I have bad period pains; I am not special as 20% of women do. Yet, like all things with women’s health, they are dismissed as normal, as something we should just deal with. But like the ovarian cancer symptoms, of bloating, feeling full, tiredness, it could be something underlying or more sinister. Early diagnosis of breast, ovarian and cervical cancer is key to keeping women alive, yet many GPs are overlooking these ‘normal’ symptoms as I heard on radio 4 (my guilty pleasure)! Women’s health concerns are often ignored, misdiagnosed or a late diagnosis is given. 45% of women have to wait 3 months to receive a correct diagnosis of ovarian cancer. We need to raise public awareness of women’s concerns and start questioning this ‘normal’.
Speaking of GPs, I had a new one the other day, I complained (I hate this word, as a stoic British) about my pains and she straight away referred me for an ultrasound and blood tests, I was so impressed as this was the first time it was taken seriously. I thought, oh why don’t I kill two birds with one stone and get my BRCA bloods done too. I had been sent the kit (consisting of blood tubes and a posting bag) from my genetic counsellor a year ago, so surely it was about time I got it done?
It’s funny the pressure I had put on myself to get this test. The ominous test. I saw it as part of the to-do list that I write every week and put things on just so I can cross them off again (I know I am not the only guilty party). Even after writing the first piece and the poem for the Eve Appeal, I felt detached from it somehow, that it wasn’t me it was affecting. That somehow this monumental decision wasn’t going to impact on my life. Yet, driving to the blood test this morning, I had this overriding sickness and anxiety about what I was doing, and I cried (let’s blame the roller-coaster of hormones). I rang my mum, saying ‘This is really big isn’t it’. The only word I could come up with was big, but I think it pretty much sums it up.
I was driving to see whether I have an up to 80% chance of developing breast cancer in my life. I was driving to find out whether I was 50% likely to get ovarian cancer- my biggest fear due to the lack of awareness and symptoms being seen as ‘normal’. I was driving to see whether I would need to have my breasts removed, something that I like very much about myself and have become part of my identity (shamelessly) and therefore I would no longer be attractive. Therefore, I can’t breastfeed my nonexistence children that obviously every woman should be able to do. Driving to see whether I would need to get IVF (to select the gene absence embryos) and having that conversation with my boyfriend, putting on the pressure of talking about children. I was driving to find out my future. If I was in the 16th century, I would be on trial for being a witch for all these ‘women’ problems!
Statistics are so part of our world, used consistently in the media and they are used to decide our lives to make important decisions; most of the time, they are bias and inaccurate and don’t give an overall picture. Yet, people trust them, rely on them, they are what can define a belief system. However, I can’t somehow trust the 0.4% risk of me having breast cancer (even with the BRCA1 gene) that my genetic counsellor has given me from a risk calculator.
What happens if I am the unlucky one that gets cancer at age 22? So, I am asking the question, is ignorance really bliss? I know I will find out the result this year, but right now, I don’t think I am quite ready. But sometimes, you have to be on the edge of the precipice (driving to THE blood test) to know how you really feel about something. Oh, and by the way, I turned back around to go back to teach a physics lesson on ‘moments’, the irony!
You can read the first part of Fenella’s story here.
You can find out more about genetic testing and cancer risk on these pages. If you have any more questions or need any more information, you can get in touch with our Ask Eve nurse service for free and confidential advice on nurse@eveappeal.org.uk or 0808 802 0019.