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I lost a friend who had a complete hysterectomy, including removal of her ovaries, after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer....seven years later, it had metastasized to her lung.
yes, this is very possible, it probably started to metastasize immediately. I am guessing they didn't discover it had spread to her lungs and she died immediately, am I right? Probably they found the lung cancer months or maybe even a year or prior to her dying. That is a little different than 20 years later and suddenly it shows up again.
We all know anything can happen but we also know these are exceptional cases. We also have to realize it might not have been the same cancer. Even our doctors don't have all the answers unfortunately.
yes, this is very possible, it probably started to metastasize immediately. I am guessing they didn't discover it had spread to her lungs and she died immediately, am I right?
She was actually in remission for 2 years after chemo, following her original diagnosis. I believe it was 7 to 8 years after her original diagnosis that it had metastasized to her lung. Her tests showed metastasized ovarian cancer, not lung cancer.
I have told every one of my female relatives, friends, and coworkers: get a pelvic exam EVERY year. (Many people have asked why she didn't have a Pap...a Pap smear detects cervical cancer, not ovarian.) If the doctor recommends an additional test after the pelvic, get it IMMEDIATELY. My friend waited, thinking it was not as serious as it was.
The most common ovarian cancer actually develops from the surface of the ovary, which is covered with the same tissue that lines the inside of the abdomen and pelvis. That covering, known as the peritoneum, can indeed produce a malignancy that essentially the same as ovarian cancer, even many years after ovaries have been removed.
Unfortunately, there are problems with using CA125 to screen all women for ovarian cancer.There are too many false positives and false negatives. Just having a menstrual period can make it go up.
The test is more useful in monitoring treatment for ovarian cancer and for follow up after treatment to detect recurrence.
CA 125 is also useful in monitoring women who are at higher risk than average to get ovarian cancer, such as women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations or who have a strong family history of ovarian cancer. Removal of the ovaries in such women can reduce the risk of primary peritoneal cancer but not completely eliminate it.
"If you have a BRCA mutation, a prophylactic oophorectomy can reduce your ... Ovarian cancer risk by 80 to 90 percent. As an example, if a woman with a high risk of ovarian cancer had a 30 percent chance of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer at some point in her lifetime, oophorectomy could reduce her risk to 6 percent, assuming an 80 percent risk reduction. Put another way, for every 100 women just like her, 30 could be expected to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer without oophorectomy. And six would be expected to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer after oophorectomy."
Doctors do not like to order CA125 tests for low risk women because elevations are more likely to be due to non-cancerous conditions.
yes, this was me. while i was undergoing chemo for colon cancer it was noticed that i had an ovarian cyst that doubled in size over 3 months (i had an internal US while they were trying to figure out what was wrong with me). my onc ordered a CA-125. came back high. this caused a whole chain of concern - i had to have an mri, see an gyn onc - extraordinarily stressful on top of a very stressful time in my life. it was benign thankfully, but because of this i'm very wary of the CA-125 being done on premenopausal women. i TOTALLY get that it could be useful and those who were checked and discovered early are probably extraordinarily grateful, but with upwards of 80% false positives (in premenopausal women), i hope they can find a better method.
How does one have cancer throughout their body and it goes undiscovered until it's too late?
By the time my mom's cancer was diagnosed, it had traveled to her lungs. Coughing up blood, weight loss and weakness were the signs that made me bring her to the hospital. The CT scan showed tumors in the lungs and liver, lymph system involvement and lesions on the pancreas, and other organs. I was so upset, I couldn't even read the report.
Her demise was two weeks after diagnosis and we were completely caught by surprise.
I just don't understand.
Now, I'd like to request some medical records but don't know where to begin. Any suggestions?
I lost my mom just 14 months ago to a carbon copy of yours. In her case, she had undetected breast cancer, which metastasized to her lungs and brain. She showed no sign except for flu-like symptoms that made her slow a groggy. After a week of this, she looked as if she was inebriated and that's when we forced her to seek help.
Her gynecologist was of no use. He is the doctor who had been prescribing her estrogen pills for several years. Anyway, He took blood and wanted to send her home until they got the results. After I demanded he admit her, and he conceded. 24 hours later she was diagnosed. The specialist told me that if they had caught it even 18 months sooner she would have had a good prognosis. She past six days later.
I blame her gynecologist for her extended use of estrogen which I believe led to the cancer. He failed to discover her illness even though he had been treating her for years.
She was actually in remission for 2 years after chemo, following her original diagnosis. I believe it was 7 to 8 years after her original diagnosis that it had metastasized to her lung. Her tests showed metastasized ovarian cancer, not lung cancer.
I have told every one of my female relatives, friends, and coworkers: get a pelvic exam EVERY year. (Many people have asked why she didn't have a Pap...a Pap smear detects cervical cancer, not ovarian.) If the doctor recommends an additional test after the pelvic, get it IMMEDIATELY. My friend waited, thinking it was not as serious as it was.
I have had a couple of friends that have had similar experiences. We recently lost a friend who had breast cancer, choose not to have a mastectomy. She was in remission for about 2 years, then was diagns sosed with ovarian cancer. After surgery and chemo she was in remission again, for about a year or so: long story, she lived a total of about 5 years. I will add, she enjoyed those 5 years to the fullest until the last couple of months. I think her choosing not to have the mastectomy played a part; who know, but that is why I shutter when I hear some say they have decided not to go that route. I know, it is everyone's decision to make and has to be decided on an individual bases, with the help of your doctor. I just think so many of us will always wonder what would have happened had she not opt to do what she did.
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