Esther Gómez I Marbella (Málaga), (EFE).- “I had cancer and now, what?” The battle of the more than 45,000 women who are diagnosed each year in Spain with some type of gynecological cancer does not end when the hospital bell rings and dealing with its sequelae is “the price” that many patients have to pay to move forward .
Those who have undergone “aggressive surgery” such as those for ovarian, breast or uterine tumors, especially in advanced stages, “have a series of sequelae that are relatively important,” the head of the Health Service explained to EFE. Obstetrics, Gynecology and Breast Unit of the Hospital Quirón Marbella, Isabel Blanco.
The specific case of ovarian pathology -without symptoms at the beginning- “represents a challenge both for diagnosis and for treatment” which in most cases requires, in addition to surgical intervention, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, he emphasizes.
Medical professionals must “be available to help them” not only when the disease is active, but “also when they overcome the cancer” so that their recovery is complete, emphasizes Dr. Blanco.
Among the best-known side effects are the surgery itself and hair loss, but they are not the only ones -he specifies- and this requires a “multidisciplinary approach” for which it is necessary to have, among others, gynecologists, oncologists, psychologists and Even with sexologists.
Early menopause, atrophy and vaginal dryness
Another problem that affects the quality of life of the survivor and that appears associated with some types of gynecological cancer treatment is early menopause and all that this entails, such as atrophy or vaginal dryness, she explains.
“We even find ourselves with patients who cannot have relationships with their partners again because this intense and sudden atrophy incapacitates them in their sexual and affective life,” he details, and this causes them stress and anxiety, conditions their day by day and affects their psychological health.
“Many of these women have to rediscover their sexuality because their lives and physical condition have completely changed”, but there is a way out and “very effective” treatments, the doctor points out, and thus sends a message of hope to those who find themselves in this situation. .
This is perhaps one of the most unknown consequences, probably because sex is still taboo and you don’t talk about your sexual life with coworkers or at a family gathering, Charo Cortés, who was diagnosed with breast cancer, told EFE. when I was 32 years old.
A disabling lymphedema
This is not her case – she was lucky to keep both breasts, she points out – although she has her own sequel in the form of a disabling chronic lymphedema in the chest affected by the tumor and on the side that requires regular physiotherapy and makes her life very complicated. .
However, she knows of “many colleagues who have found themselves without their mother” or who, after surviving cancer, have had to face the “difficult situation” that involves “recognizing that what you did before you cannot do now” and she has told them cost their relationship.
Charo Cortés has a lot of character – she smiles as she says it – and she has handled it well, but she has seen more than one patient leave the consultation crying and regrets that “not much progress has been made in the treatment of the sequelae left by this disease”.
In his opinion -that of someone who has seen what cancer is up close- “it is very important” that studies be carried out so that those who survive “have the possibility of recovering as much as possible as they were before and can lead a normal life” , he concludes.
