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Re: Facing High Risk Hysterectomy for Endometrial Cancer (Long)
From: Annina (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Wed, 14 Jun 2000 05:46:04 -0500 (CDT)
At Tue, 13 Jun 2000, Herring, wrote:
>
>Annina,
>I do hope that everything goes okay with you this week. You sound like a
>very strong woman, and I am sure you will have no problem fighting this. I
>just wanted to let you know that Stein-Leventhal Syndrome is another name
>for PCOS. And, it seems as though they treated you with the same thing
>(birth control pills) that many of the women on here are being told by their
>own doctors is the treatment for PCOS.
>
>Take care
>Annetta
>
Annetta,
Thanks for the uplifting words. It means a lot to me for women
similarly afflicted to understand what it's like to have PCOS, and the
risks at hand. I did know that Stein-Leventhal was another name for
PCOS, I just didn't make that very clear in my message. Thanks for
removing the ambiguity...I really shouldn't write this stuff in the dead
of night/morning, when even the cats have sighed, given up, and gone to
bed. <grin>
-Annina
>-----Original Message-----
>From: anonymous@obgyn.net [mailto:anonymous@obgyn.net
>Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2000 1:08 PM
>To: Multiple recipients of list PCOS
>Subject: Re: Facing High Risk Hysterectomy for Endometrial Cancer (Long)
>
>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
>
--
-Annina
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