By Susan Gubar
No matter how long I deal with periodic blood tests, abdominal CTs and mammograms, they always trigger a huge wave of ‘scanxiety.’
Last year, right before the winter holidays, the nurse practitioner palpating my breast paused and … Read more
By Doug Wendt
The cancer journey is always overwhelming. No human can come away from the experience unscathed. You begin with a symptom here, a sign there, or maybe something appears on a routine checkup or in imaging. Suddenly, the … Read more
BY Kelly Irvin
I’ve officially entered the twilight zone. No, not the one Rod Serling spoke of on that classic TV show. This is that murky, dark period when the tumor markers associated with ovarian cancer start creeping up. While … Read more
“You feel lost and confused, and everybody is going
… Read moreBy: Susan Lisovicz
I’m glad I was lying down when the doctor told me the true cause of my stomach pains.
“Well, you’ve got a tumor” were his first words to me. I had just awakened in a hospital bed … Read more
By: Annette McElhiney
I will never forget in 2008 when my doctor told me, “you have ovarian cancer.” Few words in the English language provoke a stronger reaction of fear and dread than the word cancer. However, there are … Read more
Against the odds, one ovarian cancer survivor instilled healthy habits, joy and hope in to her life – all of which she wants to impart on to other women going through the same journey.
At the 2018 National Ovarian Cancer … Read more
Driving research and awareness by working together are ways in which the word cure might one day be heard in the ovarian cancer community. Members of the tight knit “teal army” gathered last night for the inaugural Ovarian Cancer Heroes … Read more
By: Annette McElhiney
I just turned 77 years old. As a 9 1/2 year ovarian cancer survivor, in the last 9 years I’ve particularly treasured each year I have lived. But I also realize many more years lie behind me … Read more
By: Kristie Kahl
After a cancer diagnosis and treatment, one may question when they will actually start to feel “normal” again, whatever that may be. The Ovarian Cancer Prognosis and Lifestyle (OPAL) study set out to help women with ovarian … Read more
No one expected the four young women to live much longer. They had an extremely rare, aggressive and fatal form of ovarian cancer. There was no standard treatment.
The women, strangers to one another living in different countries, asked their … Read more
By: Susan Gubar
Ongoing breakthroughs in cancer care involve personalized medicine, we are often informed. Because every malignancy is unique in terms of its genetics and genomics, one size (or protocol) cannot fit all.
A diagnosis of multiple myeloma, cancer … Read more
Whenever Joan Janssen meets fellow ovarian cancer patients, she shares words of wisdom that she’s gained from seven years of living with the disease. “This is a recurring disease; don’t be stunned if it comes back,” she tells them. “You … Read more
For many people diagnosed with cancer, the symptoms are obvious. Bumps, lumps and blood where it shouldn’t be are all clear-cut warning signs that something could be wrong.
But for Narell Whitehead, a chance encounter with a TV ad was … Read more
By: Susan Gubar
At diagnosis, quite a few cancer patients spy Eros rushing out the door. I know I did. For some, eroticism vanishes during or after treatment. Anhedonia, the inability to feel pleasure, can afflict both men and women … Read more
When Wendy Ericsson learned she had uterine cancer in December 2012 she went looking for information, but didn’t find much out there about her disease.
Through her doctor, she was directed to the Foundation for Women’s Cancer (FWC).
“There’s a … Read more
I had a family member who was diagnosed with late stage ovarian cancer 20 years ago and died of the disease at the age of 47. Even though her symptoms appeared a year before her diagnosis with abdominal bloating, indigestion, … Read more
By: Susan Gubar
Toward the end of another unexpected year of existence, outliving a poor prognosis of late-stage cancer rouses me in the dark. Such an awakening is quite different from the fretful insomnia that accompanied the dire diagnosis. Especially … Read more
