An Olympic champion was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 33. Here are 3 signs she almost ignored.

• Seven-time Olympic medalist Shannon Miller was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in her early 30s.
• More than a decade late, she said women still miss the same key symptoms like bloating and pain.
• Early-onset cancer has increased in recent years, and there’s no routine test for ovarian cancer.

At the height of her career, Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller made a point of knowing exactly what her body was capable of and what it needed.

“My job as an elite athlete was to know everything that’s going on in my body at all times. You don’t fly around 15 feet in the air and not know,” Miller told Business Insider.

That’s why it was a total shock when, years later, a routine visit to the doctor found a baseball-sized cyst on her ovary that turned out to be from a rare form of ovarian cancer.

Miller was 33 at the time, with a 1-year-old son and plans to have another child. Her schedule was so busy that she had nearly postponed her gynecology appointment, since nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. After winning two Olympic medals, including two gold, she had pivoted from a gymnastics career into health and wellness advocacy, hosting a radio show that she poured hours of time and energy into.

“I completely missed the signs and symptoms. I could find a logical reason for all of them.” Miller, now 48, said.

Decades later, women are still missing the telltale red flags of ovarian cancer or are afraid to speak up, said Miller, who is partnering with pharmaceutical company AbbVie to help raise awareness.

Looking back, she said she wishes she had paid more attention to symptoms like weight loss, bloating, and persistent stomach aches, and urges other people to take them seriously.

“I’m very aware that cancer doesn’t care who you are or how many gold medals you have,” Miller said.

Don’t ignore ongoing stomach aches

Miller said she had been suffering from frequent stomach pain but initially wrote it off as indigestion or stress-related because she didn’t want to overreact.

“What woman’s stomach doesn’t hurt at least a couple times a month?” she said.

The pain also wasn’t constant, making it easier to brush off, but it was persistent. Recurring, unexplained abdominal pain can be a symptom of ovarian cancer.

On the day of her doctor’s appointment, she felt fine and went in, hoping to leave with nothing more serious than a recommendation for prenatal vitamins, since she and her husband were planning to expand their family. But the stomach aches had been frequent enough, and severe enough, that she mentioned the discomfort to her doctor, prompting the ultrasound that ultimately found the tumor.

After getting a cancer diagnosis instead, Miller said not postponing her appointment or minimizing her symptoms may have saved her life.

Weight loss is a reason to see a doctor

Miller had also experienced abrupt weight loss. At the time, she thought it was related to the birth of her first child.

“I thought I was just losing the baby weight,” Miller said.

Like many young people with early-onset cancers, Miller had to make a quick decision about whether she might ever want more children, even before she could do tests to find out how much the cancer may have spread.

“‘He said, ‘How much should I try to salvage? If I need to take everything, just understand what that means moving forward,'” Miller said.

She ultimately decided to prioritize aggressive chemo and a surgery to remove her left ovary, but was later able to have a daughter naturally in 2013.

Bloating can be a subtle sign of cancer

Miller said the stress of being a new mom made her almost miss another key sign of ovarian cancer: bloating.

A swollen belly, uncomfortable feeling of fullness, or appearance of gaining weight (especially if the scale says otherwise) can all be indicators of several types of cancer, including ovarian cancer, colorectal cancer, or pancreatic cancer.

Through the cancer diagnosis and treatment, Miller said her mindset as a gymnast helped her face the challenge.

“I mentally reverted back to that competitive mentality that I learned through sport of goal setting, teamwork, keeping a positive mindset,” Miller said. “It wasn’t training for a gold medal. It was, can I get up, get dressed and walk two times around the dining room table? And if I could do that on some of my tougher days, then that was a win.”

She’s since used her platform as an Olympic champion to encourage other women to be proactive about their health, since there’s no routine test for ovarian cancer.

Evolving diagnostic options like biomarker testing can be personalized for an individual’s unique profile and risks, and can help spot warning signs sooner in combination with better symptom awareness.

“We have to listen to our bodies,” she said.

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