Ovarian Cancer

I'm a little late with this, but did you know that the month of September has officially been designated by President Bush as Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month?

Yep. 

A Poclamation by the President of the United States of America

During National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, we remember those whose lives have been affected by this deadly disease, and we underscore our commitment to battling ovarian cancer for the sake of women around the world.

Each year, thousands of American women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Many will lose their lives to this disease. Because ovarian cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, it is vital for women to make regular visits to their doctors for screenings and to discuss risk factors and warning signs. Early detection is the best way to help doctors diagnose cancer before it has a chance to spread. It also makes treatment more effective and increases the chances for survival. I encourage all women to learn more about preventive measures and screening options that may help to save their lives.

America leads the world in medical research, and my Administration remains dedicated to the fight against ovarian cancer. I signed the "Gynecologic Cancer Education and Awareness Act of 2005," or "Johanna's Law," that helps to raise awareness among women and health care providers about female reproductive cancers. Additionally, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are conducting important research to help make the innovative advances we need in order to eradicate this disease. NIH's Cancer Genome Atlas is also helping researchers gain a greater understanding of the genetic sources of cancer. Together, we will continue building on our progress until there is a cure for cancer.

As we observe National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, we honor those who have fought this disease. We also recognize the compassionate caregivers, doctors, and researchers who are dedicated to preventing, detecting, and treating ovarian cancer.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 2008 as National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. I call upon government officials, businesses, communities, health care professionals, educators, volunteers, and the people of the United States to continue our Nation's strong commitment to preventing and treating ovarian cancer.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Cool, eh? 

Of course we're competing with Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Month, but you've gotta take it where you can get it, right?

Anyhoo...just to let you know, if you're one of my devoted Twin Citian Cake Eater Readers, the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance, of which I am a member and a volunteer, is sponsoring its Ninth Annual SILENT NO MORE RUN/WALK this coming Saturday, September 13th at Rosland Park right here in Cake Eater Land!  Woohoo!  It's $25 to walk, you'll probably get a tee shirt, and it's only a 2K.  Very, very easy to complete for all of you couch potatoes.  The proceeds from the walk go toward funding ovarian cancer research.   And, yes, I will be there, so if you want to show up, let me know in advance and you can walk with the husband, Mr. H. and myself. 

And, believe you me, my devoted Cake Eater readers, we need every little dime we can lay our paws on, because the government isn't doing shit for ovarian cancer research.  They spend about $3000 for every death attributable to breast cancer on breast cancer research; when it comes to ovarian cancer, we get about $600 per death.  Not very fair, is it, particuarly when you know that the five year survival rate for breast cancer, across all the stages of the disease, is 89%, and the five year survival rate, across all the stages, for ovarian cancer is 45%.  Yeah, there are fewer of us diagnosed, but more of us die.  Komen has done a fantastic job raising awareness and funds for breast cancer research, and part of that is about raising these issues on Capitol Hill.  They've got a fantastic lobbying effort up there, and it's really paid off, but, part of the reason for their success is that while many more women are affected by breast cancer---1 in 8---they have many more survivors to bang the drum for research money.  Ovarian cancer may only affect 1in 57---but we don't have as many survivors to go up to Capitol Hill to lobby for money for research----not when roughly half of the women affected will die within five years of being diagnosed.

Now, you, my devoted Cake Eater readers, know, with certain exceptions, I am not the biggest charity advocate out there.  I am NOT a joiner; that kind of stuff is for other people, not me.  Dr. Academic talked to me, very early in my treatment, about getting involved with MOCA because, as he put it, "They've got something of a longevity problem."  Meaning, by the time women really got involved and started advocating, they recurred and ultimately died of the disease.  This doesn't necessarily help with forward progress, ya dig?  But, for the most part, I wasn't game.  I didn't want to get involved.  Couldn't someone else do it?  I hemmed and hawed, legitimately claimed illness, but once I got better, I succumbed,  basically, because I felt I didn't have a choice in the matter.  I LIVED.  THEY DIDN'T.  If I was the one who cacked because of this disease (which fortunately doesn't seem to be the case) wouldn't I want someone banging on for research money to make sure no one else had to go through the same hell I did?  

I'm one of the lucky ones who is going to live, long and well, because they caught my cancer early.  Ovarian cancer is VERY treatable if it's found in the early stages.  The problem is, though, we have no early screening test, something along the lines of a mammogram or a pap smear, and  the symptoms are so vague most OB-GYNs are so dismissive of them, that women go, quite literally, for years without it being diagnosed.  I've heard stories of women who went undiagnosed for years and when it finally was diagnosed, they had a tumor the size of a football in their pelvic region, and the cancer had spread to other organs and other regions, which, I can tell you, is not very good.  When ovarian cancer gets to Stage III or Stage IV, which is when most women are diagnosed, all they can pretty much do is give you salvage chemo to make you live longer---your hopes for a cure are GONE.  I met one woman when I was going through treatment who had been receiving chemo for ovarian cancer for two and a half years straight---it was the only thing keeping the cancer from eating her alive. 

So, if you're so inclined to right this wrong, to help us find an early screening test which could be administered during a woman's annual exam, like a pap smear, so fewer women will DIE from this bastard of a disease, might I suggest that you go here, or here, or here and donate some cash to help out? 

Or if you'd like some new lipstick, L'Oreal has its "Hope" line out, where $2.00 of the every tube of Color Riche lipstick will go to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. (And, I have to tell you, the colors are actually REALLY great, because I got a tube this weekend, and it's AWESOME!)  Or, If you're in the market for a new washer and dryer, might I suggest that Turquoise Sky  will look fabulous in your laundry room---and Electrolux will donate $200 with every purchase to OCRF?  

However you choose to donate, thank you.  If you choose to be a cheapskate, well, I can't stop you, but let me ask you this: would you like one of the women you love to look as crappy as this? 

I didn't think so.  Cough up early and often. 

I went to an imaging office this morning and had my very first mammogram. 

WooT!

What's the problem here, ladies?  It was quick.  It was relatively painless.  (My breasts are about as sore as they used to be during my period...when I had a period) and the images popped up on the screen, toute suite, and the tech told me Dr. Cindy Lou Who should have the results by the end of the day.  Try getting CT or Pet Scan results by the end of the day.  HA!  That's a laugh.  You're lucky if you get them by the end of the week.

What is with all the whining about mammograms, women?

This was NOTHING, yet I was braced for pain galore when I went in because my friends had warned me that it was the equivalent of having your b00b smushed by a falling garage door.  It wasn't.  It was easy peasy.  Yes, my breasts went in directions that even I was suprised they could go, but the invconvenience and discomfort was momentary.  This is FABULOUS technology, ladies.  Trust me on this one.  That they could FIND CANCER via a scan is FANTASTIC, and sure as hell beats being sliced up the middle and having your innards removed and/or poked for hours on end, like when I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  IT COULD BE MUCH WORSE.  Trust me on this one. 

Stop whining, embrace the technology, and take an advil if your boobs hurt afterwards.