Avoidable Death of Young Woman Stresses Importance of Early Detection

Too many women are turned away at doctors’ offices when they request cancer tests—just because they’re “too young for cancer.” Often, all it takes is to transfer to another doctor and get a second opinion from someone who will listen to you. But sometimes that doesn’t happen.

A case in point is a 26-year-old woman from Bristol, England, who was deemed “too young” to be given a cervical smear test, and then died of cervical cancer in February 2013. Her story is why it is so important to trust your instincts, seek a second opinion, and rail against legislation.

Becky Ryder visited her general physician in September 2010 for abnormal bleeding, which can be a sign of either cervical or ovarian cancer. But because she wasn’t yet 25, the doctor refused to administer a smear test and, instead, diagnosed her with “harmless cervical erosion” and prescribed her a treatment.

Finally sticking to her guns after months of disappointing appointments, she visited another doctor for a second opinion and underwent a biopsy. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in March 2011 and chose to freeze her eggs in order to have children later. Despite radiotherapy and chemotherapy, she died before her third wedding anniversary.

If the first doctor had allowed the cervical smear test, Ryder may have been saved. However, the first doctor wasn’t just at fault in this case. England legislations had changed and raised the smear test’s minimum age requirement from 20 to 25.

An article on dailymail.co.uk explains Ryder’s story. It states:

“The Mercedes Curnow Foundation For The Early Detection Of Cervical Cancer now campaigns for a reduction in the screening age to 20. It also funds private smear tests. But the Department of Health said routine screening of under-25s did ‘more harm than good’, giving too many false positive results that lead to needless treatment.”

Follow this link for more information.

Dave Brown Encounters Ovarian Cancer Stories During Trek Across America

By now, most of us have seen the popular movie “Forrest Gump,” the story of a man with a learning disability who tells his life story to strangers at a bus stop. He grew up in the south with Jenny as his only friend. He goes on to become a Vietnam war hero and then the man who ran across the country, crisscrossing from coast to coast a few times. “Run, Forrest, run!” is a joke that most people use without a second thought.

In real life, Dave Brown may not be Forrest Gump, but he’s just as determined to walk across the country. But instead of doing it because he “just felt like running,” Dave is promoting ovarian cancer awareness and fundraising for research because his wife had died of the disease a few years ago.

In “Forrest Gump,” Forrest grows a beard and loses weight throughout his trek. In real life, Dave has actually gained weight because of support from residents across the county. On April 11, Dave had crossed into Indiana from Ohio on his 42 walking day.

“I am definitely going to be the first person to walk across the country and gain weight,” he blogged after receiving cookies and other treats from an Ohio woman who lost her sister and mother-in-law to ovarian cancer.

And like Forrest Gump, Dave has gained a following on the road. A steady stream of walkers have joined Brown throughout his trek.

“I had expected my walk to be much more of a walk of solitude,” he blogged. ”Nine of the last ten days someone has walked at least part of the day with me which has been great.”

To donate to help Dave’s cause, click here.

To read Dave’s blogs, click here.

Celebrities with Ovarian Cancer

Some of the best people to use as models for the fight against ovarian cancer are people, friends, or family members that you know personally. Because the disease touches your heart through these people, you’re more likely to advocate for research and a cure.

However, if those people aren’t available, then most of us turn toward celebrities in order to live vicariously through them. So what happens when one of our favorite celebrities is diagnosed with cancer? We feel like the disease has touched our lives as well. These people become figureheads for the fight against the disease, and we cheer for their survival. Most of the time, they don’t survive because ovarian cancer is often discovered in a late stage. However, as you can tell from the list below, many women were able to live long and fulfilling lives. Take a look at this sampling, and check out the link at the bottom for a much more extensive list.

• Evelyn Ankers, American film actress (died at age 67)
• Eileen Barton, Brooklyn-born American singer (died at age 81)
• Kathy Bates, Oscar-winning American actress, surviving; later treated for breast cancer
• Laurie Beechman, American actress/singer (died at age 44)
• Marcheline Bertrand, American film actress; mother of Angelina Jolie and James Haven (died at age 56)
• Carol Bly, American short-story writer/essayist (died at age 77)
• Diem Brown, Reality TV star (MTV's The Real World and Road Rules, as well as MTV's documentary of her experience with the disease), surviving
• Dorothy Brunson, American businesswoman; first African American woman to own radio and television stations (died at age 72)
• Pam Brown, American politician (died at age 58)
• Carol Channing, American stage and musical comedy actress, surviving
• Maureen Connolly, tennis great; first woman to win four grand slam titles in one year (died age 34)

Follow this link for a much larger list. 

German Lab Apologizes and Retracts Info about Henrietta Lacks's Genome

It seems that the German lab that published Henrietta Lacks’s genome realized its mistake, apologized, and “withdrew” the data from an online journal.

Henrietta Lacks was a poor Virginian tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors. Society recently became aware of her and her cells because of Rebecca Skloot’s 2011 book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” The book’s summary explains the many uses that science has gleaned from HeLa cells. The summary says:

“HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.”

Science has used her cervical cancer cells, taken in 1951 without her consent and called HeLa cells, to develop vaccines (such as the one for polio) and treatments, and to unravel the secrets of cancer. Lacks is called the immortal woman because even though she died and is buried in an unmarked grave, her cells have been replicated and kept alive to this day. But because her cells were taken without her consent in 1951, her family members are concerned that the world now has information regarding their genetic traits--the most personal of personal information. In addition, the family has not received monetary compensation or royalties from all the experiments and scientific advances.

Follow this link for more information.