Battling Ovarian Cancer, Team Nancy Style

One of the best known, most respected academic law librarians in the country is in the fight of her life. Nancy P. Johnson, Law Librarian and Professor of Law at Georgia State University College of Law, received a diagnosis of ovarian cancer this year. Ovarian cancer is the most deadly of gynecological cancers, not because it is necessarily more aggressive than other cancers, but because it is typically not found until it is at an advanced stage. There are few symptoms and no routine screening tests to detect ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer does sometimes manifest in symptoms like these:

…gastrointestinal upset - like gas, indigestion, and/or nausea; unexplained change in bowel and/or bladder habits; unexplained weight loss or weight gain; pelvic and/or abdominal pain, discomfort, bloating or swelling; constant feeling of fullness.

Women are advised if these symptoms persist for 3 weeks or more, they should see their gynecologist and request an ultrasound and CA125 test.

However, Nancy had no symptoms other than a little fatigue until she twisted a particular way while gardening and felt a sudden sharp pain. The pain continued to worsen for several hours before she called her doctor, who advised her to go to the emergency room. By the end of that day in the emergency room, she had a diagnosis of stage 3 ovarian cancer. The pain was caused by a tumor that ruptured when she twisted her body. But for that, it could have been much longer before the cancer was discovered. Nancy’s oncologist opted for chemotherapy first, followed by surgery.

Nancy has maintained a very positive outlook throughout her treatment. She has drawn great strength from the support of friends and family, and is especially gratified by the formation of Team Nancy, a group of people who are raising money for the Georgia Ovarian Cancer Alliance (GOCA) by participating in the Overcome Ovarian Cancer Walk, scheduled for September 13, 2008, in Alpharetta, GA. At this writing, Team Nancy is well ahead of the other teams. Interested parties may donate at www.gaovariancancer.org/.

Team Nancy has brought out a competitive edge in Nancy, one that surprised me, though I have known her for more than 30 years. I will end this story with her call to arms to me and Ron Wheeler, the other organizer of Team Nancy:

Nancy:  What a riot today!! Team Nancy showed up in chemo as a celeb!! All the nurses wanted to meet me! One of the fundraisers said that the last two weeks before the walk everyone really ramps it up!! Now, we have to win!!! If there are a few individuals that said they would contribute, you may want to remind them. We don’t want to be nags, but we want to win.

Indeed we do want to win, Nancy.