Recognizing Non-Specific Cancer Symptoms
- Karen Thrussell, a mom of two from Melbourne, Australia, was 48 years old when she was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma that had been growing in her abdomen for around 10 years, according to her doctors, who at first thought her belly fat was from menopause.
- Now 55, the survivor and marketing lecturer is sharing her story in hopes to educate people on the sometimes subtle signs of liposarcoma, a rare cancer that grows in the fat cells.
- This type of cancer mostly affects adults in their middle age from 50 to 65 and grows slowly as low-grade tumors, but some can act more aggressively.
- If something seems off with your body, never stop pushing until you get answers, and always be sure to seek out multiple opinions on your treatment plan.
The marketing lecturer, now 55, shared her story with FEMAIL, explaining how she feels her body betrayed her and doesn’t know if she’ll be able to “trust it again.”
Read MoreFeeling a Familiar ‘Push’
One day, she felt a familiar “push,” a feeling she has experienced during pregnancy. “It is the same push you feel when your baby is dropping and your body is getting ready for birth,” she said. But there was no pregnancy.“I thought it was a prolapse or something, because that was the only thing which made sense.” Prolapse is when one or more pelvic organs drop from their position.
She immediately went to get checked and underwent an internal and external ultrasound. “Within minutes,” she could tell something was terribly wrong, with the tech’s facial expressions changing and other medical workers coming in and out of the room speaking in hushed tones.
“They told me they had found something on a kidney but couldn’t be sure what it was.”
Karen’s Sarcoma Diagnosis
When the diagnosis was finally explained to her, it just wasn’t processing. Karen was in shock. In fact, many cancer patients share that this is often the toughest part of the whole process.
Karen underwent radiotherapy treatments, with the goal to “create a sack” around the liquid-type tumor. After an 11-hour surgery, doctors removed a kidney and some of her bowel along with the enormous tumor.
“People keep asking me how I didn’t know — it was the size of two babies,” she said. “But my doctors didn’t know either and I had gone to them about it.”
Karen has now been free of cancer since 2017 and hopes to educate people about sarcoma and its symptoms by telling her story.
What is Liposarcoma?
According to Penn Medicine, a liposarcoma is a cancer made up of fat cells, usually as a soft tissue sarcoma deep in the belly, arms, legs or buttocks. Liposarcomas can also occur as a rare esophageal cancer, which is cancer of the esophagus.
This type of cancer mostly affects adults in their middle age from 50 to 65 and grows slowly as low-grade tumors, but some can act more aggressively.
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Like many cancers, liposarcomas can return after treatment and spread to areas like the liver, lungs and other soft tissue in the body.
It’s a rare disease. Each year, there are only around 1,700 cases diagnosed in the United States, though liposarcomas are the second most common type of soft-tissue sarcoma.
“There are hundreds of different kinds of sarcomas, which come from different kinds of cells,” Dr. George Demetri, director of the Sarcoma and Bone Oncology Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School previously told SurvivorNet.
Symptoms of Liposarcoma
Many of these liposarcomas, as in Karen’s case, can linger unnoticed for quite some time, until they start pushing on other tissue and potentially causing symptoms.
“Unfortunately, most sarcomas do not cause many of the symptoms that may be associated with other cancer,” Dr. Dale Shepard, director of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute Phase I and Sarcoma Programs, told SurvivorNet in an earlier interview.
Common symptoms to look out for if they do arise may include:
- Constipation
- Feeling full sooner than usual
- Pain
- Nausea
- Swelling
- Unintended weight loss
- Vomiting
- Growing lump in the arm or leg
- Trouble swallowing, if the cancer is in the esophagus
Treating Sarcoma
Treatment depends on the tumor location, its stage and the type of tumor, with best results involving being able to have the entire tumor removed. Patients may undergo chemotherapy, along with radiation therapy to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back. Immunotherapy treatment is also possible for cases that have spread or recurred, or come back.
“More than other types of cancer, the benefits of multidisciplinary care should prompt most patients to be seen by a group that specializes in treating sarcoma.” Dr. Shepard explained.
How to Access More Expert Opinions on Your Treatment Plan
“Even if only for a second opinion or to develop a treatment plan, multidisciplinary care is crucial,” he added. “As examples, patients may benefit from surgical resection or radiation therapy even with metastatic disease. Patients may benefit from the addition of chemotherapy to radiation therapy prior to surgery to resect a sarcoma.”
Combatting Shame and Body ‘Betrayal’
As for the mental health part of a cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery phase, your feelings may be all over the place. Realize that it’s normal, but seek out someone you can talk to help you talk out potential feelings of fear, guilt or shame.
Karen noted that she feels betrayed by her body, which can be a common thought while navigating cancer.
In a prior interview with SurvivorNet, psychiatrist Dr. Samantha Boardman discussed this topic, suggesting that people working on their mental health practice positive psychology. Positive psychology focuses on encouraging patients to feel positive and finding what brings a sense of vitality to their lives.
Managing Your Mental Health During a Health Challenge
Dr. Boardman explained the wellsprings of vitality as “pathways to embrace your everyday resilience.” In other words, these are tools people who may be struggling with mental health issues can embrace to help maintain a certain sense of positivity. And those positive feelings can go a long way when people are facing a health challenge like a cancer diagnosis.
Three Wellsprings of Vitality to Help with Positivity
According to Dr. Boardman, the three wellsprings of vitality are:
- Connecting. This involves how you’re connecting with others and having meaningful interactions. It involves being a good listener and being engaged with the people around you who you care about.
- Contribution. How are you adding value to the people around you? Are you helping them in ways that feel meaningful to them? This entails contributing/engaging with others in a meaningful way.
- Feeling challenged. Being “positively challenged” could involve learning something new (perhaps by taking a new class or reading an interesting book) and expanding your mind in some way.
“Those are the cores of vitality and the core pathways to enhance your everyday resilience,” Dr. Boardman added.
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