A very important message for all women.
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2001 5:37 AM
Subject: Re: Ovarian cancer
>
> --- Idit N <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Subject: OVARIAN CANCER
> > I thought this was important... for each of us to
> > take TOTAL responsibility
> > for our own health care. I don't personally know
> > this Kathy, but I know all
> > too well her story. We must be vigilant, and end
> > this awful thing, CANCER!
> > Knowledge is freedom.
> >
> > Ovarian Cancer Test - Incredible! Must Read!
> >
> > This is Kathy's Story:
> >
> > As all of you know, I have Primary Peritoneal
> > Cancer. This cancer has only
> > recently been identified as its OWN type of cancer;
> > but it is essentially
> > Ovarian Cancer. Both types of cancer are diagnosed
> > in the
> > same way with the "tumor marker" CA-125 blood test,
> > and they are treated in
> > the same way (surgery to remove the primary tumor
> > and then chemotherapy with
> > Taxol and Carboplatin).
> >
> > Having gone through this ordeal, I want to save
> > others from the same fate.
> > That is why I am sending this message to you and
> > hope you will print it and
> > give it or send it via e-mail to everybody you know.
> > One thing I have
> > learned is that each of us must take TOTAL
> > responsibility for our own health
> > care. I thought I had done that because I always had
> > an
> > annual physical had my annual and PAP smear, did
> > monthly Self-Breast Exam,
> > went to the dentist at least twice/year, etc. I
> > even insisted on a
> > sigmoidoscopy and a bone density test last year.
> > When I had a total
> > hysterectomy in 1993, I thought that I did not have
> > to worry about getting
> > any of the female reproductive organ cancers.
> >
> > LITTLE DID I KNOW! I don't have ovaries (and they
> > were HEALTHY when
> > they were removed), but I have what is essentially
> > ovarian cancer. Strange,
> > isn't it?
> >
> > These are just SOME of the things our Doctors never
> > tell us.
> >
> > ONE out of every 55 women will get OVARIAN or
> > PRIMARY PERITONEAL CANCER!
> >
> > The "CLASSIC" symptoms are ! ! an ABDOMEN that
> > rather SUDDENLY ENLARGES and
> > CONSTIPATION and/or DIARRHEA. I had these classic
> > symptoms and went to the
> > Doctor. Because these symptoms seemed to be
> > "abdominal," I went to a
> > gastroenterologist. He ran tests that were designed
> > to determine whether
> > there was a bacterial infection; these tests were
> > negative, and I was
> > diagnosed with "Irritable Bowel Syndrome."
> >
> > I guess I would have accepted this diagnosis had it
> > not been for my
> > enlarged abdomen. I swear to you, it looked like I
> > was 4-5 months pregnant!
> > I therefore insisted on more tests. They took an
> > X-ray of my abdomen; it
> > was negative. I was again assured that I had
> > Irritable Bowel
> > Syndrome and was encouraged to go on my scheduled
> > month-long trip to Europe.
> > I couldn't wear any of my slacks or shorts because I
> > couldn't! ! get them
> > buttoned, and I KNEW something was radically wrong.
> > I INSISTED on more
> > tests, and they (reluctantly) scheduled me for a
> > CT-Scan (just to shut me
> > up, I think). This is what I mean by taking charge
> > of our own health care.
> > The CT-Scan showed a lot of fluid in my abdomen (NOT
> > normal). Needless to
> > say, I had to cancel my trip and have FIVE POUNDS of
> > fluid drawn off at the
> > hospital (not a pleasant
> > procedure, I assure you but NOTHING compared to what
> > was ahead of me).
> >
> > Tests revealed cancer cells in the fluid. Finally,
> > finally, finally, the
> > Doctor ran a CA-125 blood test and I was properly
> > diagnosed. I HAD THE
> > CLASSIC SYMPTOMS FOR OVARIAN CANCER AND YET THIS
> > SIMPLE CA-125 BLOOD TEST
> > HAD NEVER BEEN RUN ON ME, NOT AS PART OF MY ANNUAL
> > PHYSICAL EXAM AND NOT
> > WHEN I WAS SYMPTOMATIC. THIS IS AN INEXPENSIVE AND
> > SIMPLE BLOOD TEST!!!
