gone from 100,000 down to 10,000," says Cohen…”

 

          (My comment as relative to pap smears.)  When I was diagnosed my gynecologist called to express his dismay at my diagnosis.  I asked him, “Well what are you checking for when I come in each year and get a Pap Smear?”  He said, “We can only check for Cancer of the Cervix.”  So actually, I always thought that when I went for my annual visit, that if anything was wrong with any part of my female organs that he would detect it.  But no—that is not the case.  He said, “Actually many of my colleagues now believe that Ovarian cancer begins in the fallopian tubes.  So now when I perform a hysterectomy, I am going to remove the fallopian tubes as well.”  And ladies, why mess around with leaving in the ovaries and fallopian tubes if you’re anticipating having a hysterectomy.  I had my uterus removed at age 36, but left the other parts intact.  So who knows, actually my cancer may have originated first in the ovaries and then spread to the abdomen.

            In any case, “IT IS WHAT IT IS!”  And like the old Southern saying goes, “You got to dance with the one what brung you!”  Yes, not exactly good English, but we got to deal with whatever cancer “brung” us to this place in life.  So lastly, I have found personally, that a vital part in fighting my own cancer is “on my knees, asking God to guide me through this maze, and take me on to glory when the doctors say, and “We’ve done all we can do.”  A favorite line I read years ago still applies to all the storms we face in this life.  We certainly read a lot about the “storms of life”, and we are surely in one NOW ladies.  I’ve written is so often before.

 

 “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass.  It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”  So we all need to find a pair of dancing slippers that fit, try them on for size and get a pretty “teal” ruffled umbrella while we’re at it!”

 

Loretta – (Age 77) Peritoneal Carcinomatosis/Ovarian Cancer Stage IV