Dr Alison Farmer was forty years old when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Her symptoms? A bit of mid cyclic bleeding. Her general practitioner told her that it was a common thing and she had nothing to worry about but her medical background made her believe otherwise. She visited a gynaecologist who asked her to do an ultrasound which revealed a 5 cm mass. With surgery and chemotherapy, Alison was able to beat cancer in six months.
“I feel it was only my knowledge of medicine that pushed me to get a diagnosis. I suspect a lot of women would have accepted the first assessment that everything was normal.” writes Dr Farmer in this article.
Cancer presents itself with different symptoms but changes in the menstrual cycle often accompany other common symptoms. Lack of awareness could lead to misdiagnosis and result in potentially life-threatening situations. Dr Farmer’s medical background was what convinced her to get a second opinion because of which she was able to get a proper diagnosis. Unfortunately, most women are unaware of the menstruation-related symptoms seen during cancer.
Breast Cancer
While breast cancer is one of the most commonly talked about forms of cancer, it’s symptoms are usually associated with lumps or other changes felt in the breasts. But more often than not, breast cancer symptoms also involve changes in the menstrual cycle. Women who start menstruating younger than age 12 and reach menopause older than 55 are both at a much higher risk of getting breast cancer. Research suggests that this risk is also high for women who have few children or bear children later in life.
Family history plays a very important role in determining whether or not a woman will develop cancer during her lifetime. Barbara got the short end of the stick when it came to this. Coming from a family with a long history of cancer, she was diagnosed with not only breast cancer but also ovarian. Regular checkups, chemo and maintaining a healthy lifestyle helped her beat the illness without recurrence.
Cervical Cancer
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer found in Indian women after breast cancer, a population of 436.76 million women aged 15 and older is at risk of developing it in the country. Cervical cancer is hard to detect at early stages as it presents hardly any symptoms. Irregular vaginal bleeding and vaginal discharge are common symptoms that go unnoticed by most menstruators.
It is very important to get regular health checkups done as well as report any menstrual irregularity. Vaginal bleeding that happens mid-cycle or after sex is the most common symptom of cervical cancer. When gone undiagnosed for too long, it’s possible that patients may bleed continuously irrespective of whether they’re on their cycle as in the case of Marissa. While it is important to listen to doctors, it is also important to trust your own body when something’s wrong. Irregular bleeding, lower back pain, fatigue and weight loss are all common issues most women deal with but can also be symptoms of something serious like cancer and must be treated with the same level of importance.
While the appearance of tumours and cysts on the ovaries are not uncommon, they usually tend to benign (non-cancerous). Cancerous tumours are rare and can be deadly if not dealt with immediately. Amy Allen was 18 years old when she was wrongly diagnosed with PCOS by her gynaecologist after not getting her periods for six months. It was only after a biopsy that she was told she had a rare form of ovarian cancer. She made a full recovery after having her left ovary surgically removed. “Having your ovaries removed has an impact on your femininity in much the same way as having a breast removed,” writes Dr Farmer, who also had to have her ovaries removed.
Only 20 percent of ovarian cancers are detected early. Most women don’t even notice the symptoms until the cancer has reached an advanced stage. It is important to get regular checkups, especially if you have a family history of cancer, to get diagnosed early. Women who have used fertility drugs, had estrogen therapy post-menopause or had their first full-term pregnancy post 35 years of age, are all at a higher risk of getting ovarian cancer.
Uterine Cancer
Brenda, a retired teacher and educator, had already had her menopause when she started experiencing very heavy bleeding. She immediately scheduled an appointment with her doctor. It was in 2003, after a meeting with her doctor that she found out she had uterine cancer. Within a few months post-diagnosis, Brenda was able to completely rid herself of cancer and go back to regular life. Uterine cancer is more common amongst older women, most of whom have already been through menopause. Early diagnosis can help prevent the risk of cancer metastasising and causing even more damage.
Since most women are unaware of how menopause impacts the body, they tend to assume that irregular cycles tend to continue for a while and not get regular check-ups done. This was the mistake Toni made. After a full year of not having periods post-menopause, she started getting her periods again. She assumed this was a common occurrence and didn’t mention the periods to her gynec during her next appointment. By the time she was diagnosed, she’d already reached stage 3 uterine cancer. It is very important for women especially menopausal women, to get regular check-ups as well as report any noticeable changes in their body. It could be potentially life-saving.
Cancerous cells are cells that rapidly divide and replicate. Since chemotherapy is geared towards inhibiting such cells from dividing, it comes as no surprise that it would impact the cells of the ovaries that perform a very similar function. During chemo, the number and quality of eggs produced by a woman are significantly lower than normal. It is common for periods to stop completely during the treatment.
Whether periods will restart post-chemo depends on the age, type of drug and the dosage given to the patient. But the return of periods doesn’t necessarily mean that a woman can still have children and the lack of periods doesn’t mean that a woman can’t have children either. It is important to consult with a gynaecologist beforehand so that the patient is well aware of the potential side effects of chemotherapy.
More information on cancer awareness and treatment is available at The Indian Cancer Society.
The author is a part of the current batch of the #PeriodParGyan Writer’s Training Program