BONNIE B.: 2007, AGE 63
Cancer Doctors diagnosed me with ovarian tumour in October 2005 after conducting a bladder test before a hysterectomy. I mentioned to my doctor that my stomach seemed to be getting larger. He said, Oh, “I don’t like that. It may be a CA125 type cancer, let’s get an exam”. What a shock that was, so I also had an HPV Test. It took until November to see a surgeon after having a delayed appointment. Then, the surgeon went on vacation.
When he returned, I called for an appointment and was finally given one the next day. When he saw me, he said that I’d be in surgery the next day. I was in the hospital for 8 days because of fluid in my lungs. I received my first chemo in the hospital and 5 more after that. By July, my CA125 count levels were going up, and in October, I finally had more chemo. It was less than a year, and it had come back. So far, I’ve had 4 kinds of chemo and 23 treatments.
Now, my cancer is growing, and I cannot have any more chemo. The doctor suggested Hospice, and I am enrolled in it. I feel okay these days, except for a few other unrelated ailments, and I am finally getting over the chemo. It has hurt my memory, which doesn’t seem to be improving. I am going on day to day with the help of my family and friends and antidepressants. My prognosis is a few months to a year. I will keep going because I’m not ready to leave this earth soon. My grandboys are still young, and I want to see them grow.
VICKIE: 2007, AGE 43
After thinking on it for years I finally received an ovarian HPV diagnosis test result in July after experiencing symptoms for 2 years. It started with stomach problems, reflux and built-up acids. I thought I had started menopause because my periods would stop for a while and then start again. Later, they sent me for an HPV DNA test and an upper GI and blood work, which revealed only high cholesterol, and I have a dangerous virus infection which appeared to have riddled my body everywhere. I switched doctors in 20004 and do not have a gyn now. I did not have insurance until around this time.
My family doctor did my pap screening and ran all the bloodwork panels. I told him about my periods being irregular after years of normal. He said my blood work showed only a slight pre-menopause. I also started having really bad mood swings, pain in my abdomen, swelling, weight gain, and flu-like symptoms. My doctor puts me on antidepressants. I gained more weight and felt even worse. He changed my antidepressants. When he suggested lithium, I said no.
I know by this time, his nurse was thinking I was a hypochondriac. I had 2 ultrasounds because my doctor was stuck on me being a big candidate for gallbladder trouble. When my right side started hurting, he checked my appendix. I was so frustrated that I decided not to go back to see any doctor. Then, one night, around the end of June 2005, I was lying in bed and felt a big knot on my right side. My husband felt it and said I should go back to the doctor.
Hope
I was scared because my Dad had died from stomach cancer, and I was also frustrated. I waited three weeks to go back to the doctor. When I went into his office with his CA125 Levels Nurse, acting like I shouldn’t be there, I told them I had a tumour. They thought I was crazy for sure this time.
The doctor felt where I showed him and immediately sent me for a Ca125 Level test and a CT scan. They instructed me to return to the doctor’s office after the scan, where my husband, who had been called at work an hour away, was also asked to be present. The doctor couldn’t believe what he saw on the scan. I had a 16cm tumour. The HPV Doctor was trying to decide where to send me for further checkups when my sister-in-law, who worked there, told me about a doctor in North Carolina, Dr Brigette Miller, of Bowman Gray. It was the best thing I ever did going to her. I had a complete hysterectomy or oophorectomy, and my appendix and omentum were removed. I had two ports put in and did taxol in the top and carbo in the bottom straight to the peritoneum for 6 exams and treatments.
Final message
I was okay for 8 months, and my Count went up. According to the radiologist at my area hospital, my CT scan showed nothing, but my gyn-onc had her people look at it, and they found a small spot. I tried to do a trial drug, but it made me too sick, so I ended up doing Doxil, which burned my feet badly.
I finished it in May 2007, and I just got a call today, Sept. 25, that my CA125 ovarian level is up, and I will start tamoxifen tomorrow. I am feeling scared because I don’t know what to expect from this drug. I can’t continue my life without knowing what is coming next, so a DNA Type is the start of the awareness process. Variant type Cancer can do things to a person that you wouldn’t believe if you had never had it. I am staying strong for myself, my children, and my grandchildren. I have found that I enjoy my own company now that I am not experiencing any of the uncontrollable rage and anxiety I felt before my surgery. As long as the good LORD lets me, I will stay around. Good luck, and keep up your spirits with good thoughts.
MARIA: 2007, AGE 44
I had to travel to my country for surgery in June of this year. I had new insurance and had to wait 6 months until it would cover any surgery. The HPV virus-related cyst my test doctor screened found on my right ovary was growing fast. I couldn’t wait any longer. And I felt confident that the cyst would be benign. I had extensively researched that most cysts were benign before menopause. At 44 years old, I didn’t anticipate this happening to me, but it did; the cyst was malignant and diagnosed as Epithelial Serous Carcinoma. I underwent a total hysterectomy, and Lab pathology and other exams confirmed malignancy only in the right ovary. That makes it stage 1, I suppose, specifically stage 1c, as the cyst ruptured during its removal by the surgeon.
I haven’t had any HPV-related treatment tests since my insurance here in the US won’t cover it until the end of October. Feeling healthy, the only thing I have had since I came back has been a CA125 result with an order from an oncologist from my country, which was 5. My symptoms before the surgery were like everybody else’s: bloating, constipation and what kept coming to mind was IBS. I didn’t even know this happened to women as young as 16 like I have been reading on this site. We must tell the world to get checked for the HPV variants and OVARIAN, CA125 Tumours!