September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

Do you know about ovarian cancer? Do you know that 21,980 women are diagnosed with this type of cancer every year? Based on estimates by The American Cancer Society, roughly 14,000 women will die from this disease in 2018.

By the time ovarian cancer is detected, typically it has already begun to spread. A new case of this cancer is often diagnosed at Stage 3 or 4, of the four stages. The point of spreading awareness is to inform women of the symptoms to enable earlier detection of cancer. If ovarian cancer is detected at an early stage, the survival rate is more than 90%.

The symptoms are subtle. It may be difficult to recognize them at first. If the following symptoms occur for more than two weeks, talk to your doctor about testing.

• Bloating
• Pelvic/Abdominal pain
• Feeling full quickly
• Urgent or frequent urination
• Nausea
• Indigestion, constipation, diarrhea
• Fatigue
• Backaches
• Shortness of breath

Knowing these symptoms could save your life, or the life of a loved one. Ovarian cancer can affect anyone. In fact, 1 in 73 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer during her lifetime. Not only does this affect women, but it also affects friends, husbands, sons, and daughters. It affects all of that woman’s loved ones.

Spreading awareness in September is done using the national color for ovarian cancer: teal. Pick a day out of the month to wear teal in support of the women and families who have been affected by ovarian cancer.

Know the symptoms.

The facts in this post come from ovariancancerawareness.org.

By: KayLynn P.