The Ovarian Cancer Canada Walk of Hope happens in 35 communities across Canada on Sunday, September 8. The event raises funds to provide support, raise awareness and fund research into prevention, improved treatments and ultimately a cure for ovarian cancer. This is the largest event of its kind in Canada, and the only walk in Canada to direct all attention and fundraising toward helping women with ovarian cancer live fuller, better and longer lives.
The BC Women Lawyers Forum will once again be supporting the walk by entering a team in the event. We invite you to join our team. Support the women in your life, the mothers, sisters, daughters and friends, by joining us in the walk.
Ovarian cancer is the 5th most common cancer for women and it is the deadliest. There is no screening test and there are often very few signs that a woman has it until it is too late.
I have had personal experience with this deadly disease. At the age of 67, my mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She was a healthy, energetic woman until about two months prior to her diagnosis. By the time she was diagnosed, the cancer had spread throughout her body and she was lucky to survive a very extensive surgery and months of chemotherapy, with the cancer returning every time we thought we had it beat. She survived for almost five years which is remarkable for ovarian cancer. She had everything on her side to be able to survive it—she was healthy, relatively young, had the best attitude possible and had faith in her ability to beat it. But, given the nature of this cancer, it was not enough to survive.
Ovarian cancer is incredibly hard to detect. If a woman has any symptoms at all, they typically will mimic symptoms of things such as menopause. Diagnosis typically occurs in the late stages of the disease and the cancer is very aggressive. Ovarian cancer is also very underfunded. Money is desperately needed to fund research, which will hopefully ultimately lead to a screening test so that the lives of our mothers, daughters, sisters and friends can be spared from this deadly disease.
Please join us in supporting the walk!
Rose Keith is Associate Counsel at Harper Grey LLP and current vice-chair for the BC Women Lawyers Forum.