I’m Dena Cashin, a 34 year female. and the health system has failed me for over 10 years. I knew something was wrong, I had known this for a long time. After ten years of self health advocation and medical research I am finally getting some answers and found a Dr. who slightly believed my symptoms,
I’ve walked in and out of more Drs. offices than you can imagine with text book symptoms of ovarian cancer but due to being stereotyped by my age, was turned away and was diagnosed as having anxiety, and health hypocondria, and depression. This was far from the truth and I knew it.
I was given big pharma drugs and sent home, this is not what I needed.
It took me years to get a Dr. to send me to get proper imaging scans done and even then they were hesistent as they said insurance might no cover it. Well I finally I risked paying out of pocket because I knew they would find something and have to cover it.
SO many ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed at such a late age. A simple CA-125 test should be standard.
“Everything is fine”
“This is normal”
“Your blood work looks normal”
“Heres a prescription”
“This is consistent with women of childbearing ages”
“You have an irritable uterus”
NO..... don‘t accept these answers. DEMAND FURTHER TESTING
GET TO THE ACTUAL ROOT OF YOUR PROBLEMS
Time is of the essence. If I had accepted these unacceptable answers numerous Doctors had given me and took the anxiety meds to make me stop worrying, I would have likely stopped investigating the root cause of all of the health issues I was having. I would have died from ovarian cancer in less than a decade
I felt a calling to advocate for self-health, to empower individuals to trust their intuition, and to affirm that if something feels off, it likely is. It was for me, and listening to my intuition saved my life. My overall goal is to cultivate people into becoming advocates who can spread the word to people and places that couldn’t easily be reached before.
My Story
Shortly after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer life changed, a lot. My outlook changed, a lot. I was one of the lucky ones to be diagnosed so early on, simply because I didn't take no for an answer and demanded further testing even after hearing 'no' 'thats unnecessary" "you're too young" it is very highly unlikely that you will be amongst the small statistic. My stubbornness and strong intuitive skills saved my life and I am forever grateful. My Doctors told me that if I had put off getting tested and hadn't insisted on ordering imaging that I would have died from Ovarian Cancer in a few short years and my case would not be curative. Time is of the essence and I will spend the rest of my life advocating for those who don't know any different in hopes of saving many. This is my way of giving back.