2 days ago
Traumatized husband reveals the secret signs of ovarian cancer
A dedicated husband has urged women to be aware of the silent signs of a deadly cancer that kills thousands every year, following his wife's devastating diagnosis.
Matthew Cauli, who is now a full-time carer for his wife Kanlaya, wants to help raise better awareness around ovarian cancer in the hope that affected women will get earlier diagnoses.
Ovarian cancer is notoriously hard to diagnose because symptoms can easily be mistaken for less serious problems due to hormones fluctuating throughout a woman's menstrual cycle.
As a result, only one in five patients are diagnosed in the early stages before the cancer has spread.
Catching the disease as early as possible is vital, as it is when treatment is most likely to be successful.
In May 2020, his wife Kanlaya suffered two severe strokes which affected the right side of her brain, leaving her paralyzed.
Doctors had no choice but to remove part of her skull to reduce the pressure on her brain caused by the blood clot.
Looking for answers, doctors finally found a 10cm mass in her abdomen which was confirmed to be clear cell carcinoma - a rare type of ovarian cancer that predominantly affects younger women of Asian descent.
While his wife's diagnosis and rapid decline took the family by surprise, Matthew said there were subtle warning signs they should have been aware of including swollen joints; abnormally heavy periods; vaginal bleeding; and extreme fatigue.
He said: 'Fatigue - I had to laugh at this one because what young mom isn't tired.'
Their son, Ty, was just three-years-old when he saw his mother suffer her first stroke in the midst of the pandemic.
But there were other tell-tale signs that something was not quite right, Matthew explained in an Instagram video.
'She had random swollen joints. It was her elbow one time, then her knee. They tested her for Lyme disease, but it was negative.'
Kenlaya also experienced menstrual irregularities in the months leading up to her diagnosis, and complained of heavy periods with blood clots.
This is another common symptom of the deadly disease with tumors affecting the uterus or ovaries resulting in hormonal imbalances and a heavier flow in some women.
'Ovarian cancer is very hard to detect. You know your body best so talk with your doctor if you think something's going on,' Matthew warned his followers.
While any woman can get ovarian cancer, certain factors can increase an individual's risk of developing the disease.
These include age - with the risk of ovarian cancer increasing in older women -and a family history of the disease.
Endometriosis, a condition that causes uterine tissue to grow outside of the womb, causing painful periods and heavy bleeding, also increases the risk of ovarian cancer fourfold according to some estimates.
Finally, being overweight can also make you more likely to get ovarian cancer.
Common treatment options include surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible, chemotherapy to shrink the tumors and hormone therapy.
Women experiencing symptoms such as bloating, a lack of appetite or feeling full quickly, an urgent need to urinate or needing to do so more often, are advised to see their doctor.
Other potential signs of the disease include indigestion, constipation or diarrhoea, back pain, fatigue, unexplained weight loss and bleeding from the vagina after the menopause.
