I was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer in December, 1985 in my early thirties. It is now 24 years later and I would like to share my journey with you of living with this cancer. Would an early ovarian cancer test have helped? You decide.

The word ‘cancer’ was foreign to me – not one I needed to really understand or think about. I had just gotten married, moved to Atlanta and started a new job. Less than a year later, I awoke one morning with severe nausea and by evening, I was in the operating room with what the doctors thought was appendicitis – actually, it was five bleeding cysts on my ovary and that was the reason for the nausea and high white blood cell count. Had they known this at the time, I would have been treated intravenously with antibiotics and the ovarian cancer they also found would have continued to go undetected.

And so, my life changed forever that day – I just didn’t know it. I was referred to Dr. Benedict Benigno, who discussed beginning chemotherapy. What the heck was chemotherapy I kept asking myself? I was young and scared, but something kind and compassionate about his manner immediately made me trust him. The regimen of chemo began but at that time, you had to enter the hospital to have it administered. With no hair, a new husband and nausea, my life began to take on a completely different direction.

I stayed cancer free for 13 years until November, 1999. With nagging abdominal pain for almost three weeks, I called Dr. Benigno for an appointment and by that evening, I was once again back in the hospital. The diagnostic tests performed pointed to diverticulitis. Two weeks of flagel IV antibiotic didn’t divert the pain so into surgery I went and awoke being told I had a recurrence of ovarian cancer. The tumor was pressing on my colon and this was where the pain was emanating. It was removed with almost a foot of my colon during the procedure. Thirteen years later, I wasn’t quite as excited about beginning chemo again. Six treatments of taxol and carboplatin and back into surgery – the ovarian cancer was still there and another six inches of my colon once again was removed. That's the thing about this cancer - it hangs on and tries to kill you before you kill it. Nevertheless, about a year later I chose to stop the treatments due to the toxicity of the drugs. That was January 2001 but in 2006, it came back a third time. I felt like I was fighting a demon inside my own body: one that was going to do everything to win the battle, but the demon didn’t know my spirit or my will to survive.

To say I was shocked by this news is an understatement. I was so shocked that I questioned Dr. Benigno over and over and asked for a biopsy just to be sure. Yep, it was back. This time in the form of five tumors - three in my lower and two in my upper abdomen. How could this possibly happen, I asked myself? I had just spent the weekend in Florida with my family. No indication, no pain, nothing. That's how ovarian cancer works as the silent killer of women - no symptoms until you’re in stage 3 or 4.
You guessed it, back on chemotherapy. I was given two new drugs – avastin and abraxane and stayed with this protocol for over a year. Unfortunately, a petscan in December, 2008 showed the growth of tumors. After several rounds of gemzar and carboplatin, the ovarian cancer continued to grow. We were going in the wrong direction so we stopped the chemo and in May, 2009. I went into surgery once again, but with a whole new outcome.

After seven and a half hours of surgery, the removal of eight tumors and a complicated colon resection, a smiling Dr. Benigno visited me the next day in ICU. I was CANCER FREE, no ifs, ands or buts. The tumors were either surgically removed or obliterated with the PlasmaJet. While still under anesthesia, he inserted a catheter into my abdomen and used the HIPEC heated chemotherapy to ensure every ‘nook and cranny’ was free of cancer and the microscopic cells that are often left behind. A miracle – absolutely, but far from over. I must now begin maintenance chemo treatments for at least a year.

Yes, I too keep asking myself why I have survived ovarian cancer and the heartbreak, sickness and nausea that go with it for 24 years. Only God has the answer to that. Maybe it is to do my part to raise the awareness of this deadly and fatal disease among women. If there was a tumor marker for early detection of ovarian cancer, my doctors would have known immediately that I had recurrences – no waiting in the hospital for weeks wondering when the antibiotics would take effect, if they would take effect. I also would not have spent years in between chemo treatments worrying about the slightest elevation of my CA125 count.

In today’s world, it takes time, research, dollars and dedication to a cause to realize results. I have watched one man over the course of many years never lose sight of his goal to develop an early screening test for ovarian cancer. That person is Dr. Benigno. He has listened not only to my cries and heartbreak, but that of many patients like me. If there was an early tumor marker for this dreaded disease, women all over the world would benefit and lives would be saved.

I have to believe this is my last bout with ovarian cancer as I approach each day as a gift from God, which is exactly what it is. If I didn’t embrace this and the fact I will see a true, meaningful test in my lifetime for ovarian cancer, I’d have to ask myself what I am doing.

We need your help, desperately. Dr. Benigno and his research staff are 99.8% within reach of offering this life-saving early ovarian cancer test to the world, yes the world. He needs funding to make this a reality – not $10 million, not $1 million – somewhere in the vicinity of just over $150,000.00. It seems such a small amount versus the gains of extending and saving women’s lives. Please help us by contributing to the Ovarian Cancer Institute. Together, we CAN reduce the deaths of women.