Ovarian cancer - symptoms

[jacksfullofaces]

I was thinking about it being National breast cancer awareness month and the screening that eligible women are offered. Our local butcher's wife is having a dreadful time as the butcher told my husband she has ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer doesn't get the publicity that breast cancer attracts so I thought a quick mention of the symptoms and possible screening might help.
Symptoms of ovarian cancer can be rather vague and can be misdiagnosed as IBS.
Symptoms include a bloated stomach, back pain and one very important warning symptom - being unable to eat much at meal time. Constant indigestion and nausea often accompany this disease.
Screening isn't 100% but a CA 125 blood test and a trans vaginal scan will often pick up the disease in it's early stages.
CA125 isn't offered routinely and it can give false positive results.
I have regular pelvic scans and get my ovaries checked for any signs of cancer.
Pelvic scans are not routinely available as checks for ovarian cancer on the NHS but can be arranged privately for £100.
This form of cancer is often genetic and can involve BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes but if you have a familial history it is wise to have screening.
Jacks

[Gelis]

Heading for bed now, but will post about this tomorrow. My Mum died at 58 from ovarian cancer, so it is something I know a little about!

Gxx

[jacksfullofaces]

Sorry to hear that Gelis
Jacks xxx

[Gelis]

Thanks for all the kind thoughts - here is the story.

My Mum was a fairly large lady, and didn't notice for a while that she had put on a bit more round the abdomen and, when she noticed, didn't think too much about it and tried to lose it. She started feeling bloated in the upper abdomen, and went to her GP who thought she might have an ovarian cyst, and eventually referred her for exploratory surgery. I can't remember now exactly what she was told, as this was a long time ago. When she had the surgery, they did nothing. While she was still coming round from the anaesthetic, and without giving a thought to calling my father in, they just told her that she had cancer, and that there was nothing that they could do.

I tried to find out if she'd been offered chemo, but it turned out that it was felt that it would only extend her life by a short time; Mum felt that she couldn't go through it. As the fluid in her abdomen built up quite rapidly, she had to go into hospital every 2 - 3 weeks to have it drained off, while gradually getting more and more wasted elsewhere in her body. She had a Macmillan nurse at home towards the end, and a district nurse came in daily to help her remain comfortable & clean. She lasted 6 months post diagnosis, 24 years ago.

I have always been anxious that I might be in line for this as well; when I asked my GP about a TV scan, it was only available for women with 2 or more relatives who had been diagnosed, so therefore I wasn't eligible. When I came here I mentioned it to the gynae who arranged to do a scan more or less straight away; ovaries were fine, so I was very relieved.

Gxx