Subtlety of Symptoms with Gynecological Cancer

Leslie Espo of Dayton had never heard of ovarian cancer before being diagnosed with it at age 41.

Like with many gynecological cancers, her symptoms were subtle. Leslie thought she was in good general health. When she began to feel bloated and like she was always full, she blamed it on gluten. When she started noticing some urinary changes and slight incontinence, she chalked that up to her age.

“I went to my annual gynecologist appointment — I assumed it tested for all gynecological cancers,” Leslie says. “It doesn’t.”

Two weeks after Leslie’s annual checkup, she was rushed to the emergency room with major abdominal swelling and pain. She was told she had a 17-centimeter mass that was probably just a cyst, but she was referred to an oncologist to be safe.

It wasn’t just a cyst. Leslie was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Days later, she had surgery that lasted almost six hours to remove a 10-pound mass as well as her appendix and Omentum — a large sheet of adipose tissue that stretches over the intestines, liver and stomach. She also had a radical hysterectomy — a procedure that involves the removal of the uterus, cervix, both ovaries, both fallopian tubes and nearby tissue.

Leslie was overwhelmed and scared, and she craved the support of others who knew what she was going through. Fortunately for Leslie, a friend connected her with PRG and encouraged her to inquire about peer support events. Leslie was reached out to by PRG clients that same day, and they set up a time to meet for lunch and talk.

Just like that, Leslie was part of the PRG family.

“PRG made such a positive impact on my cancer journey,” Leslie says. “As they discussed their diagnoses, their history and what they went through, I realized they ‘get it.’ By the end of that lunch, I was hooked. Going to coffee talks, having that peer support and learning from others who had been through the same thing as me was life-changing.”