In May of 2004 I had been having difficulty with my menstrual cycle. In October 2004 I had a pap smear that was normal, but my cycles were quite irregular such as amenoria, blood clot type bleeding, dark blood and bad cramps. I had no idea what was going on with me. In January of this year (2005) I noticed abdominal swelling of some type. Not knowing what was going on. On February 22, 2005 I was in chronic pain, but I really thought that I was just having a bad cycle month. The pain then subsided, but by March 15th, I was in severe pain again. I was scheduled for CT Scan on March 17th and it showed a 19 cm sized tumor on my left ovary along with gall stones. I then had an ultrasound on March 23rd and the results were still the same. I was referred from an ob/gyn to see an ob/gyn oncologist following two blood tests, such as a CA-125 and an CEA test. My CEA was normal, but my CA-125 was slightly elevated. It read 48. The normal range is between 0-35. I was told that that I had 50/50 percentage of having ovarian cancer. So, I saw the ob/gyn on April 11th and he had scheduled for further tests prior to pre op on May 2nd. Surgery was scheduled for May 5th. What I hated mostly about one of the tests, was the barium enema for the gall bladder. It was then I had found out I had colon polyps ! Ugh ! I also had fibroids on my uterus, which jumped onto the wall of my abdomen. I had no idea that I was that sick. So, I had to get other doctors in to perform the colonoscopy along with gall bladder removal. The entire surgery for the complete hysterectomy, colonoscopy and gall bladder removal took 5 hrs. I was in the hospital for 6 days. I was fortunate, my ovarian cancer was low potential mucinous tumor; 7 inches long and the size of a football. I was given a 95 % life expectancy. It was stage 1 ovarian cancer. I advise all women to get their female check ups regularly. Ovarian cancer is very difficult to detect with little or no symptoms, mostly none. Your life is precious ! God bless all who read this.