Facts About Stomach Cancer

Here are some facts about stomach cancer and why I wasn't diagnosed sooner.


Symptoms:

Stomach cancer is difficult to discover in its early stages because the symptoms are often similar to benign conditions, such as indigestion or a viral infection of the stomach. Currently, only 10 to 20 percent of stomach cancers in the United States are found in the early stages. When any of the following symptoms persist longer than would be expected, a physician should be consulted (especially when someone is more than 50 years old):

Unintended weight loss and lack of appetite 
Stomach pain 
Bloated feeling after eating 
Heartburn 
Nausea 
Vomiting 
Swelling of the abdomen 
Diarrhea, or constipation
Blood in vomit or stool

All the symptoms in bold, I had.

Risk Factors:

Stomach cancer was once one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in the United States, but not any more. Doctors and researchers are not sure why, but suggest the decline could be attributed to less intake of salted and smoked foods which are more likely to contain cancer-causing nitrates. Also, there has been a rise in antibiotics to treat infection: heliobacter pylori bacteria, a possible major cause of the disease, can be killed with antibiotics.

Besides excessive intake of salt and smoked foods, other risk factors include:

• Smoking
• Alcohol abuse
• Previous stomach surgery (such as the removal of stomach tissue due to an ulcer)
• Blood type A: for unknown reasons, people with this blood type are at higher risk
• Age: people older than 50 are more likely to develop the disease; it occurs most often in people in their 60s and 70s
• Family history of stomach cancer
• Stomach polyps
• Menetrier's disease: associated with low production of stomach acids
• Environment: stomach cancer is higher in Japan, Korea, parts of Eastern Europe, and Latin America, in parts of the world where many foods are preserved by smoking, salting, or pickling, rather than by refrigeration
• Rare conditions, such as Lynch syndrome or familial adenomatous polyposis

The h. pylori bacteria causes ulcers.  I had never had an ulcer in the past. When my symptoms had came on and I saw my doctor in December 2011, he tested me for h. pylori and I was positive. The symptoms I had were also concurrent with those of an ulcer.  Most of my symptoms went away after a round of antibiotics but I was still sick.  I am not in my 60's and I have no family history of cancer, so why would we suspect stomach cancer?  The only reason why we caught it was because of the cantaloupe size tumor in my abdomen and my swollen abdomen.  I could have brushed it off as being overweight, but I had a feeling something was wrong and that's why I made an appointment with my OBGYN.  Most cases of stomach cancer are unfortunately caught in the later stages as mine was.  As I developed cancer and passed through stages I and II, I felt great.  I was a normal girl living life.  We passed stage III and I still had no clue.  It wasn't until I reached stage IV that the above symptoms developed and I was diagnosed.

I don't know why this happened to me.  I only drank socially, never abusing alcohol.  I never smoked, just the occasional cigarette once a year maybe when I had too much to drink at the club.  My diet wasn't bad, well at least compared to others that are in worse health than me and who don't have cancer.  I  always went to the doctor every year to get my physical and woman's exam.  Always saw my dentist every six month.  Always saw my doctor when I was sick.  I'd like to think that I was on top of my health.  But I got cancer.  I really don't know why it happened to me.  But it has sure made me believe that it can happen to anyone.  Cancer doesn't discriminate.  I guess the only advice I can give is to be on top of your health.  Listen to your body and get to know it.  When something isn't right, see your doctor.  I am fortunate to have a great internist and I felt like he really advocated for me when I got sick and had to see other specialist.  He would call and check up on me when the case was out of his hands.

But don't be afraid to live.  It seems like everything nowadays causes cancer.  If you want to eat that cupcake, eat it.  Just don't eat the whole dozen.  If you want to lay out in the sun, do it.  Just make sure you wear sunblock.  Try your best to be healthy.  We are given this body, a bag of meat and bones, to host us through life.  You want to keep it healthy so that you can live long and thrive.  Most important, remember the heart.  Be kind to each other.  Let's cheer each other on.  Because when we die, we aren't remembered for that awesome body we had or the car we used to drive. We are remembered for the person we were.  We are remembered for our heart.



A special thank you to the link below for the facts on cancer.
http://www.seattlecca.org/diseases/stomach-cancer-facts.cfm