The Peach Campaign: The Need to Raise Awareness about Uterine Cancers

It was my friend, Trina, who taught me that peach color is used to represent uterine cancers.  She has been wearing a peach ribbon in my honor whenever she runs in half-marathons since learning of my diagnosis.

When I found out I had endometrial cancer, I realized I did not know much about this type of cancer.  I knew much more about breast cancer largely because the pink campaign is so strong.  It has raised awareness about breast cancer.  I knew of other cancers like melanoma, bone marrow, brain and esophageal because I knew people who survived those cancers.  Endometrial cancer was a new territory for me.

There was a documentary made about gynecologic cancers: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/nedthemovie/ in hopes to raise awareness about 'below the belt' cancers which include endometrial cancer.  I have not seen the film yet but some of the women in the online support group that I am part of shared some tidbits.

1. Equal number of women die from gynecologic cancer as men die from prostate cancer.  However, gynecologic cancers receive less than 50% of the funding than prostate cancer does.

2. At a large conference of gynecologists, a gynecologic oncologist asked how many of them heard of the pink campaign.  ALL of them did.  Many of them donated to the pink campaign causes.  Very few in the audience knew about the Foundation for Women's Cancer and none of them have donated to the funding for gynecologic cancer research.   Sadly, those are the doctors that women depend on to monitor for early detection of gynecologic cancers.

It certainly helped me understand why Dr. Busch thought my period changes were just normal.  Dr. Busch probably did not know anything about identifying warning signs of gynecologic cancers. 

I learned about the Foundation of Women's Cancer through my support group (http://www.foundationforwomenscancer.org/) and have found their website to be full of great resources.   Here's some information for you all to review: http://www.foundationforwomenscancer.org/wp-content/uploads/Facts-about-Gynecologic-Cancers.pdf.

Today Mike and I were shopping today looking for peach-colored ribbons, balloons, and paper.  We went to several stores and could not find any peach-colored balloons and ribbons.  I commented that finding peach-colored stuff is as hard as finding women who had endometrial cancer before menopause.  It ain't a peachy ride.  We'll figure it out one way or another.

Postscript: Thanks to Amazon.com... we found peach balloons and ribbons. :-)

How It All Began....

Back in May 2014, I noticed that my period was changing.  I was bleeding heavily.  It was becoming painful.  I was getting concerned.  I thought maybe it was my hemochromatosis acting up and getting rid of excess iron through menstruation.  I kept an eye on it anyway.

July 2014: I was walking to a hair appointment in Washington, DC when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my uterus.  The pain was overwhelming that I passed out right on the sidewalk.  I was puzzled by this. Around the same time, I got a postcard from the gynecology office reminding me that it was due for my pap smear.  Perfect timing.

August 2014: My pap smear and follow-up visit.  I explained to the gynecologist, Dr. Busch, that I was bleeding WAY more than normal and I was in a lot of pain.  It was NOT normal.  Her response: "It is normal."  She told me I would need endometrial ablation if I couldn't bear with it any longer.  For now, she would prescribe me Naproxen Sodium 500 mg to help with the pain.  I asked her if she was going to order tests or ultrasound to look to see what's going on.  She said she didn't need to.  Hmph.

October 2014: My iron levels were dropping.  My hematologist was puzzled and concerned.  I told her about how my periods were much worse.  She said that I should get a pelvic ultrasound and I need to go to my gynecologist to get that done.  I told her that the gynecologist wouldn't even LOOK.  She decided to order one for me anyway.  I had a pelvic ultrasound done the following week.

November 2014: My hematologist called me and said that I had a polyp and two fibroids in my uterus which could explain why my periods were different.  She said I needed to get it taken care of right away with my gynecologist.  At this point, I knew I did not want to work with Dr. Busch anymore.  After all, she wouldn't even LOOK.  I was preparing for a move to Annapolis in December so I thought I would see about finding a new gynecologist to work with to get that polyp taken care of.  New patients are usually seen much later but after I sent them the radiologist's report, they wanted to work with me.

Christmas Eve: I met with Dr. Hays, my new gynecologist, in Annapolis.  She told me that the polyp needed to go as it was causing me to bleed heavily and causing pain.  Surgery was scheduled for January 9th.  I was going to have hysteroscopy to remove the polyp along with dilation and curettage.

January 9: The big day.  I was in and out of the hospital in four hours.  Dr. Hays told me in recovery that they found multiple polyps.  She gave me pictures of a few polyps.  She said she was not worried as they were probably benign and I will finally see relief with my menstruation going forward.

I left feeling better that I had those removed.  I went home to recover from surgery and to get back to my life.  I was still bugged by the fact I had ONE polyp and then it multiplied.

Turned out it was cancer after all.