A cancer diagnosis will undeniably be life-altering for anyone on the receiving end. However, ovarian cancer – the most lethal female cancer – continues to pose unique challenges for patients, families and treating doctors.
A cancer with a five-year survival rate languishing below 50 per cent means fewer than half of the 1800 women and girls diagnosed with the disease each year will be alive in five years’ time. The often vague symptoms result in the majority of diagnoses made in advanced stages where survival rates plummet further. There is a clear lark of preventative methods, treatment options and accurate detection tests, meaning ovarian cancer patients typically have the odds stacked against them from the moment they are diagnosed.
Yet, despite these challenges, come tales of resilience and hope.
This Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, we share the personal stories of women who have faced ovarian cancer, highlighting the impact of the disease on them and their families, and the importance of accelerating research. Their experiences not only shed light on the need for greater awareness of the symptoms, and for better detection and treatment options, but inspire us to support urgent medical research and work towards a brighter future for all.
Georgie Beck
Right before Georgie Beck was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at age 49, she was fit, living a healthy lifestyle and going to the gym five times per week.
Georgie was planning to take her three teenage sons to the snow to snowboard for 9 weeks, when she began to experience symptoms.
“I had this weird bloating for two weeks, and I thought, ‘oh, it’s menopause’. Here we go, you know, right on time. And then it kind of didn’t go away, and was getting worse,” Georgie tells Women’s Agenda.
So, before travelling, she decided to check in with her GP about the symptoms, as it would be hard to access doctors in the area they were headed.
“I had an amazing GP, and he immediately sent me for an internal ultrasound and blood tests. And when I was in the ultrasound, the woman just went really quiet, and then she’s like, ‘I’m just gonna get someone else to come and have a look’.”
Georgie ended up going straight to the CT scanner, and two days later, her doctor told her she had stage 4B High Grade Serous ovarian cancer.
Considering she hadn’t experienced many symptoms beforehand, Georgie felt shocked at the news. Along with this, her initial worries were about her children. She was “mostly concerned about what this [diagnosis] was going to be like for them, and what the outlook [would be].”
As the cancer had already progressed, Georgie’s doctor sent her into immediate treatment, which included four-rounds of chemotherapy and a twelve hour ‘debulking’ surgery, where they took out eight organs – her ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes, lymph nodes, appendix, omentum, peritoneum, and spleen.
Following that was two more rounds of chemotherapy, before she was put on maintenance treatment.
“It’s very hard to get rid of,” Georgie says about ovarian cancer. “Eighty per cent of people recur, and I’ve got stage four, so it was a 95 per cent chance of recurrence, which [happened to me],” says Georgie.
Today, over 70 per cent of ovarian cancer cases are being diagnosed in the late stages, as symptoms aren’t always apparent or obvious. Advocates say research into advanced screening options for ovarian cancer is still desperately needed as well as targeted treatment options.
For Georgie, she is still managing the long-lasting impacts of cancer treatment, but there’s a level of optimism in her outlook that showcases the resilience that so many with ovarian cancer hold. It’s why she continues to share her story and advocate for increased awareness.
“You have to change something bad into something good. Because if I didn’t do this, and I wasn’t helping people, I think I would just feel quite lost. It’s given me a real lift,” she says.
Know the common signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer:
* persistent abdominal distension or bloating
* feeling full shortly after starting to eat and/or loss of appetite
* pelvic or abdominal pain, which can feel like indigestion
* needing to urinate urgently or more often
Justin Flynn
Not only does ovarian cancer change the lives of patients, it also leaves lasting impacts on family members and carers looking out for their loved ones.
A carer for his wife Leane’s six-and-a-half-year battle with ovarian cancer, Justin Flynn knows firsthand the emotional toll that the disease imparts on families.
Leane was first diagnosed in April 2017, and up until that point, Justin says their family were “juggling life as per normal” before “the enormity of the diagnosis hit”.
“You go from being able to plan something simple– like a holiday for 12 months ahead– we got to the point where we couldn’t plan anything more than a day ahead, or even not even planning anything at all,” Justin tells Women’s Agenda.
“That sort of change in any control in your life, or perception that you have control of your life, hit really hard for both of us, and the kids too.”
Watching Leane navigate the often-challenging treatment journey was also hard for Justin and his daughters, as all of them stepped up into caregiving roles to try to support her.
