Nah.

TWGH wore Green.

Oh, alright.

He wasn’t wearing green, either.

He was wearing teal.

That’s right.  Teal.

Last night was the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Awareness Night at the Phillies game. 

I know.  I know.  Some people say, “I’m perfectly aware of Ovarian Cancer.”

How clever of you.  You’re missing the point.   Here is what you, and all of us, need to be aware of:

1. Ovarian Cancer is the fifth leading cause of death among women in the United States and is the most deadly of the gynecologic cancers.
2. It is estimated that in 2010, 21, 888 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 13,850 will die from the disease.
3. Ovarian Cancer is not an uncommon disease occurring in 1 of every 72 women.
4. When ovarian cancer is detected early, before it has spread beyond the ovaries, more than 90% of women will survive longer than five years. Only 19% of women are diagnosed in the early stages.
5. Currently, 50% of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer die from the disease within five years. When diagnosed in advanced stages, the chance of five- year survival is only 44%.
6. Ovarian cancer is often difficult to diagnose because symptoms may be subtle, are easily confused with other diseases and because there is no single reliable easy-to-administer screening tool.

Because it is often difficult to diagnose and the symptoms are so easily confused with other diseases, you should know what those symptoms are and be on the lookout for them in yourself and your loved ones.   These symptoms include:

• Bloating
• Pelvic or abdominal pain
• Difficulty eating or feeling full quickly
• Urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency)

Women with ovarian cancer report that symptoms are persistent and represent a change from normal for their bodies. The frequency and/or number of such symptoms are key factors in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Several studies show that even early stage ovarian cancer can produce these symptoms.

Women who have these symptoms almost daily for more than a few weeks should see their doctor, preferably a gynecologist. Prompt medical evaluation may lead to detection at the earliest possible stage of the disease. Early stage diagnosis is associated with an improved prognosis.

Several other symptoms have been commonly reported by women with ovarian cancer. These symptoms include fatigue, indigestion, back pain, pain with intercourse, constipation and menstrual irregularities. However, these other symptoms are not as useful in identifying ovarian cancer because they are also found in equal frequency in women in the general population who do not have ovarian cancer. 

While there are certain risk factors, including genetics, that may predispose a woman to ovarian cancer, the majority of woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer have no known risk factors. 

All of this information is from the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation website.

While we’re on the subject of awareness, here’s what else I’m aware of:

1) It would be OK with me if I were conked in the noggin with a Jayson Werth flyball.  I’m not a believer, but I don’t think it’s coincidental that he looks a lot like Jesus.

2)  Baseball games are more fun when somebody gets arrested but nobody gets hurt.

3)  Baseball games are more fun when we win.  And when we beat Atlanta.

4)  And when my kids have fun and don’t whine and agree to let us buy them ice cream on the way home instead of in the really expensive baseball hat bowls.

5)  Silly Bandz aren’t always silly.