Today, I have been thinking a lot about my brother in law and his beautiful family who have recently lost their Mum to ovarian cancer. It is totally UNFAIR that her life was cut short due to this disease. So this week’s blog will take a slightly different focus, discussing ovarian cancer and what we can do as a collective group to raise funding and awareness.
Ovarian cancer is Australia’s 10th most prevalent cancer and the 5th most prevalent cancer in women across the WORLD. Unfortunately, an Australian woman will die from ovarian cancer every 8 hours. These statistics are raw and alarming. My husband, a self-confessed feminist, and father of two girls said innocently last night while cooking “do you think it is underfunded because it is only diagnosed in women?” and you know what, I think he has hit the nail on the head. Women are quietly being diagnosed each day, in fact, research tells us around 6 women will be diagnosed today, "pulling their socks up" and starting the fight of their life. There currently are no designated ovarian cancer support nurses in Australia, so coupled with the demands of ovarian cancer treatments, women are alone with their families/close friends navigating mainstream cancer support services. So I think it time we DEMAND more.
Ovarian cancer is the silent killer of our mothers, wives, partners, sisters, aunties, grandmother’s, daughters and friends. Diagnosis is usually at a late stage of the disease when it has already progressed beyond the ovaries. There is no known PREVENTION or CURE. Symptoms for women are vague, at times infrequent and usually go unnoticed until the disease is advanced. Symptoms include feeling bloated, frequency urinating, back pain, indigestion, weight loss and/or fatigue. Almost 75% of Australian sufferers are diagnosed at the late stages of their disease (stage 3 & 4).
Ovarian cancer research is significantly underfunded and there hasn’t been a major change in the clinical treatment of women with ovarian cancer since 1970 (Ovarian Cancer Australia, 2019). How alarming and how sad! Over the past 40 years we have learnt that BRCA1 and BRCA 2 gene mutations can increase a woman’s risk of developing ovarian cancer (Ovarian Cancer Australia, 2019), a few types of chemotherapy and immunotherapy slow down the progress of the cancer cells and only 20% of women survive five years after diagnosis…….we need to know more. Early detection is key and currently we don’t know how to detect the early development of the disease.
Reminder: a pap test will not detect ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer is killing Australian women and we need to raise awareness and money for much needed research. So, as we begin to prepare for the celebration of International Womens Day I ask you to consider:
1. Donating to ovarian cancer research: https://www.acrf.com.au/support-cancer-research/types-of-cancer/ovarian-cancer/OR https://www.ocrf.com.au/page/133/ovarian-cancer-awareness-month
2. Consider buying a Camilla & Marc T- Shirt to support ovarian cancer research (funding will go to UNSW ovarian early detection research): https://www.camillaandmarc.com/eboutique/ovarian-cancer-tee.html
3. Talk “OVARIES” with your mother, wife, partner, sister, aunty, grandmother, daughter, friend, colleagues, GP. Talking raises awareness.
4. Wear the colour teal this Sunday and start a conversation about ovarian cancer
5. If you need a gift card purchase it from Just One Miracle (all profits go to ovarian cancer research): https://www.justonemiracle.com/about
6. Host a fundraising event: https://www.ocrf.com.au/page/65/landing-page
7. If you know someone suffering from ovarian cancer, support them and their family. They need you. Check out support ideas on these pages: https://ovariancancer.net.au/and https://www.cancer.org.au/about-cancer/types-of-cancer/ovarian-cancer.html
5. If someone you know has recently left this physical world as a result of ovarian cancer, choose to remember them and their experience with this dreadful disease. Make a pledge to wrap your arms around their family, raise funding and much needed awareness to ovarian cancer