Cautionary Health Alert: An Active Mom, Runner, 41, Thought She Had Kidney Stones It Turned Out To Be Ovarian Cancer

“I thought it was kidney stones. It wasn’t that,” Wisniewski said. “I thought it was a mass and it could just be removed. That answer didn’t feel right. It didn’t sit right.”

She brought her issue to doctors who were initially unconcerned, so she pushed for another appointment. That’s when Wisniewski realized what doctors thought were cysts happened to be cancerous tumors on both of her ovaries.

“Read every article, if it was a medical journal article I couldn’t read, I’d give it to my brother and be like, ‘OK, give me the Cliff notes.’ That’s how I grieved, I guess, and how I overcame my new path in life was going to be,” Wisniewski said.

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Thankfully, an early diagnosis led to her successful treatment regimen of chemotherapy and a hysterectomy. Now, the cancer survivor is determined to get people talking about ovarian cancer.

“How do I bring this up? It’s just awkward. Ovaries make people awkward in general,” Wisniewski said.

So, her message is simple: Know the signs and be your own advocate.

“If you have ovaries, you should know what the signs and the symptoms could potentially be, and to be your own advocate for your health. If I would have ignored my symptoms for a month, I could very easily have gone from a stage one to a stage three just in a month’s time,” Wisniewski said.

Understanding Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is when the ovaries which produce the sex hormone, estrogen, as well as eggs become cancerous. Women have two ovaries, one on either side of the uterus.

Feeling Overwhelmed by Your Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis? Here Are Some Ways to Regain Your Equilibrium

The fallopian tube, which brings the egg from the ovary to the uterus for fertilization, is actually where many ovarian cancers begin. First, a few cancerous cells develop on the fallopian tubes, then these cells stick to the ovaries as the fallopian tubes brush over the ovary. From there, the cancerous cells grow to form a tumor.

Your risk for ovarian cancer may be increased if you have gone through menopause, have a gene mutation like BRCA1 or BRCA2, are obese or overweight, had your first pregnancy after age 35 or never carried a pregnancy to full-term, have a family history of cancer or used hormone replacement therapy. You should talk with your doctor about your potential risk for the disease.

Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is known as the cancer that whispers because symptoms are vague and sometimes similar to regular menstrual cycle fluctuations. Dr. Beth Karlan, a gynecologic oncologist with UCLA Health, says that ovarian cancer can be difficult to recognize with its subtle symptoms.

Ovarian Cancer: The Cancer that Whispers

"Ovarian cancer does not have any specific symptoms," Karlan said in an earlier interview with SurvivorNet. "It's often referred to as the cancer that whispers in that it has symptoms that are really very vague… and nothing that may bring your attention directly to the ovaries."

But Dr. Karlan still wants women to keep an eye out for a variety of possible symptoms.

"The symptoms include things like feeling full earlier than you usually would when your appetite is strong… Feeling bloated," she added. "Some changes in your bowel habits. Some pain in the pelvis. These are symptoms women may have every month. These are not very specific. But what we've found from multiple studies, it's this constellation of symptoms."

RELATED: Annual Ovarian Cancer Screenings Do Not Save Lives, Study Suggests; Women Should Listen for Signs of the 'Cancer that Whispers'

Dr. Stephanie Wethington, director of the gynecologic oncology survivorship program at Johns Hopkins Medicine, previously told SurvivorNet that prevention for ovarian cancer is an important area of focus.

"We must remember that prevention is key and advocate for all women to discuss their family history and individual risk factors with their doctors and ask whether there are risk-reducing options available to them," Dr. Wethington wrote.

Our advice to readers: See your doctor if you feel like something is off. Given that ovarian cancer can have no symptoms or a myriad of symptoms that you might easily brush off as nothing, it's important to always seek medical attention when your gut is telling you something might be wrong. That doesn't mean we should assume the worst every time we feel bloated or have a change in appetite, but it does mean that we should always try to listen to the signs our body is giving us.

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