Yesterday I met with my oncologist, a cheerful man whose very presence is therapeutic, and I asked him the question many people have been asking me: how did this cancer get so far advanced without being detected?
He told me that an aggressive carcinoma such as mine can masquerade as a harmless fibroid, invading tissue and expanding its influence without providing any external symptom except (drum roll please) heavy bleeding.
Okay ladies, show of hands: how many of you have been told by certified medical professionals that heavy bleeding is "not unusual at your age"? Or "it might help if you lost some weight"? (I lost 100 pounds! It didn't help!) Or "you could just tough it out for a few years until menopause"?
How useful is a symptom that can indicate any number of conditions from "normal aging" to "benign fibroid" to "aggressive carcinoma"?
For a long time I stuck with a doctor of the "tough-it-out-until-menopause" variety, but eventually, I got tired of hearing the same old thing and switched to someone new. And here's the really scary question: what if I hadn't switched?
3 comments:
There's a counterfactual I don't want to ponder for too long. Very glad you switched to a new doctor. Sometimes a second opinion can make all the difference.
I'm glad you switched doctors. No answer for how to avoid the problem you outline. It sucks.
Glad you switched, too. Love the title : )
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