Photo by Ellie Overman.
Overlapping chatter and the aroma of red wine filled Anne Fey’s senses as she sat down with her friends in a packed restaurant on Valentine’s Day in 2007.
“I apologize for being late, but I’ve had a wild day,” she says.
As she prepared to unpack her day and spill the details of her upcoming trip to Europe, her phone rang and her doctor’s name lit up her phone. She exited the crowded room to take the call.
“Hey, you can’t travel,” the doctor says through the phone. “You’re going to have surgery. You have a mass.”
Earlier that day, Fey visited her doctor after feeling a pain in her side and experiencing some bloating. A CT scan was ordered to make sure she was in the clear before traveling. The worst she imagined was appendicitis, but it was confirmed that she had a mass on her ovary.
She returned to her table and to the last bit of normalcy she would have for several months.
Within a week, surgery was scheduled. By the time the big day rolled around, her mass had grown significantly, to about the size of a cantaloupe.
Before going into the operating room, her family and partner by her side, her doctor pulled her aside to speak to her alone. Fey sat up in her gurney, and the doctor uttered three heavy words.
“You have cancer.”
She received a hysterectomy that day, but her journey was far from over.
“It really is a moment that makes time stand still,” Fey says. “I didn’t really know I was going to have to have chemo. I just thought, well, I’m gonna have a hysterectomy. And we’re gonna get this all out of me.”
The cancer had spread, and Fey began chemotherapy.
After her first round, Fey’s mother suggested going to a support group at the hospital for women with ovarian cancer. Still overwhelmed by the whole process, she gave it a shot, but afterwards told her mother there was no way she would be going back.
Fey endured six rounds of chemo. On her birthday, July 26, she was cancer-free and has been ever since. This month marks 17 years. After going into remission, she decided to give the support group another chance.
“When I stopped my chemo, I was in this no man’s land,” Fey says. “So I went back to the group on my own. I sat there and all I did was just cry. They just looked at me and I said, ‘you know, I didn’t even really like you guys when I came the first time.’ And they’re like, ‘That’s okay. We’re just gonna love you through all this.’”
Fey went through her journey with a lot of support, and she knew some did not have the same. This sparked her desire to help others who are walking the same path that she did.
“I was full of gratitude that I have gone through that process and made it on the other side,” she says. “I thought the least I could do would be to help new people. Some people have more support than others with their family and friends.”
Some of the women in the ovarian cancer support group were involved in the Be the Difference Foundation, whose mission is to create awareness and improve the lives of people affected by ovarian cancer through education, support and research.
Fey got involved in an initiative where she would speak to medical students in residency about her experience. The program, Survivors Teaching Students, has the objective of increasing the medical students’ understanding of ovarian cancer symptoms and risk factors so they will be able to diagnose the disease in earlier, more treatable stages.
There is not a screening for ovarian cancer, and symptoms can often be dismissed. Common symptoms include abdominal pain, bloating and nausea. Fey would not have visited her doctor had she not been planning on traveling, and wants to do her part in making sure the right information is out there.
“There’s usually three of us that talk to the doctors, because we want them to have different stories,” Fey says. “So many women get misdiagnosed — you really have to be an advocate for yourself. The residents were always really engaged and asked lots of questions. It’s such a good resource, and the organization is also really focused on the fact that there isn’t a lot of research being done on ovarian cancer.”
According to the Be the Difference Foundation, more than 72% of late-stage ovarian cancer patients will die from their disease, but when it is treated early, the survival rate is over 92%. Unfortunately, 85% of women who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer are already in the late stages.
Fey, alongside others at the foundation, seeks to change that through education and awareness.
Additionally, Fey provides support for newly diagnosed women. Whether it’s suggesting some of her favorite foods that got her through treatment, or giving them someone to vent to who has been through the same experiences, Fey wanted to be there for those going through their own battles with cancer.
“I wanted to help them go through that chemo dance,” Fey says. “Initially, I was very afraid of chemo. I just wanted to be able to give them a spoonful of hope, just little things to help them through and help the rest of the family.”
After going through her journey, Fey says she has learned to appreciate the joy of a normal day.
“After you’ve been really sick, and in this case it was the sickest I’ve been in my life,” she says. “You appreciate coming home to a good cup of coffee or having dinner with your good friends.”
