I am a survivor....
My name is Theresa and I live in Malden, MA. I am now 41 years old. On November 24, 2008, I was diagnosed with stage IIIc ovarian cancer. It started with months of pain and nausea, pain so severe that on two occasions I was rushed to the hospital. After a series of ultrasounds and CT scans an 8 cm cyst was discovered on my right ovary. The doctors ultimately recommended a hysterectomy. During surgery they found that the supposed cyst was in fact cancer. It was not only in my right ovary but my left as well. It had spread throughout my abdomen to my pelvis, my bladder and my omentum. I was obviously very upset with these findings, but more than that I was shocked; I had been assured that my problems were unlikely to be cancer. I believed that all the necessary tests had already been taken to spot this disease had it been there. But, as I now know, ovarian cancer is extremely difficult to detect. To date, there are no effective tests for early detection of this disease. Eighty percent of all women diagnosed with ovarian cancer are at the advanced stage of IIIc and that's why it is called the "silent killer". I've been fortunate to have been in remission since March 2009.
More research must be done in order to save the lives of thousands of women every year.
More research must be done in order to save the lives of thousands of women every year.