> >
> > PLEASE, PLEASE, P-L-E-A-S-E TELL ALL YOUR FEMALE
> > FRIENDS AND RELATIVES TO
> > INSIST ON A CA-125 BLOOD TEST EVERY YEAR AS PART OF
> > THEIR ANNUAL PHYSICAL
> > EXAMS. BE FOREWARNED THAT THEIR DOCTORS MIGHT TRY TO
> > TALK THEM OUT OF IT,
> > SAYING "IT ISN'T NECESSARY." BELIEVE ME, HAD I KNOWN
> > THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW,
> > WE WOULD HAVE
> > CAUGHT MY CANCER MUCH EARLIER (BEFORE IT WAS A STAGE
> > 3 CANCER)!
> > INSIST ON THE CA-125 BLOOD TEST; DON'T TAKE "NO" FOR
> > AN ANSWER.
> > THE NORMAL RANGE FOR A CA-125 BLOOD TEST IS BETWEEN
> > ZERO AND 35. MINE WAS
> > 754... (THAT'S RIGHT, 754!) IF THE NUMBER IS
> > SLIGHTLY ABOVE 35, YOU CAN
> > HAVE ANOTHER ONE DONE IN THREE OR SIX MONTHS AND
> > KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON IT,
> > JUST LIKE WOMEN DO WHEN THEY HAVE FIBROID TUMORS OR
> > WHEN MEN HAVE A
> > SLIGHTLY ELEVATED PSA TEST (Prostrate SPECIFIC
> > ANTIGENS) THAT HELPS DIAGNOSE
> > PROSTATE CANCER. HAVING THE CA-125 TEST DONE
> > ANNUALLY CAN
> > ALERT YOU EARLY, AND THAT'S THE GOAL IN DIAGNOSING
> > ANY TYPE OF CANCER -
> > CATCH IT EARLY!!!!!
> >
> > I hope I haven't bored you with all of this. But I
> > hope I HAVE scared you
> > enough to motivate you to action. Do YOU know 55
> > women? If so, at least one
> > of them will have this VERY AGGRESSIVE cancer - and
> > maybe,
> > just maybe, it will be YOU. I hope not!
> >
> > Please, go to your doctor THIS WEEK and insist on a
> > CA-125 test and have one
> > EVERY YEAR for the rest of your life. And forward
> > this message
> > to every woman you know and tell all of your female
> > family members and
> > friends.
> >
> > Though the median age for this cancer is 56 (and,
> > guess what, I'm &nb! !
> > sp;exactly 56), women as young as 22 have it. Age is
> > not a factor.
> >
> > Note from Lisa:
> >
> > I have a coworker whose mother did not survive this
> > cancer. She repeatedly
> > requested a CA-125 blood test when her troubles
> > first started. But like the
> > lady in this e-mail, her doctor refused, saying that
> > it was something else besides her ovaries. Don't
> > look at this as a morbid
> > subject. Consider this as awake-up call for our
> > health. If Susan G. Komen's
> > sister had not been so persistent, we would not have
> > mammograms.
> >
> > Well, after these two incidents, I made some calls.
> > I found that the CA-125
> > test is an ovarian screening test equivalent to a
> > man's PSA test
> > prostrate screening (which Ron's doctor
> > automatically gives him in his
> > physical each year and insurance pays for). I
> > called my general
> > practitioner's office about having the test done.
> > The nurse had never heard
> > of it. She told me that she doubted that insurance
> > would pay for it. So I
> > called Prudential Insurance Co., and got the same
> > response. Never heard of
> > it - it won't be covered. I explained that it was
> > the same as the PSA
> > test that they had paid for my husband for years.
> > After conferring with
> > whomever they confer with, she told me that the
> > CA-125 test would be
> > covered.
> >
> > So I am having this blood test this Friday. For
> > those of you that still have
> > these parts, go have the test taken. It is $75 in
> > a GP's office and $125
> > at the GYN's. This a screening test that should be
> > required just like a pap
> >
> === message truncated ===
>
>One question for any doctors on the lists....is this test covered in
Israel?
> __________________________________________________
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