Cancer is the end product of cells that no longer follow the usual order of cell growth, division, and death. Instead, these cells divide uncontrollably, and grow out of control. In addition, these cells do not respect the normal borders between tissues. Instead they travel outside of their usual places, otherwise known as metastasis,or else grow beyond their own borders, also called invasion. The processes of uncontrolled cell growth, invasion, and metastasis are all hallmarks of cancer.
When we were still developing, first as babies inside our mothers and continuing on while we were infants and children, our cells rapidly grew and divided. The end result was differentiation—it’s what enabled a red blood cell to carry oxygen, an intestinal cell to absorb food, and an ovarian cell to produce hormones to make eggs. If cells are injured or get too old, they undergo a process called apoptosis, or programmed cell death. This is what keeps us healthy and all our organs operating normally. Some of our organs keep the ability to divide in order to replace dead and dying cells. These include the skin, gastrointestinal tract, hair follicles, and, to a large degree, the ovaries, which replace their surface after an egg is released. extent cancer will disrupt my life and my relationships.
If a cell undergoes changes in its building blocks, called DNA, it can escape this tightly regulated life cycle. These DNA changes, also called mutations, can allow cells to keep growing and dividing. They no longer respond to your body’s signals to stop dividing, and this process of unchecked cell division results in a mass of such cells, called a tumor. If a tumor cell breaks free from its origin (in this case, the ovarian cell within the ovary), it can travel through the bloodstream and land in another area of one’s body far away (in the lung, for example) and start growing there; it is by definition metastatic. These two features—unchecked cell growth and the ability to metastasize—define cancer.
It is most important to realize that cancer is a disease, but is not an automatic death sentence. More and more people, in fact, are cured from or are living longer with cancer. It used to be a very deadly condition, due to the lack of effective treatments and screening. Thankfully, we have come a long way and innovations in treatment have made cancer increasingly more curable, and definitely less deadly. More and more we are thinking of cancer as a chronic medical condition and cancer survivorship has become a new field of practice to meet the needs of those living with a cancer diagnosis.
Joan said:
The day the doctor’s office called and told me the doctor (who did my D&C) would like to see me in the afternoon for a consultation, I knew my life was forever changed. The hope that I just had fibroids was a thing of the past. I called a friend who had just had a hysterectomy to get the name of her surgeon–I figured I would need it. I didn’t want to hear I had cancer but I knew I had to be prepared for it.
However, I firmly believe my attitude truly determines the extent cancer will disrupt my life and my relationships.