Save a life.. maybe even your own.
Ladies (and gentlemen, while this isn't specifically addressed to you.. you can pass this along to the women in your life.. wives, moms, daughters, girlfriends.. any female that you care about their health and well being).. please be sure and get your annual pap smear done.
If your monthly bleeding has become unusual.. more frequent or less.. see your doctor. If you're post-menopausal and start bleeding again.. see your doctor.
The doctor may tell you everything is fine .. or you may catch the beginning of a more serious process.
I have a friend who had a sister.. said sister had avoided going to the gyn for a number of years. Guess what? That sister died in 2006.. ON MY BIRTHDAY.. of a gyn cancer. A year later.. I had my diagnosis. I was so scared.
And I have a word for the gyn's and other doctors who do endometrial biopsies out there. I was seeing a doctor who would not give ANY pre procedural pain medication. After having two painful biopsies.. I quit going to the doctor for a couple/three years. This is when my cancer started to develop. IF the doctor had even given 800 mg of Motrin (Ibuprofin) before the biopsy.. the likelihood that my problem would've been allowed to develop into cancer is much much smaller.
Please physicians.. we ladies aren't asking for major pain meds.. just enough to make the biopsy tolerable. I'm still a bit angry over the mistreatment..but in a way it was also a blessing. If I had continued to see that doctor and cancer raised its head anyway... I wonder how callous she would've been treating the cancer??
Save a life.. get your pap smears done.
I try to have mine around the time of my birthday.. easy to remember. Pin it to a date that is significant for you. Anniversary, Graduation, Fourth of July, Halloween (you can go in disguise..lol).. just GET IT DONE.
:::stepping down off my soapbox::::
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Some facts about Gyn Cancers
From Medical News Today
According to the American Cancer Society, each year approximately 82,550 women in the United States are diagnosed with cancers affecting the reproductive organs.
Here are facts on gynecologic cancers from the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation:
-- Every seven minutes a woman is diagnosed with gynecologic cancer.
-- Gynecologic cancers are caused by the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells originating in the female reproductive organs, including the cervix, ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes, vagina and vulva.
-- Risk factors include smoking, aging, environmental influences, family history, failure to receive regular pap tests, not bearing children, infertility, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and estrogen use.
-- Gynecologic cancers warning signs and symptoms include unusual vaginal bleeding or discharge; a sore that does not heal; pain or pressure in the pelvic area; a persistent change in bowel or bladder habits; frequent indigestion or abdominal bloating; and a thickening or lump that either causes pain or can be seen or felt.
-- Gynecologic cancers can be treated by surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and experimental treatments.
Ovarian cancer ranks fifth as a cause of cancer deaths among women and causes more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system.
Uterine cancer is the most common cancer of the female reproductive organs. It is estimated that more than 40,000 new cases will be diagnosed in 2004.
An estimate of more than 10,000 cases of invasive cervical cancer are expected to be diagnosed in 2004. During 1992-1996, cervical cancer death rates declined by approximately 2.1 percent in the United States.
Vulvar cancer is a very curable disease. Treatment includes surgically removing vulvar lesions and the groin lymph nodes.
Vaginal cancer is very rare. It is usually diagnosed in elderly women with abnormal bleeding and treated with radiation.
Fallopian tubes cancer is rare.
According to the American Cancer Society, each year approximately 82,550 women in the United States are diagnosed with cancers affecting the reproductive organs.
Here are facts on gynecologic cancers from the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation:
-- Every seven minutes a woman is diagnosed with gynecologic cancer.
-- Gynecologic cancers are caused by the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells originating in the female reproductive organs, including the cervix, ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes, vagina and vulva.
-- Risk factors include smoking, aging, environmental influences, family history, failure to receive regular pap tests, not bearing children, infertility, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and estrogen use.
-- Gynecologic cancers warning signs and symptoms include unusual vaginal bleeding or discharge; a sore that does not heal; pain or pressure in the pelvic area; a persistent change in bowel or bladder habits; frequent indigestion or abdominal bloating; and a thickening or lump that either causes pain or can be seen or felt.
-- Gynecologic cancers can be treated by surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and experimental treatments.
Ovarian cancer ranks fifth as a cause of cancer deaths among women and causes more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system.
Uterine cancer is the most common cancer of the female reproductive organs. It is estimated that more than 40,000 new cases will be diagnosed in 2004.
An estimate of more than 10,000 cases of invasive cervical cancer are expected to be diagnosed in 2004. During 1992-1996, cervical cancer death rates declined by approximately 2.1 percent in the United States.
Vulvar cancer is a very curable disease. Treatment includes surgically removing vulvar lesions and the groin lymph nodes.
Vaginal cancer is very rare. It is usually diagnosed in elderly women with abnormal bleeding and treated with radiation.
Fallopian tubes cancer is rare.
Gynecological Cancer Awareness Month
September is national gynecological cancer awareness month. Think Peach and Teal (colors representing uterine and ovarian cancer).
I'm really unhappy with the program that was on all 3 networks this past Friday.. StandUp2Cancer. There was NO MENTION of any gyn cancer that I saw. They even had some actor simulate (or maybe it was real) a prostate exam.. not very tasteful in my opinion.. but if they were going to go that far.. why not talk about pap smears and how they can SAVE LIVES!!!
You can email StandUp2Cancer at:
http://su2c.standup2cancer.org/contact.php
or write to them at:
Stand Up To Cancer
1801 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90006
Be sure and praise them for taking a first step in getting the ball rolling.. but admonish them for leaving a whole section of the cancer spectrum out.
I just don't understand why the difference. Are we still afraid to say the words Vagina, Vulva, Uterus, Cervix, Tubes, Ovaries in mixed company? How are they so different that Prostate or Testicular? Except the later belong to men, and the former to women.. and have been sexualized.
In 2004 (the most recent year for which data are available), approximately 73,000 women in the United States were diagnosed with a cancer affecting the reproductive organs, and approximately 27,000 women died from some form of gynecologic cancer
We talk about Breast and Prostate and Colon cancer without blushing now.. why not talk about Gyn cancers too??
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/knowledge/
I'm really unhappy with the program that was on all 3 networks this past Friday.. StandUp2Cancer. There was NO MENTION of any gyn cancer that I saw. They even had some actor simulate (or maybe it was real) a prostate exam.. not very tasteful in my opinion.. but if they were going to go that far.. why not talk about pap smears and how they can SAVE LIVES!!!
You can email StandUp2Cancer at:
http://su2c.standup2cancer.org/contact.php
or write to them at:
Stand Up To Cancer
1801 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90006
Be sure and praise them for taking a first step in getting the ball rolling.. but admonish them for leaving a whole section of the cancer spectrum out.
I just don't understand why the difference. Are we still afraid to say the words Vagina, Vulva, Uterus, Cervix, Tubes, Ovaries in mixed company? How are they so different that Prostate or Testicular? Except the later belong to men, and the former to women.. and have been sexualized.
In 2004 (the most recent year for which data are available), approximately 73,000 women in the United States were diagnosed with a cancer affecting the reproductive organs, and approximately 27,000 women died from some form of gynecologic cancer
We talk about Breast and Prostate and Colon cancer without blushing now.. why not talk about Gyn cancers too??
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/knowledge/
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