Friday, Oct. 10, 2008

Ovarian Cancer Survivor Bring Awareness Through Walk-A-Thon

By Julie Greene

Contributing Writer

At 41, Donna Lackey of Southlake is in her prime. The married mother of two teen-age boys keeps busy taking care of her sons and volunteering on community projects. She is also a six-year ovarian cancer survivor.

Even now Lackey is battling her seventh reoccurrence of the disease, which was first diagnosed when she was 35. Lackey believes that raising awareness of the disease a major priority.

She served as the chairwoman for this year’s DFW National Ovarian Cancer Coalition & Pureology’s "Walk to Break the Silence" held Sept. 27 at Baylor Grapevine. More than 2,000 walkers, many of them teens and ovarian cancer survivors, took part in the annual walk, which was launched eight years ago. This was Lackey’s fifth year to participate, leading a group of family and friends known at Donna’s Heroes.

"The primary goal of the NOCC is to raise awareness and to educate," Lackey said. "The money we raise assists us in putting on educational seminars and to print materials to raise awareness of the disease."

The coalition makes presentations to third-year medical residents, giving them the survivor’s perspective. Members also attend health fairs and organize the walk.

Since there currently is no early detection test for ovarian cancer, Lackey said it’s important for women to pay attention to their bodies. Symptoms for ovarian cancer are so silent: bloating, fullness and tiredness. Lackey said its not uncommon for cancer patients to be misdiagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome or another medical problem.

According to Lackey, 16,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year alone.

She was diagnosed in 2002 during a hysterectomy and a prophylactic double mastectomy, which is a surgery to remove the breasts before any cancer develops. During the surgeries is was discovered that she had the BRCA1 gene mutation which increases a woman’s odds of getting breast and ovarian cancer. Both her mother and grandmother died of breast cancer at young ages.

"It was during the surgery for my hysterectomy that they discovered I had Stage 3C ovarian cancer," she said. Stages 3 and 4 are considered advanced with only a 25 percent survival rate. Those detected at Stage 1 have a 90 percent survival rate.

"The surgery saved my life. If I hadn’t had the surgery when I did, within six months I would have died."

Lackey embarked on an aggressive course of chemotherapy treatment and has experienced short periods of remission spanning three to nine months, but the cancer continues to come back and she continues to fight.

"I don’t have a choice. I have a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old son," she said. "I’ve got to keep fighting for them."

Despite the challenges of early diagnosis, Lackey said tumors can be detected in one of three ways: a pelvic exam, ultra sound and CA-125 test which gauges tumor markers.

"The CA-125 test has been known to result in false positives, which is why it’s not used more widely," Lackey explained.

Until an early detection test is found, Lackey said she will continue to raise awareness and encourage women to get tested.

For more details about the DFW chapter of the NOCC, visit the Web site at www.dfwovariancancer.org.