HOLIDAYS PAST Winter in the Northern Hemisphere is a season I look forward to enjoying. For me and my family, it is get-togethers at Christmas; for nearby friends it is gatherings for Hanukkah or Kwanzaa; and we all look forward to welcoming the New Year. Before my cancer diagnosis I remember starting to put up [...]

THE POWER OF YOUR STORY Recently I met a young woman who had been diagnosed with stage 3C ovarian cancer three years before; she was back in treatment for a second recurrence. I asked if she had considered participating as a presenter for Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance's Survivors Teaching Students®(STS) Program.  As the National Program [...]

LEARNING FROM LONG-TERM SURVIVORS What do you do? What do you eat? Do you take supplements? These were the questions that I asked every woman who had undergone treatment for ovarian cancer that I met those first few years after my own diagnosis. I was desperate to learn and do anything—absolutely anything—that would help me [...]

CANCER IS A HUMAN EXPERIENCE - NOT JUST A MEDICAL ONE Mom, just send me a text if you need anything, I can barely hear you when you speak. Advice from my daughter as I recover from a thyroidectomy I had a few days ago. As I wait for my pathology results, I’m recalling my [...]

STAYING HOPEFUL I was recently asked by a woman whose ovarian cancer had just returned how I remained hopeful in the face of my own multiple recurrences. I had to think and reflect before answering her.  I’ve always been a positive person – not a “Pollyanna” per se – but generally a “glass half-full” type of [...]

VALLEYS AND MOUNTAINS Originally Posted on tps://ovariancancerisnothing.com/2019/05/29/valleys-and-mountains/ It wasn't until my body was curled into itself and heaved erratically from the grief that I heard the bugle call me out of the valley.  It wasn't until I was standing at the top of the mountain in celebration that I decided to make an effort to stay [...]

WE CAN ALL BE ADVOCATES I have worked in a number of different positions over the years, but my most recent one – as an ovarian cancer research advocate – is the one I have worked at the longest. During the spring of 2006, as I finished my 9th cycle of chemotherapy for stage 3b [...]

RETURN FROM THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON We all have dates in our lives that we celebrate - or at least dates where we pause for a moment to remember what set it apart from any other day: birthdays, wedding anniversaries, children's births, the loss of a loved one, college graduation, etc. For those [...]

LIVING IN MY MEMORY Originally posted at ASCO Connection on 9/29/2017 Starting a new job is always stressful – the move from one institution to another, getting hospital credentials, obtaining provider credentialing for various insurances, meeting new staff, and adjusting to a new work “culture.” Having done my share of moves, these are nearly universal [...]

LOOKING BACK AND LOOKING FORWARD In January 2006, five months after my diagnosis, I wasn’t really sure what my future would hold. Would I be able to finish all the chemo treatments? Would I be able to travel to all 50 states in my lifetime? (A personal goal of mine.) Would I be able to [...]