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Jun 26, 2020 · Members of our patient community share their personal ovarian cancer stories to help those struggling with an ovarian cancer diagnosis. Stories and art have helped people come to terms with their experiences since the beginning of time.
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- Overview
- Early diagnosis saves lives
- Know the symptoms
- Advocate for yourself
- Take things one day at a time
- The takeaway: Listen to your body
Adora Rodriguez was only 16 years old when she developed a feeling of heaviness in her lower abdomen, along with severe bloating.
“I was like, ‘Mom, something isn’t right,’” Adora recalled. “My mom literally described it as, I ‘looked pregnant.’”
The feeling of heaviness in her belly was causing back pain and making it hard to sleep.
So, she went with her mother to an urgent care clinic, where healthcare providers ordered a pregnancy test. When it came back negative, they ordered an ultrasound exam.
“All they said was, it could possibly be severe constipation,” Adora told Healthline.
After multiple tests and scans, Adora learned that she had a mass in her abdomen.
Early diagnosis and treatment are essential for increasing the chances of survival in people with ovarian cancer.
Among those who get a diagnosis at an early stage, the American Cancer Society reports that about 94 percent live for more than 5 years after diagnosis.
In those who receive a diagnosis after the cancer has spread, the survival rates are much lower.
But only around 20 percent of ovarian cancers are detected at an early stage. Most people who develop ovarian cancer don’t learn they have it until after it’s already spread.
That’s because the symptoms of ovarian cancer are often very subtle and easy to miss.
The symptoms are also similar to those of other conditions, raising the risk of misdiagnosis.
According to Mariangela DiPietri, a 73-year-old ovarian cancer survivor, mother of three, and grandmother of 10, learning about the symptoms of ovarian cancer may prove lifesaving.
“I have been retired from my job at Stanley Foods as a service representative for 7 years now,” Mariangela told Healthline, “but I remember the day I was at a client restaurant during an appointment, when the excruciating pain in my abdomen got so bad I could hardly ask for a glass of water.”
After multiple hospital visits and an initial misdiagnosis, Mariangela learned she had masses on both ovaries. Those masses turned out to be stage 1 ovarian cancer.
Two months before then, Mariangela had attended a wellness conference with her daughter where she learned about ovarian cancer for the first time from women who had survived it.
“I’m forever thankful for the day I attended the wellness event,” Mariangela said. “I can’t stress enough the fact that awareness of symptoms of ovarian cancer and early diagnosis saved my life.”
Looking back, Mariangela realizes that she had been living with subtle symptoms of the disease for some time — including fatigue, bloating, back pain, and bladder fullness.
Less than 2 years ago, Vesna, a 46-year-old mother of three and owner of a martial arts fitness studio, visited her gynecologist to talk about a symptom that just wouldn’t go away: persistent abdominal bloating.
Vesna, who asked to go by her first name only for this story, had been used to waking up with a flat stomach. Then the bloating started, and her stomach wasn’t flat in the morning anymore. “It was kind of protruding out,” she told Healthline.
Her gynecologist thought that she likely had a urinary tract infection.
But Vesna was certain that wasn’t it.
“I said, ‘Can you do an internal sonogram?’ and she said, ‘No, no, no,’” Vesna recalled, “and she proceeded to tell me that she was going on vacation with her kids, so she was picking them up from school in 20 minutes.”
Vesna left her gynecologist’s office feeling dismissed, without any answers but sure that something was wrong.
An ovarian cancer diagnosis changes your life, Kristinna Abalos, a 30-year-old English teacher, writer, and survivor of stage 4 ovarian cancer, told Healthline.
Kristinna’s advice for getting through the process? Take it one day at a time.
“One of my great friends asked me, ‘Are you always going to describe yourself as a cancer patient?’ And I think what I learned through this is that looking at such a big time frame of ‘always’ is too much,” Kristinna said.
“I can only tell you how I feel today. Tomorrow may be different, and I think every day we wake up, we’re still just going to be at today,” she continued.
Kristinna learned that she had ovarian cancer about 4 years ago during an emergency cesarean delivery of her son, Shiloh.
The cancer had spread to other organs in her abdomen and required extensive surgery and chemotherapy to treat.
Currently, there are no reliable screening tests for ovarian cancer.
That’s why it’s so important to pay close attention to your body.
If you develop symptoms of ovarian cancer that persist for more than 2 weeks, the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition recommends making an appointment with your doctor.
If you don’t think that your healthcare provider is taking your concerns seriously or you’re not confident in the diagnosis or treatment plan they provide, get a second opinion.
- Heather Grey
Jul 10, 2023 · The biopsy confirmed that I had ovarian cancer, and I had a radical hysterectomy immediately. When I woke up from the surgery, my mother came in to break the news to me that I had ovarian cancer. She was devastated. But I was actually OK.
- Tara Mulder
Read in-depth ovarian cancer stories from our community members who share everything: first symptoms, treatment timeline, to navigating life with cancer.
Read the personal experiences of people affected by ovarian cancer, from coping with their diagnosis to sharing tips for treatment and what support they'd recommend.
Oct 18, 2023 · Ovarian Cancer Survivor Stories. What to know. Women from across the country have shared their personal survivor stories. Their firsthand accounts offer important lessons for other women. Stories. Janet's Cancer Survivor Story. If I hadn't mentioned the bleeding to my doctor, the outcome would have been much different. Oct. 18, 2023.
Oct 2, 2018 · How I Learned I Had Ovarian Cancer Pictured: Ovarian cancer survivor Julie Francisco urges women to heed their bodies and seek definitive diagnosis for even vague symptoms they know just aren't right.
