J'sDaughter

Saturday, October 31, 2009

four years..

It's hard to believe my Mom has been gone for four years.. I still miss her like it was yesterday.

So much has changed in 4 years. Grandchildren have gotten married, Great-Grandchildren have been born, and more are on the way.

The world is different. Illini Basketball hasn't been quite as good as it was the last year she cheered them on. I have a feeling she would've liked President Obama..

One thing that hasn't changed is there still is no cure, or early detection, for Ovarian Cancer. Please educate yourself and your loved ones about this disease and share your knowledge.

Hera Women's Cancer Foundation has a wonderful website with information about ovarian cancer. There are documents you can download or email to people you care about.

It is my hope that someday my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will wear ribbons in their hair and not on their shirts...

Monday, May 11, 2009

a late Mother's Day message.......

I was looking at my referral list that shows who has visited this journal, and where they came from. It seems that a lot of people searching for Mother's Day messages found this. It's what I wrote last year on Mother's Day..

I think It's worth repeating.

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day......

: Name: jsdaughter; Location: United States

If you read nothing else here, please scroll to the bottom of the page and read what is written there. I started this journal when my mother was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer. The entry that I wrote shortly after her death was meant to be my last. After some time had passed, I remembered my mother's words; "If just one person is helped by what is learned from my illness, then everything will be alright..". I then decided to leave this journal in place, and write entries from time to time in hope that someone reading will learn something that may help them or others... You can start reading from December 2004 in the archives if you would like to read our story from the beginning. Read the comments as well. They contain wonderful, comforting words from many amazing people.......

View my complete profile

(written September of 2005) I have learned much in the last nine months. I have read that ovarian cancer whispers. I say it screams. It just needs someone to listen. The American Cancer Society statistics for ovarian cancer estimate that there will be 22,220 new cases and 16,210 deaths in 2005. This is a death rate FOUR TIMES that of breast cancer.Almost 70 percent of women with the common epithelial ovarian cancer are not diagnosed until the disease is advanced in stage. The 5-year survival rate for these women is only 15 to 20 percent. This is unacceptable. Women need to be made more aware of the symptoms, and doctors need to listen to their patients. Especially when the patient tells them that they fear they have ovca, as my mother did for almost a year before she was finally diagnosed. It’s so sad and senseless when a woman knows the symptoms but can’t get anyone to listen to what she is saying.