Get Involved

Because ovarian cancer is such a deadly disease if it is not detected at an early stage it is very important for those who have been touched by the disease to get involved in sharing our knowledge of the disease to the general public.  There is no screening test for ovarian cancer and there is no evidence found that explains what causes a woman to have the disease.  There are many ways to become involved at the local and national level.

Local Involvement (neighborhood, workplace, city, county or state)

  • Obtain symptom cards and hand them to all the women you meet.  You can also leave them in areas of town that women frequent often, doctor’s offices, beauty parlors, nail salons and the spa.
  • Write an article for your local newspaper about your experience with ovarian cancer and don’t forget to mention the signs and symptoms.
  • Conduct an awareness complain for the month of September which is ovarian cancer awareness month.  Give teal ribbons to businesses along with symptom cards to be handed out to all women during the month of September.
  • Paint your toe nails teal!  When people ask you why your color is so wild, tell them your story and don’t forget to share the symptoms with them.

National Involvement

  • Become aware of the influence our politicians have upon major health care decisions affecting health care reform especially for ovarian cancer. Sign up for action alerts through OCNA’s website. They will send you alerts when major actions need to be made for our senators or representatives to sponsor or sign on a bill in favor of ovarian cancer research and education.
  • Write a letter to your senator and representative for the district that you live in. Stress to your leader how much we need their support on this issue, and keep in touch with the politicians and staffers often to follow up on the action that has or has not been made for ovarian cancer.

  • Facts

    Every hour, approximately 10 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with a gynecologic cancer such as ovarian, cervical, and uterine cancers. Each year, we lose over 26,000 of our mothers, sisters, daughters and friends to one of these terrible cancers. This is a tragedy. Research shows that many of those deaths could be prevented if more women knew the risk factors and recognized the early symptoms of gynecologic cancers so that they could discuss them with their doctors. Ovarian cancer has a 90 percent survival rate if detected in Stage One and only a 20 percent survival rate if detected in Stage Three or Four.

  • Do you recognize some of the common symptoms of ovarian cancer?

    * Pressure or bloating in your abdomen
    * Constant and progressive changes in bowel or bladder patterns
    * Persistent digestive problems
    * Ongoing excessive fatigue
    * Abnormal bleeding

Your Mother is Always with You

She’s the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street.

She’s the smell of bleach in your freshly laundered socks.

She’s the cool hand on your brow when you’re not well.

Your mother lives inside your laughter.

She’s crystallized in every tear drop.

She’s the place you came from, your first home.

She’s the map you follow with every step you take.

She’s your first love and your first heartbreak.

And nothing on earth can separate you.

Not time, Not space, Not even death will ever separate you from your mother.

Torch

She hoped, She had dreams, she had wishes.

She thought, she pondered, she feared, she asked, she waited, she prayed, she heard, she froze, she wept, she grieved.

I wept, I grieved, I feared, I loved.

We clenched our fists, we loved harder, we laughed more, we prayed more, we sang louder, we sang louder, we cried often, we fought the good fight, we learned how to live.

I will remember, I will fight, I will stand, I will ask, I will demand, I will honor, I will preserve a life that had much left to live.

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