A Delayed Diagnosis: Fighting for Answers
- Former pro wrestler Brandi Rhodes, 40, is finally receiving proper care after learning of her stage 4 endometriosis three years after her symptoms began.
- Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the tissue that lines the inside of the uterus, known as the endometrium, grows on the outside of the uterus.
- Although endometriosis and endometrial cancer sound similar and cause similar symptoms, they are not the same. With endometrial cancer, the endometrial cells lining the uterus become cancerous, while endometriosis remains benign.
- Regular gynecological exams and discussing any unusual symptoms with a healthcare provider can help in early detection and management. Persistence is key. If you feel like your condition is getting brushed off, change providers and don’t stop until you are able to get the proper medical care.
Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the tissue that normally lines the inside of the uterus, known as the endometrium, grows on the outside of the uterus. Though endometriosis can be confused with endometrial cancer due to the staging, this condition is not cancerous.
Read More“We don’t have to live with pain. Advocate for yourself,” the Naked Mind Yoga + Pilates owner and founder added.
Rhodes, who shares a 2 1/2 year old daughter, Liberty, with her husband, went into further detail on an Instagram post, explaining that after becoming pregnant with “Libby,” she “began to have internal pain.”
“I was told by doctors at the time that this would go away. It did not. No suggestions were made for me, it was kind of like, best of luck with all of that.”
“I found a new OB when we moved and it was more of the same. Not sure why I’m having pain and extreme bloating. Not sure why my cycle was crazy and unpredictable.”
Rhodes said she was pointed to the condition of IBS, which stands for irritable bowel syndrome, but “none of my symptoms aligned with IBS.”
Finally Some Answers
“I finally saw a doctor who performed a simple exam and said, this feels like endometriosis. You can have a surgical procedure to remove it. I was floored. Why no one else had mentioned or detected this in 3 years was beyond me but I finally had an answer and some validation.”
Rhodes researched and “found the best endo surgeon” in Atlanta. “I was in the OR for about 2 and a half hours.”
“It was stage 4 endometriosis which is the highest level so it took a lot of time to extract it all. I am SO GLAD I was finally heard after all of this time.”
Rhodes concluded her post with a note to the other women looking for answers out there. “Someone reading this needed to see that I kept going until I found an answer and now hopefully they know that there’s an answer out there for them too.”
“Women…we have to advocate for ourselves and our bodies. It is far too common in the medical world to be dismissed when it comes to Women’s health issues. Don’t be dismissed. ❤️.”
What is Endometriosis?
Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the tissue that normally lines the inside of the uterus, known as the endometrium, grows on the outside of the uterus. It often brings debilitating pain and can often be difficult to diagnose.
RELATED: 29-Year-Old Said Doctors ‘Gaslit’ Her Into Thinking Her Endometriosis Was Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Although endometriosis and endometrial cancer sound similar and cause similar symptoms, they are not the same. With endometrial cancer, the endometrial cells lining the uterus become cancerous, while endometriosis remains benign.
Avoiding Provider Bias – Is Your Doctor Understanding You?
While your doctor has undergone years of training and practice, they are still human, and may come with their own set of biases that can impact how they treat patients.
To combat these biases and really get the most out of your interactions with your doctor, you should provide her or him with plenty of information about your life and ask plenty of questions when things aren’t clear. To better understand how you should approach conversations with your doctor, we previously spoke with Dr. Dana Chase, gynecologic oncologist at Arizona Oncology.
According to Dr. Chase, physicians, like many of us, can be a bit biased when seeing patients. She made it clear that these biases are rarely sinister, but rather unconscious and more subtle.
She explained, “We have certain beliefs that we don’t know about. We might look, for example, at an older woman, and just by the way she looks we might make certain assumptions, and we might not even know that we’re making these assumptions.”
Let’s Talk About Provider Bias
Clearing up misconceptions is important, but so is understanding what your doctor is telling you, Dr. Chase noted. Overall, she advises women to speak up and ask questions when they don’t understand something.
“It’s never a bad thing to ask for something to be repeated, or to ask the doctors to explain it in different terms.”
So next time you go to your physician, speak up if you need clarity, so your doctor can understand you and you can understand them.
Learning About Endometrial Cancer: The Basics
While endometriosis and endometrial cancer can present some of the same symptoms, they are quite different. If you are facing an endometrial cancer diagnosis rather than an endometriosis diagnosis, of course that can be scary and stressful — but take comfort in knowing that there are many different approaches to treatment, including several new and promising treatment options, even for advanced disease.
Endometrial cancer affects the lining of the uterus, which is a pear-shaped organ located in a woman’s lower abdomen. In people with endometrial cancer, the cells in the uterine lining start to grow abnormally. This cancer can happen at any age, but is more common in women who have gone through menopause.
How Doctors Recognize and Diagnose Different Types of Endometrial Cancer
Fortunately, most people with endometrial cancer are diagnosed early, when the cancer hasn’t spread beyond the uterus.
“The good news with endometrial cancer that we can say safely is that the majority of people will be diagnosed … quite early and for a lot of folks, surgery actually may be [the only treatment] that someone needs,” says Dr. Jennifer Mueller, a surgeon and gynecologic oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
What Causes Endometrial Cancer? Understanding Risk
Endometrial cancer is linked to changes in the balance of hormones in the body, particularly estrogen and progesterone. These hormones play a role in regulating the growth of the endometrial lining. When there is an imbalance, such as too much estrogen without enough progesterone, the endometrium can grow too much and become thicker, which can lead to the development of cancerous cells.
There are several risk factors that might increase a woman’s likelihood of developing endometrial cancer. According to the The Mayo Study originally published by the National Cancer Institute, these include:
- Taking estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after menopause
- Taking tamoxifen (hormone therapy drug known by the brand name Soltamox) to prevent or treat breast cancer
- Obesity
- Having metabolic syndrome, a group of conditions that raise the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes
- Having type 2 diabetes
- Exposure of endometrial tissue to estrogen made by the body, sometimes a result of never having given birth
- Menstruating at an early age (Menstruation typically begins between 10 and 16)
- Starting menopause at a later age (Menopause typically begins between 45 and 55)
- Having polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
- Having a family history of endometrial cancer in a first-degree relative (mother, sister, or daughter).
- Having certain genetic conditions, such as Lynch syndrome
- Having endometrial hyperplasia
Having one or more risk factors does not mean a woman will definitely develop endometrial cancer, but it does mean you should pay attention to your health.
“As with disease in general, whether it be diabetes or endometrial cancer or even dementia, it’s important to find the disease at an early stage because potentially with treatment you can stop the disease from progressing,” Dr. Chase added.
Regular gynecological exams and discussing any unusual symptoms with a healthcare provider can help in early detection and management.
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