Teal Every Woman Knows.........

September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

As an Ovarian Cancer 'Surthrivor', this month has great meaning to me. One of the gifts my cancer has given me is the desire to raise awareness of ovarian cancer and use my experience to help ensure less women go through what I went through.

But in the three years since my diagnosis, surgery and chemo, I have noticed that the campaign to raise ovarian cancer awareness doesn't have quite the momentum that breast cancer does. The 'Big Pink Machine' as I call it, has turned Breast Cancer Awareness Month into a year round awareness project. And while I do not mean any disrespect to my BRCA sisters, awareness is a great thing, but I get pretty irritated when I walk into a big box store (that will remain unnamed) on September 1st, and run into a big Wall O'Pink right inside the front door. It's SEPTEMBER!!! Where's the TEAL???? Where is MY awareness?? Why is my cancer less important??

More towns turn pink in October than teal in September. But my beloved hometown of Huntington, New York gets major props for turning teal. Friends that still live there have sent pictures of the parking meters ribboned in teal. I love it!! And yet, I am hard pressed to find the same here in Raleigh, North Carolina.

There are organizations in the area that are working to change that, and I am fortunate to be able to participate in The Gail Parkins Memorial Ovarian Cancer Walk & 5K Run again this year. This year $311,000 were raised and donated to Duke Cancer Center, earmarked specifically for ovarian cancer research. My team - Team Phoenix - raised $2233 and had 20 team members. We walked in honor and in memory of many wonderful women. A very moving and emotional day for me.

But still, I don't think enough is done to make women aware of ovarian cancer. And while many more women will be diagnosed with breast cancer than ovarian cancer this year, the percentage of women that survive ovarian cancer is at least 30% less than those that survive breast cancer.

It is the most deadly of all the GYN cancers. And unlike cervical and breast cancer, ovarian cancer has no early detection test. So knowing the symptoms and being aware of your body are your best defense against it. So WHY are we not talking about it??

I got the idea in my head that I was going to change that. I decided to make my own ovarian cancer Public Service Announcement. So I asked my friend Forrest MacCormack to help me. The result is so much more amazing than I imagined, and I am excited with how it's turned out. Forrest is a good friend, and a brilliant photographer. The almost finished product is here for you to watch and hopefully share with your friends and family. It's my way of starting my own grass roots ovarian cancer awareness campaign. After I've got you all aware of ovarian cancer, we're going to start talking about all cancers.

Because to me, every cancer deserves attention, every life deserves to be saved.

Thank you God for my healing.

Namaste,

Nicole