Please help me!

[Brandelena]

Will y'all please help me in telling me what you went through before you were diagnosed and what tests were done to confirm it. How long you were hurting before you did anything about it? I am in remission for stage 4 colon cancer. The past two weeks something is going on with my body that is not right. Chemo killed my periods so I have not had a period for over two years. The past two week I have had menstrual period type pain and cramping in my lower back and stomach. I am very week and if I do anything(clean, walk down the street) right after I have to run to my bed to lay down. I have been to the er 3 times. CAT scan does not show anything and regular blood work is fine(however my regular blood work was perfect a week before being diagnosed the first time) I finally had a transvaginal ultrasound done last night in the er. The regular doctor in the er said she see's fibroids in my uterus but said she will have to have the obgyn doc review it still. I know my body and hate medicine. I am having a hard time going about normal duties right now.

[Neona]

I was more tired than normal and later had mild nausea. Eventually couldn't eat and was sent for an ultrasound. Was diagnosed stage 3C clear cell ovarian cancer.

[Brandelena in reply to Neona]

Thank you for replying! I am some what nauseated as well. Not eating much. Guess I'll find out this week if I have it or not. Don't understand what else it would be really.

[Sunfleury-UK in reply to Brandelena]

Hi Brandelena, It's good that its being looked into. Waiting is tough but sounds like you've got the right referral by seeing ObGyn to review your tests/scans etc & find out what's going on. There are a couple of blood tests often used to rule out OvCa, CA125 is the most common but it is only a guide and can give both false +ves and -ves. (Occasionally CA19-9 and HE4 in USA)

Take care of you, Sx

[Brandelena in reply to Sunfleury-UK]

Thank you! I just screen shot your message so I can remember the blood tests.

[Maus123]

Sorry you feel so rotten. Hope the obgyn can shed some light on a possible cause.

I'm afraid my experience was a bit different from the situation you are in now, so not sure it'll help you much.

My symptoms were a visibly bloated stomach (from ascites, as became evident later via abdominal ultrasound), feeling full all the time, breathless and tired; most symptoms were tied to the ascites. But no cramping, nausea or pain.

Vaginal ultrasound showed some suspected tumour masses in the ovaries, and a thickening on the peritoneum.

After debulking surgery I was staged with pt3a serous borderline and low grade ovarian cancer.

Hang in there.

Maus

[tara108]

I was told on diagnosis of 3C advanced ovarian cancer that the disease had started 2 years previously! I had frequency of the bladder, a bit of tiredness, threw up a couple of times in the year before, and slight pouching of the abdomen and seemed to catch colds etc every 2 months before. It sounds good you are getting properly checked out and have the CA125 blood test etc. Hope it all goes ok for you. Sending hugs from Australia

[AndreeP]

Oh my, you’ve certainly asked a loaded question! I understand everyone is different but for me it was pain in my upper abdomen and lower back pain. The lower back pain was thought to be kidney stones so I was sent for an ultrasound when no stones were found they did a pelvic ultrasound and found a 10cm mass. The mass was pressing on the renal nerve causing the back pain. The upper abdominal pain was due to the spread of cancer to the omentum. So I was diagnosed at stage 4. There are very little symptoms when diagnosing ovarian cancer. Endometrial cancer shows more signs and irregular periods is one of them but certainly not the only sign. I would ask them for a biopsy if you can. It’s not a very pleasant test but there are much worse things that occur when you go through cancer . I wish you lots of luck and peace of mind.

[bamboo89]

Good you've got scans booked. I've got serous epithelial ovarian cancer which has differentiated into non small cell neuroendocrine cancer, now classed as Stage 4b. I had no noticeable symptoms at all, I just found an enormous lymph node in my groin. CA 125 was originally around 90, falling to 84 two weeks later. Took three months to find out what was going on - had two ultrasound scans and a CT with contrast, then biopsies on the lymph node.Turned out my cancer had started on one ovary, spread, differentiated into neuroendocrine, grew into a tumour on the pelvic wall and went straight to the lymph node rather than spreading up through the body, although at debulking surgery, they did find 'seed' cancers all over the omentum and on the bowel. All removed with surgery...

So although there's obviously something going on with you, it might not necessarily be ovarian cancer....

[Lindaura]

Dear Brandelena,

I had no pain, no discharge, no symptoms until I suddenly felt like I had the flu, had terrible diarrhoea, and grew weak and tired.

I took to my bed, stopped eating, to stop the diarrhoea (it didn't) and got weaker and weaker. In a few days, I could hardly walk and noticed that my belly looked like a beach ball. I was terribly thirsty, too. My mouth was like a desert.

I thought I had diabetes, because I love sweets. Now, I couldn't stand them and everything tasted horrible to me and cooking smells made me sick.

After just 7 days like this, I managed to go to my GP, who tested me for diabetes as well as everything else. She took my temperature and saw that I had one and prescribed antibiotics.

That night, I was very ill, with fever and discomfort from my swollen belly. My husband was terrified. In the morning, I started throwing up and he called for an ambulance. I was mortified, thinking I just had some kind of infection, but thank god he did that.

The EMTs whisked me to A&E, here in Bath, the Royal United Hospital, wher the doctor on call knew immediately what was wrong. Ultrasounds my belly and back and recognised the fluid there as cancer caused Ascites.

He did a Ca-125 test that confirmed that and sent me up for a CT scan.

I was very ill, riddled with tumours and could hardly breathe. I spent 10 days in hospital, had a biopsy to confirm the type of cancer, and quickly began the journey through the world of Oncology, Chemo and surgery.

I am on the other side now, and I think my treatment and the quick diagnosis was remarkable.

I hope that you receive the attention you need.

Best if luck,

Laura