I was diagnosed in April of 1998 at age 37. I’m happy to say that I am coming up on 12 years as an ovarian cancer survivor this year. I am married with two children, boys ages 22 and 19 now. I have no identifiable risk factors.

In January 1998, I noticed that I had been having some heavy periods, and upon further thought realized I had been bleeding off and on for a few months. I went to my family doctor in late January. He examined me, and did a pregnancy test when he found that my uterus seemed to be enlarged. When that came back negative he said he thought I had uterine fibroids, but referred me to an ObGyn. He recommended that I have a transvaginal ultrasound to confirm the diagnosis.

I saw the ObGyn in February and he agreed with the uterine fibroid diagnosis, but said I didn't need an ultrasound since he was so confident. We talked about options to deal with uterine fibroids. After I had a very painful episode on March 1 (intense pain on my left side that would not subside for over an hour) we decided on a laproscopically-assisted vaginal hysterectomy.

Shortly afterward, my abdomen started swelling substantially and I was in increasing pain. I had night sweats and fever, and a vacation at the end of March almost ended at the emergency room when I passed out in a hotel room from a distinct, severe pain again on the left side of my abdomen. I called the ObGyn who was sympathetic but told me that fibroid tumors often had these symptoms if they outgrew their blood supply quickly and/or twisted and that it probably meant we needed to proceed with surgery as soon as possible.

When I returned from vacation I insisted on a transvaginal ultrasound. The ObGyn complied and did one himself, saying that although he could see a healthy-looking right ovary, he couldn't see my left one. He assumed that it was obscured by the fibroids in my uterus. I was uncomfortable with this answer and asked if it could be cancer, but he said he was 99% sure it was not. Since the surgery was already scheduled for a couple weeks later, I didn't press.

When I went back to my family doctor for a pre-op physical the week before surgery, he got very upset. I was barely able to walk upright due to abdominal pain and swelling and he sent me back to the ObGyn that day for an urgent consult. My family doc said I appeared to be full of fluid and he did not think a laproscopic procedure was appropriate. At the consult the ObGyn agreed, but recommended we keep the original surgery date of 5 days later since it was the Easter weekend and sent me home with Darvocet for pain.

After surgery I woke up to a Stage 1-C diagnosis - Epithelial adenocarcinoma of the left ovary. The tumor was 17 cm at it’s greatest dimension, extensively necrotic, appeared to be encapsulated, but with malignant cells in the washings. My uterus and right ovary were normal. The Medical Oncologist that was called in the day after surgery ordered a CA125, which came in at 34. He recommended starting chemo in 5-6 weeks. I went to a Gynecological Oncologist for a second opinion and ended up undergoing 6 rounds of Carboplatin/Taxol after the doctor recommended that I be treated as a Stage III case because of inadequate staging surgery.

I was a wreck not knowing if I had Stage 1 or Stage 3 disease, and still worry about my chances of recurrence. However, I tolerated chemo just fine physically and mentally with a lot of family, friend, and coworker support and have never regretted taking an aggressive approach to chemotherapy. I had a second look surgery in November of 1998 with no evidence of disease. I had two more CT scans since finishing treatment in the first couple of years as well, all clean. My CA125's have all been in the 5-8 range.

Looking back, I wish I had known to ask for a GynOnc referral when my symptoms got worse so rapidly and certainly when my ultrasound answers were not satisfying. I feel lucky that I had attention-getting symptoms and a family doc who took them seriously.

I have some mild neuropathy and have struggled over the years with hormone replacement therapy options, but currently take a low-dose synthetic estrogen that works for me. Not surprisingly, I also live with mild anxiety that has me worrying about every little abdominal twinge, lump and bump.

My advice to any woman with abdominal symptoms is to not give up asking questions until answers are satisfactory. My request of doctors is to listen carefully and test thoroughly, and to refer to a Gynecological Oncologist if cancer is suspected. In addition to better outcomes, it would have helped alleviate my anxiety about staging and made it easier to evaluate treatment options.

I’m really glad to be here after – did I say – almost 12 years to tell my story. Thanks for listening!