Olympic Gymnast Shannon Miller on Ovarian Cancer
September 14, 2011 at 5:11 pm , by Louise Sloan
“Listen to your body,” my mom always says. She has practiced what she preaches, which is one of the reasons she is a cancer survivor.
“Listen to your body” was the lifesaving message being put forward at the lunch I attended today, sponsored by the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of all gynecological cancers. That’s because there’s no screening test available and the signs are subtle, so it tends to be caught late. But symptoms do exist (see the list below), and when ovarian cancer is caught early, the 5-year survival rate is more than 90 percent. So women who listen to their bodies have a great shot at beating this deadly disease.
The featured speaker at today’s lunch was Shannon Miller, the most decorated gymnast in U.S. history and an ovarian cancer survivor who was diagnosed earlier this year at age 33. (That’s me towering over her in the picture.) Miller says she almost delayed going to her gynecologist for a checkup because, as a business owner and the mom of a toddler, she just didn’t have time. But something told her to make that checkup a priority. And, during a routine pelvic exam, her doctor found a baseball-sized tumor. It turned out to be malignant.
Keeping that appointment probably saved Miller’s life. Take care of yourself, she urged today. Make those appointments. As women and moms, we often put ourselves last. But Miller pointed out that you can’t take care of your loved ones if you aren’t healthy.
Talk to your doctor if you have the following symptoms for more than two weeks:
*bloating
*pelvic or abdominal pain
*trouble eating or feeling full quickly.
*Feeling the need to urinate urgently or often.
These symptoms are common and usually don’t mean ovarian cancer. So don’t freak yourself out! But do follow up with your doctor. And listen to my mom and to the NOCC: Listen to your body!
Categories: Health | Tags: Cancer, Cancer Survivors, Health, ovarian cancer | 7 Comments
7 Responses to “Olympic Gymnast Shannon Miller on Ovarian Cancer”
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Written on September 14, 2011 at 7:30 pm, by Iris Lee Knell
Great article on early detection, I posted it on my facebook page, The Etiquette of Cancer from Etiquette Educators, thank you
Written on September 14, 2011 at 8:01 pm, by Louise Sloan
Thanks, Iris!
Written on September 15, 2011 at 9:26 am, by Jules
Ladies pay attention to the signs and always keep those appointments for pelvic exams. We always hear about breast cancer but not enough about Ovarian cancer. Thank you dearly for this article. I lost my mother to this awful disease so I am always trying to stay on top of any new current awareness regarding it.
Written on September 15, 2011 at 11:56 am, by Lauren
Ladies, thank you so much for this article and comments. It means a lot to Shannon! Feel free to read more on her cancer and chemo journey at http://shannonmillerlifestyle.com/
There’s also info on caregiving, a side which many overlook. They only see the cancer patient and not the person supporting them.
Written on March 22, 2012 at 8:51 am, by Famous Faces And Families Who Have Been Touched By Ovarian Cancer | Celebrity
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Written on March 22, 2012 at 1:24 pm, by Famous Faces And Families Who Have Been Touched By Ovarian Cancer - NEW BIO TECHNOLOGIES – NEW BIO TECHNOLOGIES
[...] many flashy American Olympic gymnast has pronounced she almost behind removing checked by her gynecologist in Feb of 2011, on a day her alloy found a baseball-sized growth on one of her [...]
Written on March 22, 2012 at 4:31 pm, by Famous Faces And Families Who Have Been Touched By Ovarian Cancer | Cancer Kick
[...] most decorated American Olympic gymnast has said she almost delayed getting checked by her gynecologist in February of 2011, on the day her doctor found a baseball-sized tumor on one [...]