����vlog

THAT CALL FOR THE CRASH CAME IN. FIVE ON YOUR HEALTH NOW A HEAT TREATMENT FOR OVARIAN CANCER. LOCAL DOCTORS TELL US THIS TYPE OF CHEMOTHERAPY MAY EVEN PROVIDE A CURE FOR SOME PATIENTS. I FEEL FINE, LIKE I DID BEFORE THE WHOLE MESS STARTED. THAT WHOLE MESS IS OVARIAN CANCER. LIKE MANY OTHER PATIENTS, KATHY FINNEY SAYS IT SPREADS SILENTLY WITHOUT SYMPTOMS. I HAD NONE EXCEPT. THAT ALL OF A SUDDEN, ABOUT A WEEK BEFORE THIS ALL WENT WENT DOWN, I HAD DIFFICULTY URINATING. A RETIRED NURSE, KATHY, CALLED HER DOCTOR, EVEN THOUGH SHE BELIEVED IT WAS NO BIG DEAL. I FELT LIKE A FOOL. I HAD NO SYMPTOMS. I CAN RUN UPSTAIRS. I CAN WALK MILES AND I’M ALWAYS GOING. I’M MY DAUGHTER IN LAW CALLS ME THE BIRD. BUT THEN KATHY GOT THE DIAGNOSIS. OVARIAN CANCER, STAGE THREE OUT OF FOUR. THAT WAS NINE MONTHS AGO. I NEVER SMOKED. THERE WERE NEVER ANY DRUGS, ANYTHING LIKE THAT. AND I’VE TRIED TO EAT A HEALTHY DIET ALL, ALL MY LIFE. BUT THINGS. THINGS CAN STILL HAPPEN EVEN IF YOU DO EVERYTHING CORRECTLY. REPORTER THE CDC CONFIRMS MOST PATIENTS WHO DEVELOP CANCER IN THEIR OVARIES ARE JUST LIKE KATHY. THEY HAVE NO HIGH RISK FACTORS, SUCH AS A GENETIC MUTATION, ENDOMETRIOSIS, OR TROUBLE GETTING PREGNANT. AND RIGHT NOW, THERE’S NO SCREENING TEST LIKE THERE IS FOR CERVICAL CANCER. THAT MAKES OVARIAN CANCER VERY DIFFICULT TO DETECT EARLY. SO MOST WOMEN DO PRESENT WITH A STAGE 3 OR 4 OVARIAN. WE WE RARELY FIND IT AT A STAGE ONE. DOCTOR, KATINA ROBINSON, IS A GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGIST AT TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER. SHE TELLS HER PATIENTS TO THINK OF THEIR ABDOMEN AS A BIG BALLOON, AND OVARIAN CANCER SPREADS BY STICKING TO EVERYTHING FLOATING IN THAT BALLOON, WHICH IS THE BOWELS, THE LIVER, THE STOMACH, ALL OF THOSE THINGS. BUT EVEN WITH STANDARD TREATMENT, WHICH IS CHEMOTHERAPY FOLLOWED BY SURGERY, THE SURVIVAL RATE FOR STAGE THREE OVARIAN CANCER IS TOUGH TO HEAR. ONLY 41% SURVIVE FOR FIVE YEARS. SO EVERYBODY’S WONDERING, HOW DO WE GET OUR CHEMOTHERAPY BETTER TO THOSE CELLS IN THE ABDOMEN? AT TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER, DOCTORS ARE ALREADY USING THIS MACHINE TO HEAT THE CHEMOTHERAPY SO IT CAN BE DELIVERED DURING SURGERY TO TARGET OTHER ABDOMINAL CANCERS. BUT RECENT STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THE TREATMENT, NICKNAMED HIPEC, IS EFFECTIVE FOR SOME PATIENTS WITH LATE STAGE OVARIAN CANCER. SO DOCTOR ROBINSON OFFERED IT TO KATHY, WHO AGREED HOT CHEMO WAS WORTH A SHOT. I GUESS. CANCER CELLS DIE AT 104 FOR NORMAL CELLS DIE AT 111. SO THIS IS 107 DEGREES, WHICH IS WHEN I SAID I HOPE THEY BOUGHT THE GOOD THERMOMETER. AND TODAY KATHY’S OVARIES AND ABDOMEN ARE CANCER FREE. I KNOW THAT I’VE IMPROVED HER PROGNOSIS BY HER GOING THROUGH HIPEC, AND THAT WILL AT LEAST GIVE A SURVIVAL BENEFIT OF POTENTIALLY A YEAR FOR HER. AND MAYBE MY HOPE, HONESTLY, IS THAT WE’VE CURED HER. THE HIPEC PROCEDURE AYER AND THAT’S SPELLED H I P E C REQUIRES EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT, HIGHLY TRAINED STAFF. SO THAT’S WHY IT’S ONLY AVAILABLE AT TWO HOSPITALS IN MASSACHUSETTS RIGHT NOW. ONE IS TUFTS, THE OTHER IS MASS GENERAL. FOR MORE INF