Vulvar Cancer? Vulvar Mass? What does that even mean? So being me I went to Google, what I found was terrifying. By the way if you are going through a diagnosis DO NOT GOOGLE!!! Find a support group, I was lucky to find a private group on Facebook that has been AMAZING! This group is kind of a women bare all when it comes to experiences and their situations, its nice to have people to lean on that know exactly what you're going through, especially when people say that this cancer is too "Taboo" to talk about because of where it is or because they have never heard of it feel that it is not "cancery enough".  When you Google something like this you find outdated studies and such from doctors, you find gruesome images of surgeries & symptoms that you didn’t know even existed. 

Lets start with Vulvar Cancer “Cancer of the Vulva”. What’s a Vulva? I had never heard this term until my diagnosis so let me explain. The Vulva is the external part of the female genitalia. The Vulva is made up of the Monis Pubis, Clitoris, Labia Majora, Labia Minora, Perineum & Anus. I always knew what these different parts were, but thought they were part of the Vagina. Boy was I wrong, the Vagina is on the inside. So now Vulvar Cancer is cancer of any of this Vulvar area.

I then started to research the symptoms of Vulvar Cancer:

• Red, pink or white bumps that appear like warts (Cauliflower-like growths)
• Rough white area
• Persistent itching
• Open sore or ulcer
• Pain or burning during urination
• Bleeding and discharge not associated with menstruation
• Lump or swelling on the vulva
• Skin Changes on the vulva

Of these symptoms the only one that I had was the lump that I had found in my Labia Majora. So then I went on to research the common risk factors for Vulvar Cancer:

• Age, Vulvar cancer “most commonly” affects women over the age of 50-70 (Post menopausal women)
• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) positive
• Smoker
• HIV infection
• Vulvar Intraepithelial Neoplasia (VIN) - Pre-cancerous
• Lichen Sclerosus (LS)
• Other Genital Cancers
• Melanoma or Atypical Moles

Looking through this list of “risk factors’ I don’t fit in this category at all. The number one risk factor being age: myself & many other women in my support group have come to the conclusion that its because younger women aren’t being diagnosed properly or being blown off from a diagnosis because of their age. If you go back and look at the symptoms you will notice that most of them can be diagnosed as something else. Cauliflower-like growths most commonly misdiagnosed as Genital Warts, these woman are treated for these “Genital Warts” that will not go away. Persistent itching or a discharge that would be a Yeast Infection. There is no such thing as chronic yeast infections, if its not going away something else is going on. Pain or burning during urination you can blame that one on a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). Lump or swelling on the vulva, that would most definitely be either a swollen lymph node or a cyst. The only way to know for sure what the issue is is for a doctor to take the time to actually listen to you and do the necessary biopsies to get a proper diagnosis. 

There is something you can do not necessarily to prevent Vulvar Cancer but to get an early diagnosis and that is by monthly routine self check exams. You’re already checking your breasts for lumps so while you’re at it grab a mirror and take a look downstairs. What are you looking for? Any changes in appearance, color, moles, change in texture, check for lumps, you want to get familiar with the way the tissue feels so that if something does change you will notice it for yourself and be able to notify your doctor. This isn’t something that you would want to take to your General Practitioner, you want to see a Gynecologist or OB/GYN. If they do the proper biopsies and it comes back as cancer you should then be referred to a Gynecological Oncologist. Make sure that you are comfortable with this doctor and with your Gynecologist, if not there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting a second or third opinion in fact I highly recommend it and will touch more on that at a later date. But first and foremost you must be your own advocate & if you know that something isn’t right with your body get a doctor to listen to you & to do the proper tests!

For more information about Vulvar Cancer please visit https://www.facebook.com/vulvarcancerawarenessforum/