Speaking to the family dynamic that this change created, Justin says they all understood that there might be limited time with Leane and decided to “make the most of it”.
“Sometimes, you’re busy through life, you get a bit caught up in your own little bubble, but [the diagnosis] did bring us a lot closer together. We spent a lot more quality time. The conversations were always good, but more thoughtful and considered,” he says, noting that “if there’s any positive in the disease” it was this closeness their family experienced.
Throughout the journey, Justin attended all of Leane’s chemotherapy treatments, and despite having great medical professionals to help, he says there was still a feeling of “helplessness” that you feel watching your partner go through treatment.
Towards the end, when Leane was really unwell, Justin not only became her carer, but also took on nursing responsibilities, such as giving pain relief and morphine injections.
“And then you become a pharmacist as well, taking up to up to 25 different tablets a day, and then you throw in fentanyl patches and liquid oxytocin and other drugs, really serious drugs, having the responsibility of administering those drugs on time, in the right quantities, because you can’t afford to make mistakes when you’re playing with that sort of level of pain relief.”
It’s a reality that carers for loved ones with cancer know too well, and Justin hopes that increased awareness of ovarian cancer will also provide more support and resources for the family of patients.
“It’s a gradual sort of journey, and you do what you have to do to support a loved one, regardless,” he says.
Despite a tumultuous journey with ovarian cancer over 6 years, Leane was unwavering as a passionate advocate – speaking at events, across national campaigns, in media interviews. Honouring Leane’s legacy of advocacy work, Justin and his three daughters have continued to to be voices for change, raising much-needed awareness for ovarian cancer research.
“We’ve always had the view that we’re not fundraisers, but we’ve got a voice, and [having the] opportunity to talk and raise awareness is a way that we can contribute,” Justin says, noting that “it’s a family effort”.
Lavania Parker
An accomplished business leader from Victoria, Lavania Parker has also been outspoken about her experience with ovarian cancer, in the hopes that sharing her story will help others.
Lavania was diagnosed with stage-four ovarian cancer at age 45, after experiencing bloating and pain post-Christmas.
“It felt like the bloating was just getting worse, and that was going on for a couple of weeks,” Lavania tells Women’s Agenda. “Then, one day, I woke up with quite a bit of pain, so I checked into the hospital.”
An advocate for early detection, Lavania is thankful she decided to seek medical advice, saying “as women, it’s quite easy, [when you get] bloating or little pains here and there, to dismiss it.”
Diagnosed with ovarian cancer on January 30, 2024, Lavania began treatment right away. It was a very quick transition, but Lavania took things in stride. She had an oncology appointment the next day, and two days later, began chemotherapy.
“When I got the diagnosis, I was actually pretty numb. All I could think about was, how am I going to tell the kids?,” Lavania says.
Throughout treatment, Lavania felt it was important to try as best she could to stay in a positive mindset.
“I told myself– after the initial shock and asking myself ‘why me?’– that that sort of thinking isn’t going to help. So I just told myself and my body that treatment is going to work, and I’m not going to accept anything else. And if it doesn’t, then, you know, we’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”
The good news is that Lavania is now cancer free after responding well to treatment and surgery. Since finishing chemotherapy, she has been on maintenance treatment to help prevent recurrence.
Lavania, along with her family, are very much involved in supporting the ovarian cancer community.
An ambassador for Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, Lavania has found that speaking out about her journey with ovarian cancer has not only helped herself, but she’s also been able to offer advice to people who have questions after a diagnosis.
“I’m very happy to share my journey,” she says. “Hopefully it will help someone in some small way.”
Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
Every story of ovarian cancer is as unique as the person who experiences it. Yet there is something they all have in common – a desperate longing for more options that could have helped them better detect, treat and prevent ovarian cancer.
Storytelling and shared voices from the ovarian cancer community continue to raise the profile of the disease this Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
This February, Women’s Agenda and the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation are bringing ovarian cancer into the national spotlight and broadening the understanding of this disease.
The Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF) is Australia’s leading independent funder of ovarian cancer research, dedicated to transforming outcomes for the most lethal women’s cancer. In Australia, fewer than 50 per cent of women and girls diagnosed with ovarian cancer will survive more than five years.
The OCRF is rewriting this story and accelerating progress by increasing awareness, advocating for greater investment and equity, collaborating nationally and internationally, and strategically funding high-impact medical research.
Learn more: www.ocrf.com.au