Information please

with your family history you need to get further examinations. As the person stated get the CA125 blood test and a complete physical including a colonoscopy and a pelvic examination. Do not wait any longer. Over 50% of woman are in advanced stages when diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Do not wait any longer!!!!

You should be checked for Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) in your leg immediately. It is caused by blood clots that can break loose and hit your lung (if you're lucky), or your brain and can cause a stroke!

Blood clots can be caused by cancer in the lower body causing hypercoagulation (super-clotting) by the body trying to heal. Your feeling of needing to shake your leg out could definitely be from DVT.

My uterine and ovarian cancers were found after I was admitted to the hospital with a pulmonary (lung) embolism. I had been looking for months about why I was feeling so lousy and bleeding so much. My ob/gyn put it together right away when I had the embolism and did a biopsy.

A color doppler ultrasound would be better than a regular ultrasound, because it could show "hot" spots caused by increased blood flow to tumors. I asked a technician about them while I was having a standard ultrasound, and she said it's a simple matter of throwing a switch to get color doppler ultrasound - the rest of the procedure is the same. I went to a lecture about ovarian cancer in which the doctor described this as a very good tool for detecting possible ovarian cancer.

A biopsy for ovarian cancer is an unlikely proposition - it's usually too late for a biopsy when the cancer is found. A CA-125 test is usually one of the first steps, but they are not accurate for diagnosis because so many factors can affect the reading.

A cat scan is not necessarily a good diagnostic tool, either. I had uterine fibroids that showed on both the ultrasound and cat scan, but my doctors didn't suspect either cancer. I foolishly didn't talk to them about my leg problem, thinking it was just something I was going to have to put up with!

My brother was diagnosed with prostate cancer shortly I found out about mine. Upon investigating our family's history, I found that there have been a number of breast and colon cancers, and have read that breast, colon, ovarian, and prostate cancer can all be linked to a BRCA genetic defect.

Please don't wait to have your leg trouble investigated! I shudder to think what would have happened to me if a clot had gone to my brain - simple blood thinners can help with blood clots, and if you have them, can keep you alive to look for other trouble.

Isabel76 said:

Hi Juliamber,

I agree with everyone else here who says you should get a CA125 test. Don't wait for this. I had a "mass" on my right ovary which doctors were not sure if it was cancer but even though my CA125 test was a bit high (as large ovarian cysts can make this happen) they said it "most likely was not" cancer. However, it was. And by waiting, it spread to stage 3.

I am cured now, but if I had had it checked sooner maybe I wouldn't have had to go through chemo.

Also, I wanted to tell you that the leg problem could be caused by the growth pressing on one of the arteries in your leg, as this is what mine did apprently and caused funny sensations in my leg. So that is a possibility too. Once I had the mass removed though this problem disappeared.

I wish you all the luck and I send you best wishes.

Isabel76 is right about possible pressure on the artery leading to your leg. I had a sensation of numbness when I had a problem with a fallopian tube years ago. It went away when the problem went away.

The deep vein thrombosis I had caused my leg to swell a bit, and I had a sensation of numbness, but nothing that drove me to the doctor for those reasons until family members suggested.

Tealribbon (a member of this group) originally went to the hospital with DVT, also.