Darlene Stensby was diagnosed with Stage IV ovarian cancer in June of 2017, and died in October of that year. Our family will never forget the day in August of 2017 when she beckoned "her girls" (Heidi, Sooze, Maddie, and Angel) to her hospital bedside. She was all fired up, and almost glowing from the inside out. She had seen a clip on CBS News that afternoon, and Kim Johnson had been sharing information about the 18th Teal Strides event that would be happening the following month. Darlene decided then and there that our family was going to put together a team, and money would be raised for MOCA (MN Ovarian Cancer Alliance). Darlene's energy and enthusiasm were completely contagious, and everyone felt the relief of having something really hands on and active that could be done to help fight this dreadful disease. We created her team Darlene's Warrior Queens, bought crowns for team members, and in just over a month, raised more than $5,000 for MOCA. It was amazing.
In the days leading up to the Teal Strides event in 2017, Darlene's health was on a crazy roller coaster. She received great news from her CA-125 blood test that showed that her chemo infusions were killing the cancer cells. Sadly, she also found out that week that the chemo was eating away at the artificial joints that were in her body, which in turn was causing her incredible pain, and was in fact, killing her. Although Darlene had planned to be at Teal Strides 2017, she realized the week before the walk that she would not be able to attend. And the day before the event, Darlene came to the decision to stop the treatments that were destroying her artificial joints, which meant that hospice options needed to be explored.
Darlene died less than a month after Teal Strides that year. The Stensby family vowed to honor her memory in every way possible, and agreed that one very active thing that could be done was to participate in Teal Strides every year from that point on. It is a goal of Darlene Stensby's family to raise as much money as possible for MOCA in the hope that fewer women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, and that early detection efforts will be greatly increased. Please do what you can to support the promise made in 2017. Become one of Darlene's Warrior Queens. If you are not physically able to participate in the event, consider becoming a virtual team member. And by all means, break out your wallet and make a donation - every dollar counts, and every penny helps.