How to prevent serious illness of your pelvic organs??

Submitted by luvmiboyz on January 22, 2009 - 4:11pm
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So I'm going in for my yearly soon and im just wondering what you ladies do to make sure everything is okay up there. I've heard that the papsmear they do can only detect whats on the cervix....sooo what about your uterus or your ovaries. I believe they have just recently come out with a test they can do to check to see if you carry the gene that causes breast cancer or ovarian cancer. What about HPV? arent there several types??
Just wondering what kind of answers you ask and if you get blood work done when you go in....I just want to prevent anything from developing ....my mother had signs of cervical cancer and they scraped her cervix or maybe they froze it im not sure.....but i hear about woman getting stuff that could have been prevented if they would have done further testing. I asked my OB to do a mammogram on me when i was 20 and she told me i was too young so maybe i was jumping the gun alittle.....but whats the age that you start getting tested for all these things. I know the history of my mother's side but do not know the history on my father's side...so its left me to wonder if i should check more into this stuff.

~Amanda

granolamom

January 22, 2009 - 4:26pm

my answer to your question 'how to prevent serious illness' is this:
I take care of myself as best I can, getting good food, sleep(well, I try), stress management, etc
I pray
I go for annual checkups, but I don't go overboard with the testing

I'm not sure that more testing is always best, that's something you have to decide for yourself. read up on whatever is concerning you, discuss with your dr and follow your head & gut.
just my opinion.

AnneH

January 24, 2009 - 10:30am

Granolamom is right; general good lifestyle is the best way to prevent serious illness. But other than that, many of the tests you mention are NOT to prevent illness, but rather to catch them early, while there is still a chance to cure them. In that vein, you should get regular checkups and be alert for special symptoms, but do not obsess about it.

For breast they recommend baseline mammogram at age 40 or perhaps that varies from country to country, or with time, but something in that ballpark. There is research being done on ductal lavage as a better screening method but this is the future. Personally I think all these tests have serious drawbacks - both my sister and my best friend had regular mammograms that did NOT detect cancer, and they both died from breast cancer. Same is true for breast self exam. The advice to check yourself every month is less helpful as is the suggestion that you just be very aware of your breasts on a regular basis so that you can detect any abnormal change. Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book is indispensable in my opinion.

Ovarian cancer, really the best thing you can do is have the yearly pelvic. The gyn physically feels the ovaries and can detect any lumps that YOU CANNOT DETECT OR FEEL. Ovarian cancers can become very advanced before you actually have overt symptoms. They can strike very young women too, unlike most other reproductive system cancers. I know a 23 year old woman who died of it, so in my opinion, this is the one single reason it's mandatory you see the gyn once a year beginning age 20. My opinion.

Cervical or uterine cancer; be alert for abnormal bleeding, other than that get the yearly PAP and don't worry about it. Yes there are many varieties of HPV so don't let all the recent media attention scare you. If you've had HPV you likely did not have the kind that causes cancer; most women who have HPV do NOT develop cancer.

So cover those bases and then PUT IT OUT OF YOUR MIND. The truth is, the top killers of women are smoking and heart disease. Do not smoke, and pay attention to your blood pressure, etc. Heart disease, obesity, and diabetes are very likely to strike you. Cancers, much less likely.

luvmiboyz

January 24, 2009 - 12:06pm

thank you for your comments...that makes me feel better that i have been doing all i can to catch stuff or to try and prevent it.
When i was 17 or 18 i had a pelvic exam and the lady checked my ovaries and my uterus...she said my uterus was off center alittle and that one of my ovaries was almost behind it i think??? hopefully thats not the case anymore...ill have to get my dr. to check that out. Is it common for something like that to happen...i wonder if it is prolapse related...of course this was before kids..

kiki

January 27, 2009 - 3:49pm

our organs are in all sorts of positions...i wouldn't stress about where your ovaries are.

in the UK you only have a pap every 3 years, and they never seem to check your ovaries or anything! so different!

i agree about general good health. good food, exercise, rest, sunshine (not burning, but lots of vitamin D), fresh air--all good for keeping us healthy. and try not to worry about it. it definately doesn't help our health...