When a person sees a pink ribbon, they usually associate it with breast cancer. However, there is another color that represents a different type of cancer that is even deadlier to women.
According to a resolution signed by Russellville mayor David Grissom and the city council at its August 17 meeting, Russellville City Hall will light up teal for ovarian and gynecological cancer awareness for the whole month of September. An ovarian cancer support group called “Lilies of the Valley” will provide support and awareness to the women of Russellville and the Tennessee Valley.
At the meeting, Mary Ann Clement and Robin Drake spoke about their own stories with ovarian cancer as well as information about the disease to further educate the council.
“My life changed on August 29, 2013,” said Clement. “I never knew that there was another color of cancer other than just pink. When I learned about ovarian cancer, I was one of the healthiest people I knew. When I went to the doctor for a bladder infection, I heard the word ‘cancer.’ I just ignored her, but she kept on. I just thought, ‘I don’t know who you’re talking to, because in my family there’s not a person who has passed away with cancer or had any type of cancer.’”
Clement had surgery and went through eighteen weeks of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.
“Our main goal is to save lives,” Clement said about why they want to display the color teal. “It is my goal to tell every female from here to Africa about ovarian cancer.”
As stated on the resolution, 22,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 14,000 die from it on average per year in America. However, Clement attributed this statistic to the lack of awareness about the disease.
“It is a silent killer, because there are not enough symptoms,” said Clement. “These symptoms are simple that all women have them.”
The symptoms that Clement shared are fatigue, abdominal bloating and bladder pain.
“Normally, by the time you develop any symptoms, you are already stage three or four,” said Drake, who is dealing with ovarian cancer for a second time. “This is usually a 50-year-old’s disease, but young people can get it, too. By the time a young person gets ovarian cancer, it has spread to other places in the body.”
Clement explained that when a woman goes to the gynecologist for her annual checkup, she is not being tested for ovarian cancer. She shared that there is speculation about beginning to test women at the age of 30, but that has not happened yet.
At this time, there is not a way to detect ovarian cancer earlier, but there is a way to check if a person is at-risk to develop it through genetic testing. Both Clement and Drake possess the gene BRCA2, which, along with BRCA 1, is a gene mutation that signifies a person has a higher possibility of developing cancer.
With that knowledge, Drake had all of her children tested. Although her son and oldest daughter do not possess the BRCA2 gene, her middle daughter does possess the gene and will be tested more often than the average person.
Although the gene affects women, it does have implications for men who possess it, too.
“It can increase men’s chances for prostate, breast and pancreatic cancer,” Drake said. “It can affect both men and their daughters.”
Drake believes that she inherited the gene from her father.
