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Re: Facing High Risk Hysterectomy for Endometrial Cancer (Long)From: Barbara (anonymous@obgyn.net)Tue, 13 Jun 2000 13:06:00 -0500 (CDT)
Annina, Bless you, and thank you for sharing your story. I hope that whatever you find out this week, you can keep your fighting attitude. It is amazing what a difference that can make. I hope that anyone who has been "on the fence" about how to deal with their PCOS, or the possibility of that diagnosis will use your story to motivate them to seek the help they need NOW. Good luck to you, and please keep in touch and let us know how things go for you. At Tue, 13 Jun 2000, Annina wrote: > >I know there's no life in the land of "if only," but there are still >days, since I read Kerry Smith's wonderful article in the March 5, 2000 >issue of Woman's Day, that I've wondered where I'd be today IF medical >science had connected the dots of symptoms and figured out that PCOS is >a systemic metabolic disorder BEFORE I went through decades of >self-hate, obesity and all that entails, infertility, irregular periods, >and eventual endometrial hyperplasia. > >I was actually told when I was 13 and had been having irregular periods >since I started menarche at age 11, that I probably had "polycystic >ovaries." That was it...no treatment (they didn't have birth control >pills yet), and I was more or less told it would probably straighten out >when I grew up and started having babies. (!) > >Then after marriage and infertility, I was tested and told I had >Stein-Leventhal Syndrome, and put on the birth control pill, which I'd >been on before marriage, but gone off in hopes of conceiving. So, after >a while, I went off again and tried to get pregnant. Nothing. > >After marriage, I began to gain weight in heaps. I had been hovering >around 180, but by the time I'd been married a decade, I was in the 250 >range, and then 300, and stayed between 300 and 350 lbs. no matter how >I dieted or lost...it always crept back on. Doctors of course thought I >was eating with both hands and dining on cream and fried chicken, and >threw their hands up in the air and said, "You're morbidly obese! Lose >weight!" (As if I actually WANTED to be fat!) > >I'd been getting endometrial biopsies over the years that showed >hyperplasia, and 16 months ago some precancerous cells, but my doctors >thought Provera would control things, as I was at very high risk for >surgery, having cardiac arrythmias, asthma, and an autoimmune disease on >top of everything else. Then this spring I started >bleeding...flooding...clots quite literally the size of my fist that >were 6 oz. in a graduated measuring cup. I lost up to a pint a day, >started passing out and having fast heartbeats (tachycardia), and >finally had to have a transfusion because my hemoglobin was half the >normal levels. They infused me quickly, in the ER, not taking more than >an hour and a half, rather than the normal four hours for two >units...the doctor was that concerned. > >It was then that fate stepped in. My OB/GYN was ill the day after the >transfusion, and I was referred to an on-call doctor, who took one look >at my chart, got very upset, and said, "I hate to be the one to tell you >this, but if you've got PCOS, have had the endometrial biopsies you've >had, and you've been bleeding this severely, you probably have cancer. >I'm going to get you an ASAP appointment with the only GYN oncologist in >this part of Florida." One D&C later, yes...but to be sure, before he >opens me up, he sent the slides for a 2nd opinion to a specialist. I >find out Thursday (June 15) what the final diagnosis is...and then I'm >going to take my chances and go for the surgery, just like Kerry Smith >did in her article. I'm older (49), but determined to get the cancer >out of the way, get treatment for the PCOS (at long last!!!), and get >healthy. I'm so sick and tired of being sick and tired! And I have far >too many books and other writing to complete, and I'm going to see my 17 >year old son finish growing up, so I'm fighting!! > >I'm over the scary part of hearing a cancer diagnosis, and well into my >"fighting mode." > >My message to you readers is to not let doctors who do not yet have the >full story on PCOS tell you you're not at risk, or you don't have it, or >it's all in your head! Fight for your health! And use the Internet >wisely...go to sites that have credentials, such as this one. > >I'll check back next week and let y'all know how things are going! > >-- >-Annina >
-- Barbara
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