I am a nine year survivor of stage IIB ovarian cancer. When I was diagnosed my mother was in her ninth year battling the disease. I was one of the fortunate ones who had a doctor that was paying attention to my family history and my silent symptoms.

It started out as a backache. I went to the doctor and saw the Physicians Assistant. She prescribed a muscle relaxer thinking that I had strained my back. When it had not gone away after a week I went back and saw my doctor. Because of the location of the pain and my family history she ordered an ultrasound. It came back showing a nasty cyst. She referred me to my gynecologist who did surgery within two weeks. When my doctor told me after my surgery that it was cancer, I was devastated. I had watched my mom fight this horrible disease for nine years and so I knew what was in store for me. I was only 40 and had two young daughters. I did six rounds of chemo and have been cancer free since my second chemo treatment. I am grateful that God walked with me in the journey along with my amazing family and friends. My mother lost her battle two years after my diagnosis but she was an amazing example for me on how to deal with cancer.

In January 2009, I was diagnosed with having the BRCA2 mutation gene. This diagnosis brought my odds of getting breast cancer to as high as 87%. After much prayer and discussion I decided to have a bilateral prophylactic mastectomy with reconstruction. The decision was hard but I chose to be proactive because my only other option was to wait to see if, when, and at what stage I would get breast cancer. My daughters were also tested and I am so grateful that they both tested negative along with two of my three sisters.