When it rains, it pours, the old saying goes—and if that’s true, then Maja Flannery was caught in a medical downpour a few years ago.
In the summer of 2021, Flannery, 65, of Dayton, Ohio was navigating the pandemic as someone with a serious long-term medical condition when a new symptom led to an unexpected additional diagnosis.
Flannery was already living with lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), a rare lung disease that causes cysts to develop in the lungs, and was beating the odds. “I had a five-to-10-year initial prognosis when I first was diagnosed with the lung disease, and I'm into 22 years,” she tells Parade .
Then, in August of 2021, results of an endometrial biopsy revealed suspicious findings. Flannery had surgery that fall, and doctors discovered she had endometrial cancer. “It was grade two, stage 1b, so that was a low to intermediate risk,” she explains.
There are different types of uterine cancers, but Flannery says, “I have the garden variety of endometrial adenocarcinoma.” According to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , that’s the most common type of uterine cancer, accounting for as much as 75 percent of all uterine cancers. Thankfully, it is often detected in the early stages and has a relatively high cure rate.
However, during the surgery and testing for her endometrial cancer, doctors discovered cancer cells in Flannery’s bladder as well. That additional cancer cell finding prompted her doctors to recommend both chemotherapy and radiation.
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The Early Symptom She Overlooked
In hindsight, Flannery realizes she may have overlooked an early sign that something unusual was happening.
“I had started losing weight, and it wasn't that I was trying. I'm very physically active, and I work five days a week, so I thought, 'I'm just not getting enough calories' or whatever," she remembers. "And it wasn't like I was on any kind of a diet, but I did lose something like five to eight pounds over maybe a year. And that should have tipped me off, but you kind of make excuses in your head.”
According to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , unexplained weight loss can be a symptom of endometrial cancer, although that typically happens when the cancer is in the later stages.
However, Flannery had another common early symptom of endometrial cancer: a cloudy vaginal discharge. The Cleveland Clinic says vaginal bleeding—especially if it’s particularly heavy or prolonged—along with spotting or discharge are among common early signs. Some people may also experience pelvic pain or cramping.
Related: Here’s What Endometrial Cancer Actually Is—and How To Know if You’re at Risk for It
Endometrial Cancer Treatment and Recovery
Flannery was already being treated at UC Health for her lung disease, so it was a no-brainer that she would receive cancer treatments at the affiliated University of Cincinnati Cancer Center . In addition to chemotherapy and radiation, Flannery benefitted from a range of supportive therapies through the Osher Center for Integrative Health at the University of Cincinnati.
“Yoga has been the thing that has really helped me," she tells Parade . "They do a lot of lymph movements. [Also,] acupuncture has been the core of making me feel strong enough and able to get me through all these treatments—because of my lungs, the treatments hit me really hard.”
Flannery has also relied on other support services, such as a survivorship program the Center offers.
Risk Factors for Endometrial Cancer
Flannery has one of the main risk factors for endometrial cancer, and it’s one she can’t control: her age. According to the Cleveland Clinic , the risk of reproductive cancers increases with age, and this type of cancer happens most often to people over age 50.
Having a history of any sort of ovarian-related disease or condition also increases the risk—and Flannery believes that could possibly have been a factor for her. “I probably had undiagnosed PCOS [polycystic ovarian syndrome], and I had a lot of ups and downs with my menstrual cycle—missing, weird, coming, going—it's just a whole lifetime of craziness.”
Related: Can Medications like Ozempic Help Manage PCOS Symptoms? Here's What Experts Say
Finding Her Passion and Looking out for Others
Flannery, who in the past had worked as a financial analyst for an automotive company, found a new passion (and profession) after her LAM diagnosis. “I’m the United States Tennis Association local league coordinator here in Dayton for the area. I scheduled tennis matches and I also work for the local tennis center here. Tennis is my life,” Flannery says.
Flannery credits tennis for keeping her consistently active, which in turn helps her stay as healthy as possible, despite her lung condition and cancer experience.
Flannery says she initially ignored hints that something may be wrong, and had been leery about going to a hospital during the height of the pandemic before vaccines were widely available—but it was the urging of a friend that she finally decided to get checked out.
“You have to be that friend that nags the other person: 'Did you get that checked out?’ I had a great friend who did that for me, almost daily, and that finally got me into the doctor. And we caught it at a time when it was still early stages. It could have been way worse,” she shares.
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