My mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 48. She was the toughest woman I have ever met. She had a hysterectomy and since the huge tumor was in a liquid filled cyst the doctors felt it was all gone and no chemo or radiation was done at first. She went back to work following six weeks of healing.

Four years to the month the cancer had come back and had metastasized in her lympnodes and in breast tissue. While going through chemo she worked full time at a very hard and hot job. She never complained.

Momma went through two rounds of chemo before her doctor convinced her to go on medical leave. She completed another different round of chemo to prolong her life (but not cure) with no success. She then went through radiation to halt the growth in her breast tissue and lymph nodes.

While enduring all of this she took care of my disabled father. My mother NEVER gave up and she NEVER even considered that she would not get better. She was determined not to get down. She never complained of pain or of being tired. Momma was always momma.

Finally in the late fall of 2006, her doctors were perplexed at what to do since she had out lived any of their other patients that had had ovarian cancer. When my mother finally succumbed to this nondiscriminating disease, ten months later, her only worry was of the happiness of her two beloved grandchildren. At the very end she never gave up. For almost eight years she fought like a tiger!

Everyday those who knew her, miss her.

Submitted by Robin Milhorn