[2023-09-10] Walk of Hope 2023
This morning, I attended my third Ovarian Cancer Canada Walk of Hope. For the second year in a row, the walk was in person, with the Ottawa-Gatineau walk once again taking place at the beautiful Andrew Haydon Park in Ottawa's west end.
It was a pleasure to talk to other Teal Sisters, people who are living with ovarian cancer, and the loved ones who support them. Some of the Teal Sisters with whom I spoke were in active treatment—walking today between chemotherapy treatments. Some had experienced a recurrence so were expecting to begin additional treatments soon. Some were about to undergo genetic testing because of mutations found in their tumours or because of multiple diagnoses of ovarian and/or breast cancer in their families.
I shared my story, mentioning my blog. I talked about various posts that they might find helpful, whether on the cumulative effects of chemotherapy, the challenges of pelvic radiation or a layperson's guide to genetic testing. I gave out small business cards with my name and the web address for Jenesis to help people find my blog. And I recommended that they consult the Categories tab at the top of my blog to find groupings of posts on particular themes.
I came away feeling lucky to be three years beyond treatment with no recurrence, to have a mutation in my BRCA2 gene that—although it caused my ovarian cancer—also opened up access to additional treatment options, and to have immense support from family, friends and the many people I have connected or reconnected with as I've shared my cancer journey.
I was encouraged to hear from Dr. Barbara Vanderhyden—a senior scientist in ovarian cancer at The Ottawa Hospital and a professor at the University of Ottawa who has held the inaugural Corinne Boyer Chair in Ovarian Cancer Research since 2000—that The Ottawa Hospital has hired an additional ovarian cancer scientist, who will start in January. While searching for the proper spelling and title of Dr. Vanderhyden, I came across an interview she gave in June 2023 in which she comments on the extraordinary efforts of Patrick Boyer, whose wife (Corinne) died of ovarian cancer:
Patrick Boyer’s wife had survived breast cancer and melanoma and then had died of ovarian cancer. This in the mid 1990s and frustrated by the lack of effective treatments for the disease, he went on a rampage of sorts, traveled across the country, tried to find where the ovarian cancer researchers were, found that there were very few at that time and he did three things that I think are worthy of note. First, he started an organization that would support women with ovarian cancer, that is now Ovarian Cancer Canada. He funded a network of researchers across Canada who collected tissues for research, which is incredibly important to set the foundation for the opportunity to do research with patient material. And thirdly, and most importantly, he raised the funds to set up an endowed chair at the University of Ottawa that he named the Corinne Boyer Chair in Ovarian Cancer Research, and I was recruited to that chair in the year 2000.
I hadn't heard the origin story of Ovarian Cancer Canada. What a difference Patrick has made and what a way to honour his wife.
This afternoon, I listened to the Virtual Closing Ceremony for the 2023 Walk of Hope. It brought back the feelings of positivity, support and hope I had experienced this morning in the company of so many Teal Sisters and their family and friends. I look forward to this walk every year.
As of the publishing of this post, Ovarian Cancer Canada had reached 75% of its goal of raising $1.65 million. Should you wish to support ovarian cancer research, you can still make a donation through my Walk of Hope fundraising page.
