It's been a week since the Walk to Break the Silence for Ovarian Cancer but there has been no end to the need to spread the word. I have had two recent opportunities this past week.
Northwest Community Hospital's Robotic Gynecological Surgery Institute will be offering a Women's Pelvic Health Seminar. The marketing collateral associated with the seminar on the daVinci Robotic surgical system lists pelvic pain and uterine cancer. Any complete and thorough discussion of pelvic health should include ovarian cancer symptoms. Let's hope the presenters will address areas of health awareness and not return of capital investment of medical equipment.
While looking on the Chicago Tribune website for coverage of the NOCC Walk, I came across a Mayo Clinic Q & A column from 2010. The question, posed by a 70 year old woman who had had a hysterectomy 20 years prior, was on the necessity of gynecological exams. The reply from a gynecologist at the Mayo Clinic included the statement that removal of the ovaries meant there was no longer a risk of ovarian cancer. This is not true. Although the risk has been reduced, because of the similarity of the cell structure of the peritoneum and the ovaries, a risk of primary peritoneal cancer is still exists. A further understanding of the genus of ovarian cancer's potential initial source in the fallopian tubes also poses potential risks. A newspaper column is not medical advice and is at the mercy of editing. It is an unfortunate loss of the potential to spread accurate information by one of the nation's most highly respected medical institutions.
The opportunities to spread the word abound. And it is the Teal Tribe that needs to keep walking.
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