Sunday, June 26, 2011

Share Your Survivor Story

I just realized that I haven't posted in a while. It has been a busy past few days.

I have developed so many wonderful friendships during this cancer journey. Some of these new friends are survivors, some are nurses and some are even researchers. I've interacted with women from all walks of life and from all over the world. I feel strongly that people diagnosed with cancer who have found support from another survivor should return that act of kindness. I have done that for the past few years in a number of ways but mostly through my work as a volunteer for Cancer Hope Network.

On Friday morning I received a phone call from Trish at Cancer Hope Network. She told me she had a match and there was a woman whose ovarian cancer (OC) had recurred. She really wanted to talk to someone who had a remission after a recurrence. I said sure. I had some time that morning to chat with her. She gave me the woman's information.

I waited about 10 minutes and I called the OC survivor. We talked for about 30 minutes. She told me what treatment she had taken and what her CA-125 and scans showed now. I was able to share my story. How I recurred and went into complete remission ( for over 2 years now). She was so happy to hear my story . Then she told me what her proposed course of treatment was going to be. I recalled a study I learned of when I attended the ASCO meeting that used the same drugs. ( Thank you to the Research Advocacy Network for allowing my attendance at the meeting.) Again she was so appreciative of the information I provided. I'll be checking back with her in a few days.

So if you are a survivor or a caregiver who would like to share your story to provide hope to newly diagnosed or recurrent cancer patients please think about volunteering with the Cancer Hope Network. They are located right here in NJ but serve cancer patients throughout the country.

If you are a cancer patient check out their social network. You might just hear from me if you join the Gynecologic Sisters and Supporters Group.

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing! My life is blessed by these women of teal.


1 comment:

Indiana said...

Love reading your blog! I was diagnosed with Borderline ovarian Cancer stage 1C in 2009, I had a complete hysterectomy at that time and have not had any issues since. thank you for your ime blogging! God Bless