Woman stresses importance of advocating for your health after cancer fight
MIAMI - According to the American Cancer Society, 13,000 women will die of ovarian cancer this year.
Some won't even know they have the disease until it's too late. But one South Florida woman is sharing her story of survival in hopes of inspiring others to listen to their bodies and to never stop advocating for their health.
Kathyann Phillip Hamilton has had quite a roller coaster of a year.
"I call it a journey," Hamilton told CBS News Miami Anchor Lauren Pastrana. "I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the beginning of March and I was distraught. It propelled me to thinking about death and my family. What are they going to do without me? But I'm so happy with my faith that here I am today."
She said she was meticulous about her health, never missing an annual check-up. Her routine bloodwork came back clear, but she said she knew something was wrong. She'd been having dull pain in her abdomen for a while.
After she pushed for more testing, doctors found a large mass on her ovary in March 2022.
"The first initial thought was this is huge. This is it," she said. "I was very concerned as to how I just had a visit in February and it was missed."
After her diagnosis, she said she started feeling worse, having trouble walking and difficulty breathing because of the fluid building up in her abdomen.
Her original doctor was going out of town and couldn't perform surgery right away, so Hamilton found a new physician.
Dr. Jonathan Black at the Center for Gynecologic Oncology in Miramar sent her straight to the hospital for surgery. He removed the cancer and performed a full hysterectomy laparoscopically.
He said sometimes the symptoms are easy to miss.
"These symptoms slowly develop over time, they don't necessarily come on very acutely. So as a result, once they get detected with ovarian cancer, it can be quite an advanced stage," Dr. Black explained.
Hamilton also underwent six rounds of chemotherapy and still takes medication as part of her treatment plan.
A 2022 study from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network found black women are 14 percent less likely than white women to receive all of the treatments recommended for ovarian cancer.
Hamilton said her experience has made her realize how important it is for women, especially women of color, to advocate for themselves and their health.
"Women of color are usually stereotyped. We have a lot of health issues linked to women of color so sometimes those things get pushed off as that's what it is. Women of color have fibroids. So most of the time those things are associated with fibroids. So it gets pushed aside," she said.
Now she and her doctor have the same advice.
"It's important to be in tune with your body and recognize if there's a distinctive change in the way that you're feeling. If that's the case you should seek medical care," Dr. Black said.
"If there's pain, head to the doctor. Be an advocate for yourself. You know your body if it's not normal," Hamilton added.
The key to advocating for yourself is knowing the signs to watch out for.
In this case, there's an easy acronym to remember - BEAT.
If you're experiencing Bloating, Eating difficulties, Abdominal pain, and Toilet changes on a consistent and persistent basis, contact your health care provider.
