Welcome to my Heart to Heart blog designed in the Clearity Portal to provide ovarian cancer survivors with a “cozy space” where we know we will be welcomed and supported.
I’ve been an ovarian cancer survivor for 7 years. I’ve attended many meetings, but this past summer, I attended my first National Ovarian Cancer Alliance Conference NOCA with approximately 400 other survivors!
Throughout the last seven years I’ve been to many gatherings, but often I felt like the “outsider” or “interloper.” But from the first time I walked into that NOCA convention room, I felt a sense of “coming home.” We were all survivors there, we were passionately interested in the disease(s), and we were dedicated to helping each other. For the first time in 7 years, despite the tremendous support I received from personal friends, (one even offered to shave her head to support me), I felt my stomach quit fluttering and a deep sense of respect surfaced in recognition of all the pain we, and our families, have suffered. For several seconds, I was overwhelmed, but proud as well: proud to be amongst so many other women who had faced this enemy cancer and kept their spirits alive!
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