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A New York life coach was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer and discovered she had four tumors - just a week and a half after a doctor dismissed her symptoms as something that happens to "women your age."
Mara Kofoed, 45, of Hudson Valley, New York, went to her gynecologist in November after her abdomen became swollen and she began experiencing "extreme pain" in her ovaries and during sex.
But her doctor said this happens when “women your age stop wanting sex and therefore go sober.” She was told to come back in a year.
However, just days later, Kofoed feared she "could die" after her abdomen enlarged to the point where she could no longer walk, eat, sleep or even breathe properly.
She rushed to the emergency room on December 10, where scans showed stage 3 ovarian cancer and tumors on each ovary measuring up to 12cm in diameter, as well as up to 2cm in size on her rectum and bladder.
Two weeks later, she had surgery to have it removed and underwent six rounds of chemotherapy. She's doing "very well" now, but she said if she had followed the doctor's advice and waited a year, "it would have meant my death."
Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of death in American women, resulting in approximately 12,000 deaths annually. It is often missed in the early stages – when it is easiest to treat – because the symptoms can be missed.
Mara Kofoed, 45, of New York's Hudson Valley, was informed by her gynecologist that her symptoms occur when "women your age stop wanting sex and therefore go dry."
Kofoed (pictured above) during an appointment with medical professionals. It shows her bloated stomach, which she said left her struggling to walk, eat and even breathe
After being seen in the emergency room, doctors discovered she had stage 3 ovarian cancer. She had a tumor on each ovary and tumors on her rectum and bladder
Kofoed told her her story TODAY with the aim of raising awareness of the symptoms of cancer that affect 20,000 women each year.
The life coach said she first noticed something was wrong in 2017 when she experienced mild pain and constipation during sex and had to get up at night to urinate.
Kofoed said she also noticed a different sensation in her urethra that felt similar to a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
She wrote off the warning signs as possibly being due to her age.
But in May last year, the area around her stomach began to thicken and expand. Although the medical literature describes this as bloating, Kofoed said this is "very misleading" because people don't think about the ovaries.
After seeing a gynecologist on November 30 and being told she didn't need scans, Kofoed decided to keep fighting for a while.
But about a week and a half later — on Dec. 10 — she responded to a highway emergency room feeling like she wouldn't make it through the weekend.
“The bloated stomach was so extreme that it severely affected my ability to walk, breathe, eat, drink, sleep, sit and go to the bathroom,” she said.
"It increased the pressure on every organ - [and was] so intense that I thought I might die. It was one of the most painful and frightening things I've ever done.
Mara is pictured above with her husband Danny. Mara said she wrote off the early warning signs
After listening to her symptoms, a nurse advised her to go to the nearest emergency room as soon as possible.
Kofoed described her experience as follows: "If I had waited a year for my next appointment, as the doctor's office recommended, it would have meant death. I wouldn't have lasted a year.
“It was the biggest shock of my life when I found out I had ovarian cancer.
“I might have suspected breast cancer because my grandmother had it, but ovarian cancer was very, very off the radar.”
Kofoed is pictured above. She said it was the “biggest shock of my life” when she found out she had ovarian cancer
She added: "Women need to be more educated about this. We know about breast cancer, but almost no one could rattle off the symptoms - I couldn't."
It is estimated that approximately 20,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year American Cancer Society.
It is most common in older women who are around 63 years old.
In the early stages, you may experience bloating, abdominal pain, difficulty eating, and increased frequency of urination. You may also experience stomach pain, pain during sex, constipation, fatigue and change in period.
But about four in five patients miss these signs in the earliest stages - when it's easiest to treat - and attribute them to something else.
Treatment for the cancer typically involves surgery to remove as many tumors as possible, followed by rounds of chemotherapy.
When the cancer is detected early, about 94 percent of patients survive longer than five years after their diagnosis.
But once it spreads, the five-year survival rate drops to 75 percent of patients. In cases where the cancer is not detected until it has spread to distant areas such as the lungs, the survival rate is 31 percent.