What Does a Surveillance Visit Involve?
- Frequent surveillance visits are important for making sure you catch any signs of ovarian cancer recurrence
- During a surveillance visit, doctors will give you a physical exam, check your CA 125 levels, and ask about any pain or changes in bowel habits
- For the first two years, these visits happen every three months
Learning that treatment has worked and that your ovarian cancer has entered remission is really good news. Now you enter the world of surveillance visits. They are super important, even during remission.
First, some basics. When ovarian cancer comes back after initial treatment has worked, it’s called recurrence. Consistent surveillance visits every three months or so for the first two years of remission can help your doctors and care team monitor your body for any early signs of recurrence.
According to Amanda Westwood, a physician assistant at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, most women will be able to push these visits to every six months after the two-year mark, and then once a year after the five-year mark.
Typically, a surveillance visit for ovarian cancer will include the following:
- A physical exam, during which a doctor checks your body for any signs of recurrence
- A conversation about symptoms or changes, including bowel habits or any increase in pain
- A CA 125 blood test, which can indicate recurrence in cases where a woman does not have symptoms
“The biggest signs for recurrence of ovarian cancer is typically new pain that’s not going away, changes in bowel or bladder habits, any kind of early satiety, which is the feeling of fullness, or changes in appetite,” says Westwood. Usually, during the physical exam part of the surveillance visit, Westwood says that she will listen to the lungs, examine the abdomen, and do a vaginal exam with a speculum to look for anything abnormal.
“Typically, if someone has a mass, they may have symptoms that they can verbalize,” she says. “But a lot of the time, a physical exam picks up things that patients are always realizing that there.”
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
What Does a Surveillance Visit Involve?
- Frequent surveillance visits are important for making sure you catch any signs of ovarian cancer recurrence
- During a surveillance visit, doctors will give you a physical exam, check your CA 125 levels, and ask about any pain or changes in bowel habits
- For the first two years, these visits happen every three months
Learning that treatment has worked and that your ovarian cancer has entered remission is really good news. Now you enter the world of surveillance visits. They are super important, even during remission.
First, some basics. When ovarian cancer comes back after initial treatment has worked, it’s called recurrence. Consistent surveillance visits every three months or so for the first two years of remission can help your doctors and care team monitor your body for any early signs of recurrence.
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Amanda Westwood, a physician assistant at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, most women will be able to push these visits to every six months after the two-year mark, and then once a year after the five-year mark.
Typically, a surveillance visit for ovarian cancer will include the following:
- A physical exam, during which a doctor checks your body for any signs of recurrence
- A conversation about symptoms or changes, including bowel habits or any increase in pain
- A CA 125 blood test, which can indicate recurrence in cases where a woman does not have symptoms
“The biggest signs for recurrence of ovarian cancer is typically new pain that’s not going away, changes in bowel or bladder habits, any kind of early satiety, which is the feeling of fullness, or changes in appetite,” says Westwood. Usually, during the physical exam part of the surveillance visit, Westwood says that she will listen to the lungs, examine the abdomen, and do a vaginal exam with a speculum to look for anything abnormal.
“Typically, if someone has a mass, they may have symptoms that they can verbalize,” she says. “But a lot of the time, a physical exam picks up things that patients are always realizing that there.”
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
