Facing Her Toughest Job -- Ovarian Cancer
Over the summer and fall of 2003, Lynn Gilliland was on the road constantly, doing the job she loved as alumnae director of Mary Baldwin College. "I kept having this nagging back pain," she recalls, "which I credited to stress and traveling all the time. Every couple of months, I'd have terrible cramps that really knocked me out, but I attributed it to pre-menopause."
It was the following winter before Gilliland, a Staunton mother of two, finally saw her gynecologist. A pelvic exam followed by a vaginal ultrasound revealed the presence of a mass outside her uterus. Her doctor scheduled an immediate hysterectomy.
"I don't have time right now," Gilliland remembers saying. "You don't have a choice," was her doctor's reply. When she awoke from surgery, the news was bad, although it could have been worse: Clear-cell carcinoma, but still confined to the ovaries. "As soon as you are able to drive, we're sending you to Laurel Rice," she was told.
Two weeks later, Gilliland was meeting with Laurel Rice, M.D., director of University of Virginia Health System's Division of Gynecologic Oncology. "Laurel has been just wonderful," Gilliland says. "She's very straightforward, doesn't try to hide anything. She said, ‘you're young, you're healthy, you've got a bad kind of cancer, and we're going to fight it.'"
Can Saliva Hold the Key to Detecting Ovarian Cancer?
UVa Health System's Amir Jazaeri, M.D., is investigating whether saliva can provide a simple diagnostic test for ovarian cancer. Although the research is preliminary, Jazaeri explains, it appears that certain proteins are selectively present in the saliva of ovarian cancer patients.
How Can I Reduce My Risk?
Oral contraceptives-- Using birth control pills for several years is linked to a 30-50 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer.
Breastfeeding-- Women who breastfeed for at least a year are at slightly reduced risk.
Diet-- Several studies link diets high in vegetables to reduced risk.
Oophorectomy, tubal ligation, hysterectomy-- Removal of the ovaries, tying the fallopian tubes after childbearing, and removal of the uterus all reduce the risk of ovarian cancer to varying degrees. However, none of these procedures is recommended for that purpose alone, except in women with a strong family history of ovarian and/or breast cancer.
Read the rest of Lynn's story and learn about promising developments in the fight against ovarian cancer in our Spring issue of Vim & Vigor.
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