This October, I celebrate 35 years of ovarian cancer survivorship!  I can’t believe it has been that long!

Many of you know my story, but in short, without my doctors having participated in ovarian cancer research, I may not be here today, and had I survived, the standard course of treatment back then was a complete hysterectomy.  That means our sons would not be here, nor would our grandson.

As you can imagine, I am not only grateful for my life, but for being given the chance to have the family I’d always dreamed of.

MOCA is a non-profit organization that supports people going through ovarian cancer, their families, and provides much needed funding for ovarian camcee research.

There is no test for ovarian cancer, and there is also no cure.  While breast cancer’s numbers are higher, ovarian cancer kills more diagnosed people than breast cancer does.  One cancer is not more important than another, but ovarian cancer is often overshadowed by breast cancer.  The scary truth is, that breast cancer survivors have a 10x risk of developing ovarian cancer, & vice versa.  It is vitally important that we work just as hard to find at least a test for ovarian cancer like we have multiple tests for early detection of breast cancer.  We also need a cure for all cancers, and research is ongoing in that arena also.

On September 13 2025, the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance (MOCA) will once again host their “Teal Strides” walk to raise awareness of ovarian cancer, & more importantly, raise funds to continue this important research.

I have started a team, “Betsy’s Teal Tidal Wave”, and my goal is to raise $3500 to celebrate my 35 years of survivorship.

Please consider donating to my team, share this, and you can even join my team in person or virtually!