ELLIPSIS EDITING

Reposted from ThePatientPath.net – Coping with Women’s Cancers

Photo Credit: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images for “Meet The Press”

I was Gwen Ifill’s age when I was diagnosed with uterine (endometrial) cancer three years ago. Today, the world lost an astute, inspiring reporter, whom I’ve followed on the PBS NewsHour  for a number of years.

More than 60,000 American women will develop uterine (endometrial) cancer in 2016—and 10,000 of them will die of it. Most of this disease’s victims are over age 60, but it can strike women of any age—mothers, wives, girlfriends, daughters, other family members, and friends.

Uterine cancer doesn’t get much media attention compared with, for example, breast cancer—or even other forms of gynecologic cancer, such as ovarian. (See, for example, the many organizations supporting ovarian cancer here.) And if women do not learn to recognize the risk factors and symptoms and get timely treatment for uterine cancer—which, like ovarian cancer, has no reliable screening test—their lives may be compromised, and even shortened. And more young women are being stricken with this disease and may never bear children.

By raising awareness of this fourth most common cancer in US women, and the most common gynecologic cancer, we can catch it early and improve the survival rate—the earlier the stage of the cancer, the longer the life of the patient.

On January 28, 2017, The Patient Path will be doing its first live event to enlighten women about uterine cancer. More information about this will be forthcoming.

Please visit again soon. And in the meantime, take some time to learn more about this disease—and how we can help stop it from killing the organ that gives us life.

Start with a review of the risk factors. Then find much more information in my story.

Also see the update post on 11/17/16 on gynecologic cancers and the memorial service on 11/20/16.