By Dr. Krista Byers-Heinlein
“DrNadiaChaudhri passed away away yesterday evening, having reached the end of her road with ovarian cancer. She leaves behind her Sun and Moon, a loving extended family, colleagues and students, friends around the world, and so many others who have been touched by her & her story,” Dr. Krista Byers-Heinlein
“One of her final goals was to raise awareness of ovarian cancer. Telling her story,
@DrNadiaChaudhri encouraged women “Do not dismiss your pain or malaise. Find the expert doctors.”
Her last twitter post
“Now that I have 100K followers, I want to talk about #OvarianCancer. Specifically my gritty story. The goal is awareness. I hope you find this narrative informative”
“In January 2020 I started feeling unwell. I was tired, had vague abdominal pain, severe lower back pain & a mild increase in frequency to urinate.”
“I was treated with antibiotics for a UTI even though I did not have classic UTI symptoms (high bacterial load, burning pee, big increase in urge to pee).”
“I also got an endovaginal ultrasound that showed free fluid in the abdomen & the possibility of a ruptured left ovarian cyst. The recommendation was to follow up in 3 months”
“Come March, the pandemic struck. By now my abdomen was bloated and I was in moderate pain. My bowel movements had changed too so I kept taking stool softeners. I couldn’t see my doctor because of the pandemic. I was incredibly tired but I chalked it up to the pandemic.
“By April I was on a third course of antibiotics. My doctor still suspected an ailment related to my urinary tract. I was tired but thought it was the antibiotics.
“In May I had a second endovaginal ultrasound. This one showed that my ovaries were enlarged and had moved towards the middle of my abdomen. There was a lot of ascites in my abdomen too. The radiologist suggested endometriosis.
“I showed my scan report to an Uncle who is a gynaecologist. He said I should get a blood test to check CA 125, CA 19 and CEA. These are cancer markers. He wanted to rule them out before pursuing endometriosis as an option.
https://twitter.com/DrNadiaChaudhri/status/1437518784361816067 2/n
