Stories of Inspiration

Desolina was a typical 4-year-old child, mostly sweet with those few epic tantrums. As she approached 5, the tantrums worsened and we often joked what our household would be like during the teen years. She had developed an urge to urinate that seemed ridiculous to us and usually at the most inconvenient times. She had stopped eating as much and…

As far back as I can remember I always had some gynecological issues. Bleeding between periods, fibroids, and ovarian cysts. Throughout the years I had numerous surgeries to combat these things and was on medication, which to my dismay put on extra pounds. In 2019 I was still actively teaching first grade. I taught for 26 years, and I was…

Isn't it funny that when we are young, we think we have full control of our lives? My life has not turned out as I had planned; nonetheless, God did a beautiful job of it himself. Sometimes beauty is pain, though, just the name of the game, I suppose. I really didn't think I could have any more babies, I…

In their vision to eliminate ovarian cancer, the Department of Defense’s Ovarian Cancer Research Program (OCRP) was created to support critical research to “prevent, detect, treat, and cure ovarian cancer.” Since its inception in 1997, the OCRP undergoes a peer review process to determine which research should be funded. Patient involvement is very important from the beginning of the review…

I was diagnosed with stage IIIB low-grade serous ovarian cancer in 2016 and later reclassified as stage IV in 2019 with a high-grade ovarian cancer tumor in my chest. I have been living with both low-grade and high-grade ovarian cancer. I am now five years into my ovarian cancer journey and am glad to not only be surviving but thriving.…

How many trips have you dreamed of, researched online, and even picked potential dates? When I was growing up, my parents loved to take me with them on the many trips they took, and they were always fun plus educational. That desire to travel stuck with me, and during my working years, I had lots of opportunities to travel across…

Never in a million years did I ever think I would be diagnosed with cancer. I’ve always lived a healthy, active lifestyle. I honestly would have to say that leading up to my symptoms and diagnosis of Stage 3C high-grade Ovarian Cancer. I was the fittest and healthiest I had ever been at age 45. So yes, I was in…

For much of my life, I had worried about getting ovarian cancer. There was no known gene mutation in my family, but I had a number of ovarian cysts in my twenties and then needed a hysterectomy at 44 for fibroid tumors. My husband had lost his mom to ovarian cancer in 1980, and for whatever reason, I was always…

One morning in September 2020, I woke up, and while stretching, I noticed a bulge next to the left side of my belly button. My first thought was, “Am I constipated?” I decided to drink tea to help with my digestion. A couple of days passed, and the bulge was still there. I decided to have an appointment with my…

I had experienced increasing fatigue for over a year. I blamed it on stress. I experienced severe bloating for at least six months, and I blamed it on my IBS. I began to have irregular menstrual cycles. I blamed it on pre-menopause. I began to have persistent pelvic pain, and I finally sought medical advice. We thought it was a…