My aunt, who recently turned 50, was diagnosed with uterine cancer a week ago Monday. She had been experiencing unusual vaginal bleeding since early September and also developed a staph infection from a cat bite in her calf area, around this time. She was hospitalized for the staph infection and during the same time, was seeing a gynecologist in the Alexandria, Virginia area, for the post-menopausal bleeding. In the course of the last several months, my Suzanne's (my aunt) appointments were re-scheduled not once, twice, three or even four times. Her gynecologist canceled on her five times for varied reasons (IE: deliveries, etc.) Suzanne was told by her doctor that she suffered from fibroids, which are malignant tumors that typically do not show symptoms or need surgery, in order to correct. Suzanne started experiencing abdominal pain and as this was all occurring around the time of her staph infection, it was thought that it was related to that particular problem. She saw her gynecologist a week or so before the Thanksgiving holiday and had a series of tests run, in order to further investigate the reason for her abdominal pain and unusual vaginal bleeding. The abdominal pain got so severe and her urinating became so spastic that she was admitted into the hospital and while there, her gynecologist came to inform her that she had uterine cancer. After this diagnosis made by her, the gynecologist then told Suzanne that was inconclusive and that she could just be suffering from large fibroids in her reproductive area. Another family member tried to contact this gynecologist and obtain information from her about the course of treatment for my aunt and the severity of the cancer and she never returned their calls. The hospital released Suzanne and prescribed her to oral pain medications, although she continued to writhe in pain and could not stand straight. At this point, my aunt was transferred from the Alexandria hospital to the Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville, North Carolina, in order to receive the necessary treatment to rid her of cancer and be closer to her family. The CT scan, which was taken at the Alexandria hospital late last week, prior to her discharge, was just obtained by Pitt Memorial yesterday morning and the results are devastatingly negative. She has the worst possible form of Stage IV cancer; not only is there a grapefruit-sized tumor in her uterus, cancer was found in her intestines and abdominal lymph nodes, as well. The tumor in her abdomen is too large to operate on at this point and the cancer has spread too far for surgery to be effective, as of now. In doing research on the severity of Stage 4 uterine cancer, only 20% of diagnosed women live a full year after diagnosis; only 25% of those living past five years. Assuming those numbers are accurate, that is only a 5% survival rate of 5 years+. She starts her chemotherapy treatment tonight and will have 3 rounds, 3 weeks apart. Hopefully, this will reduce the tumors and stop the spreading so she can have them removed surgically and the cancer will go into remission.
This is devastating to me because if my aunt knew the warning signs and
had a gynecologist that knew what to look for, then her probability of
survival would be a lot greater. If a patient is experiencing all the
symptoms of uterine cancer and was at high risk for it, then the doctor
should immediately run tests (such as pelvic exams/biopsy/trans-vaginal
ultrasound) to identify the problem and avoid worse consequences and
not dismiss the symptoms as being related to fibroids.I am very concerned about the health and survival of my aunt and worried that she may not make it to her next birthday. She is a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. for IPAA and lives on her own, has made her own successful career through hard work and determination. I'm keeping hope and we have a great family that is supporting her every step of the way and with prayer, I believe that she can fight the statistical likelihood and beat this cancer.
In doing research on uterine cancer, I discovered that it is the FOURTH most common cancer in American women and the most invasive gynecological cancer, as it affects 36,000 women a year. No one deserves cancer ever but if it can be caught in time, it is pretty treatable in most cases. For being such a prominent cancer in women, the risk factors and symptoms of this disease are sadly not publicized as they should be. Women, especially post-menopausal and over the age of 50, need to be
more aware of this cancer, as they have a 1/40 chance of developing it.
It would be really great to hear success stories from women who have beat this and regained a normal life and it is encouraging to scan the message boards and see the many survival stories.