Meet Ovarian Cancer Survivor Jill Pall
We are proud to introduce you to ovarian cancer survivor, Jill Pall. She has not only courageously battled this disease, but she is also a vocal advocate for change. Part of why we started Colleen’s Dream was to not only share Colleen’s story, but to let the world know that many of the diagnosis stories are similar. We must change the statistics. This is part one of Jill’s three part story. Thank you, Jill, for bravely speaking about your experience.
Today, 1/2/2014, I am one year cancer free. I know I am supposed to celebrate this milestone, but the truth is it’s hard to celebrate when you’re terrified. I am terrified of my cancer coming back just like it did last time, two days after I was two years cancer free. And, just like it did the time before that. I want to share my story because I want to save lives.
When I was in my twenties, for about a week or so, I was having horrible pain, my stomach looked like I was six months pregnant and I had to run to the bathroom every five minutes even if I hadn’t had anything to drink for hours. I was also always full and had virtually no appetite. I had already had my appendix removed in college, so I knew it couldn’t be that.
I called my gynecologist to make an appointment but was told I wouldn’t be able to be seen for about two weeks. I began searching for a new gynecologist who could fit me in ASAP. I was an event planner at the time and super busy with an annual fundraiser and just needed to figure out what was going on and how to get myself back to normal.
I was able to find a gynecologist who could see me the following day. I broke my rule of only seeing male doctors which came about because most of the women doctors I had throughout my life would always tell me that I was fine, even when I wasn’t, and relate THEIR personal experiences to MY symptoms. I always figured that a male doctor would try to find the solution to the problem rather than assuming because they had the same parts, they knew. I know that seems kind of sexist, but that was my experience virtually every time I went to the doctor as a teen and in my twenties. I also made it a priority to find doctors who weren’t prescription friendly and who were committed to finding the root of the problem instead of just prescribing drugs. As I’m sure you know, those doctors are few and far between.
Anyway, I went to this new gynecologist and presented with every symptom of ovarian cancer. I told her that I had a very high pain tolerance and gave examples. For a minute, I thought she “got it.” During the exam, it hurt so badly and I screamed out in pain. To be honest with you, I had never felt that kind of pain like before. It was like someone was stabbing me over and over while my insides were being electrocuted or something. It still makes me sick thinking about it. She told me that “tenderness” was normal during an exam and that the pain I was feeling both during and before my appointment was nothing to worry about. I asked her what I should do about the symptoms I had. She told me to take Midol and call the office if I needed anything stronger. She then said, “and make sure you stop at the desk on your way out to make your appointment for next year.”
While I was there, she took blood and did a PAP test. I was young, I didn’t know that those didn’t check for everything (and she didn’t explain anything to me, even though I asked). I only found this out two weeks later when she called to tell me all my tests came back negative. My reply was “That’s nice. By the way, when I left your office I went straight to the hospital where the doctor actually listened to me as I explained my symptoms, which are the exact symptoms of ovarian cancer you chose to ignore. I was diagnosed eleven days ago.” And, then I hung up the phone. Had I waited until my next annual appointment, chances are very good I would not be alive to type this, today.
Unfortunately, my story is too common. I hear from women on a daily basis about how they too presented with all the symptoms, only to be told by their doctor that they were fine and had nothing to worry about. Four of these women are no longer alive to tell their story.
I chose to be an ovarian cancer advocate because I realized that the focus really was on awareness of other cancers. How can we change the horrible statistic (70% of the 1 in 69 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer will die) that currently exists? The reality is that women need to be symptom aware and gynecologists need to start focusing on those symptoms and ruling out ovarian cancer. Because there is no standard early detection test, only 15% of ovarian cancer patients are diagnosed at stage 1 or 2.
Stay tuned… I’ll be sharing more of my story, soon.