Ovarian cancer can be caused by changes in genes called 'hereditary mutations'. These gene changes can be passed down from the mother or the father to daughters or sons and cause cancer to run in the family.
One out of every eight women with ovarian cancer carries a hereditary mutation.
If you or any family member has had:
~ ovarian or fallopian tube cancer at any age
~ breast cancer at age 50 or younger
~ breast cancer in both breasts at any age
~ both breast and ovarian cancer or both colon and ovarian cancer
~ male breast cancer
and if more than one family member on the same side of the family has had any of these cancers:
~ breast cancer
~ ovarian or fallopian tube cancer
~ uterine cancer
~ colon cancer
~ prostate cancer
~ pancreatic cancer
See a genetics expert, visit the FORCE website facingourrisk.org , or contact me for further information. Or use MacMillan's online tool Opera to check your risk: macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinfo...
If you test positive for a gene mutation, there are options available for you and your family members to lower cancer risk.
I do not like your pen name! Hardly tactful to choose the name of the ferryman to the greek underworld for posting on a site for women suffering a potentially terminal disease!
Sorry! Take no notice of me! Your advice is really good and I looked at your profile so know you know what you are talking about! However your pseudonym is unfortunate if one knows ones Greek myths! LOL! We have had some cranky contributions from a real weirdo!
Love Margaret! LOL
oh my goodness - I have never studied Greek mythology so had no idea about a ferryman to the Greek underworld!!
Just googled it - it is not nice and I would not want to offend anyone who does know about Greek mythology so will try to change it!
• in reply to
Hi....Yes this had crossed my mind as well..sorry!! It does have terrible connotations I mentioned this to my husband that it's an odd name to choose... then decided that it is just a name haha.
Thank you though for your very informative post love x G x
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Ps... but isn't your name Sharon ? (as in the Rose of Sharon) xx
I have requested my pen name be changed by Health Unlocked. If they cannot change it I will close that account and reoopen a new one...
I only chose it because it was close to my own name of Sharon and that was already taken.
• in reply to
Hi Sharon,
Aw. it is obvious you didn't know... but I suppose you don't want to keep it anyway now...and if Margaret and I know about this name then others would as well
In particular weirdos so changing it might be good cheers love x G x
I may well be interested in this, haven't got time to look at the site as I am going out soon but will look when I come back.
My mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2002 and died 1 month later. Her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 60's she had a reccurence but did not die from this. I was diagnosed with primary peritoneal in December 2011 5 rounds of carbo/taxol TAH then 2 more rounds. In remission since June, but diagnosed with a recurrence this week. Only small nodules CA125 84 but will need chemo again.
I have 2 daughters (who I am obviously worried about) one is 27 and suffer from polycistic ovaries the other 25.
I think the recurrence has made me seriously consider testing and my eldest daughter wants to do it.
Perhaps you can offer me some advice, as I was so against it at first.
Sorry to hear your story. I know it is a difficult decision to make. I tested three years ago and am BRCA 1 positive. I have three children and two sisters who have all since been tested. One sister and both of my daughters tested positive meaning they have the same genetic mutation that was responsible for my cancer. This does not mean they will definitely get cancer but that they are at increased risk. But knowledge is power and provides options to help reduce the risk.
Testing positive for BRCA also can open up different treatment options - I am currently on a parp inhibitor drug treating my second recurrence.
Happy to answer any questions you might havr.
Best wishes
Sharon
Hi I just realised "Rose of Sharon" would be a nice pen name... a nice visual picture of a rose ...( just a thought) love x G x thanks again for the blog xx
thank you so much for your advice, it is a difficult decision. My youngest daughter spoke to her GP today who advised her against it as he said it wasn't advanced enough and she could get a negative answer when it was positive. When I spoke to my oncologist when I was first diagnosed she was very against it, then I spoke to my GP who felt the same. With all that negative response I gave up.
It's got to be a good thing if it opens up different options for me. I need to know where to start really.
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