Nana Zeligman-Sommers makes several boldfaced points about ovarian cancer, BRCA and Ashkenazi Jewish women in our front page story this week. There is no test for ovarian cancer, the fifth leading cancer death for women in the US. Imagine a doctor telling a male patient that he should be tested for prostate cancer after age 50 but that no test is available. Fortunately, there is a test for prostate cancer.
About 20,000 women in America get ovarian cancer each year. If you’re a statistics buff, that is a drop in the bucket. Try telling that to Zeligman-Sommers, who has lost “many, many sisters” to the disease. In 2009, 20,460 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 14,436 women died.
The 14,436 figure does not refer to women diagnosed in 2009. They were diagnosed earlier, usually too late to save their lives. Early detection has decreased breast cancer deaths, and we loudly applaud this achievement. But deaths from ovarian cancer are not declining. The four warning sings listed in our story are vague and often attributed to other problems. Women must be diligent.
It’s a medical fact that Ashkenazi women have a higher risk for both breast and ovarian cancer due to the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation. Women with a family history (personal or on the maternal and paternal side of the family), especially relatives who developed reproductive cancers prior to menopause, might be advised to seek genetic counseling. Women must be diligent.
Doctors are experts. Their years of study, practice and dedication make them far more knowledgable than their patients. That said, no one understands the rhythms of their bodies better that the patients themselves. A slight twinge in the abdomen. Unusual bleeding. A bloated feeling. Change in appetite. Drinking too much water. The list is endless. Everyone must be diligent.
Zeligman-Sommers will only work with an oncologist who acts as her partner, not as an authoritarian master. She’s right. We’re not telling you to wag indignant fingers in your physician’s face before the blood work is analyzed or the scans are read.
But when you are handed a diagnosis, frightening or merely incovenient, be your own advocate. Consider your questions, write them down, and ask them. If the answer is unsatisfactory, ask again. Who cares if you sound like a hypochondriac or a neurotic or merely self-obsessed? Ask your questions. Don’t allow ignorance to be the stone in your path. Be diligent.
So many medical conditions are beyond our control. Cancer is one of them, as is Parkinson’s, MS, ALS, type 1 diabetes. And because no one gets out of this world alive, you’re a candidate for something. You may be lucky enough to pass away peacefully in your sleep, or perhaps your next drive to the mall is an accident waiting to happen. Still, knowledge is power, even if you are essentially powerless. Be diligent, be wise. Fight.
Copyright © 2013 by the Intermountain Jewish News
