Lindsay & Cecile

"It's not fair, but it was our beautiful life."

Lindsay is a 39-year-old musician living in Montreal. In June 2020, she met the love of her life, Cecile. At the end of their 10-hour long first date, Cecile shared that she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer 5 years earlier and that she was in active treatment.

I spoke with Lindsay about the 2.5 years she shared with Cecile up until her death in November 2022. We also spoke about the lasting impact Cecile has had on her life and the entire ovarian cancer community.

Dena

“I’m a big fan of the saying ‘when we know better, we do better’ so I take that as an opportunity to say ‘do you know that a PAP is actually for cervical cancer and it doesn’t check for ovarian cancer. But – while you are at that appointment, if you have any of these signs or symptoms, you should ask them' (to rule out ovarian cancer).”

Rona & Yvonne

“For the last 20 years, whether it was the Huntington’s families or the cancer families that I’ve now transitioned to help, they’d always ask me ‘why are you doing this, are you from a Huntington’s family, are you from a cancer family?’ and it was a very strange mixed blessing in a way that I said no in each case. It was only recently when we chatted with those wonderful women...that I made the connection, and I shared the connection, and this world came full circle. It was a collision course, emotionally and professionally. It was frustrating, because I felt like the theoretical things that I am doing have practical application and yet my friend is struggling.” (Yvonne)

Starla, part 1

"It’s hard because I personally can’t…picture a world where I’m not with my son so it’s not something that I am ready to fully deal with or come to terms with, but it’s for sure something that I have thought about, as a single mom living and navigating this disease."

Starla was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 23 years old. Now 36, she is still decades younger than many of her fellow patients.

Starla, part 2

I had the honor of interviewing Starla about her experience with ovarian cancer and her few remaining options for treatment. Starla deserves better. 🩵 All women deserve better.

Karen, part 1

"It sucker punched me."

"Every time we lose somebody, it’s that sucker punch again...I don’t want to lose anybody else. I’ve had enough of that. So, I’ll keep fighting until we don’t have those same outcomes."

***

Five Canadian women die from ovarian cancer every day and long-term survival outcomes have not changed in 50 years.

It is time to change these outcomes, for good. Karen is part of an incredible team of women, all living with ovarian cancer, who are actively and selflessly working to bring about this change.

At the end of our interview I asked Karen to share about a woman whose story has stuck with her 🩵

Karen, part 2

Powerful women and lessons learned.

“Ovarian cancer has taught me that I can keep going. I know I can do anything I want now. I can just make it happen. I’m not going to sit around and let my life come to me, I’m going to go out and make my life what I want it to be.”