I was diagnosed last November with stage 3c low and high grade ovarian cancer. Years of complaining got me no where! It took a cyst (that I didn’t know about) rupturing and not being able to void to have an ultrasound ordered. From there, it moved fast! I’m fortunate enough to work for a large health care system, and got in with our head of our gyn/onc department 2 days after my ultrasound. Stat bloodwork and CT scan done that same day, surgery scheduled 6 days later. Just finished my frontline chemo June 7th, and was just declared NED last week! My only regret is that I wasn’t more persistent, and that I did things the proper way. I’m a nurse, and could’ve had any one of the doctors I work with order me more test, but I think I was just hoping it was menopause (I had a uterine ablation years ago, so no menstrual changes for me)....plus, I had very vague symptoms. Weight gain, hair loss, extreme fatigue...could have been several other issues, even though I knew OC was a potential, I blew it off, as cancer hardly runs in my family, and absolutely no female cancers!

I would definitely ask for a CA125 and an ultrasound (including transvaginal). Just keep in mind, the CA125 is elevated for several other things besides cancer. Also, not every women’s CA125 is elevated, even with cancer. Unfortunately, there is no one test to detect OC, just a handful of tests together, the only definitive way is through pathology, which means surgery. Best of luck!!