Ovarian Cancer: Leslie's Patient Story
This ovarian cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Sex
- female
- Treatment
- chemotherapy
- Outcome
- Care Ongoing
Treatment course, step by step
- Received chemotherapy after the January 2017 ovarian cancer recurrence, with infusion timing adjusted around her IRONMAN training and race schedule.
What happened, in summary
After losing her husband Rocky to melanoma in 2008, this patient drew on his example when high-grade serous ovarian cancer returned in January 2017. It was her second ovarian cancer diagnosis, and it came while she was training for the April 2017 IRONMAN Texas competition in The Woodlands.
She worried that treatment might force her to stop training, but her oncologist encouraged her to remain active if she felt able. Her chemotherapy infusions were arranged around her training schedule, including one treatment delayed by more than a week so she could receive it after the race. She continued to train and compete while undergoing chemotherapy.
Treatment caused relatively limited side effects for her. She described nausea and fatigue for 1 or 2 days after each infusion and also lost her hair. Staying active became part of how she coped with both the physical treatment and the emotional strain of recurrence.
Her husband’s experience with repeated melanoma treatment remained a source of motivation. During the IRONMAN, she reframed the challenge around gratitude that she was still able to do something she loved while receiving cancer treatment. She used that experience to encourage other patients not to give up when facing difficult treatment or recurrence.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by MD Anderson. Read the original in full
How we source and attribute stories Accuracy and limitations
These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer