Do you want to double your impact during Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month this February?
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The month is an important opportunity to raise awareness of ovarian cancer and for Australians to show their support for the people affected by this deadly disease.
Ovarian Cancer Australia's Giving Day will be held on Thursday, February 23, and all donations will be doubled for 24 hours.
All funds will go towards Ovarian Cancer Australia's essential advocacy and support services.
Ovarian Cancer Australia's support services will help people like Carolynne*, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, in March 2022.
Desperate for some support, Carolynne found the Ovarian Cancer Australia website within a week of her diagnosis while searching the internet.
"I was in a blur of needing to know what was going to happen to me," she said. "I rang the helpline and said, 'This is what I've got - what do I do?' I just needed a plan - I had no idea how much support was going to be available.
"First, they gave me the Resilience Kit - it had everything I needed laid out from a patient perspective, easy to read and positive too.
"Then I started having regular calls with my support nurse, Katherine, who is amazing. We laugh and cry; it's just a safe environment to talk about whatever. I felt like she genuinely cared about my whole well-being - yes, she answered any medical questions and referred me to other services, but sometimes I just needed a little bit of love down the phone, and I knew she was always there."
An estimated 1800 Australians will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the next 12 months. We lose one courageous Australian woman to ovarian cancer every eight hours, making this cancer the deadliest for women.
Ovarian Cancer Australia, an independent national not-for-profit organisation supporting people impacted by ovarian cancer, has made great strides.
Support services comprise nurses, psychologists, counsellors, social workers, genetic counsellors, exercise physiologists and dieticians - all specialising in ovarian cancer.
Highlights include:
- 558 people received personalised support from an ovarian cancer nurse through the Teal Support Program;
- 1200 plus women received advice through ovarian cancer nurses on the Helpline;
- Ovarian Cancer Australia (OCA) nurse Sue Hegarty was named Nurse of the Year at the 2022 HESTA Australian Nursing & Midwifery Awards;
- A four-year partnership with Hanes Australasia raised over $300,000;
- $700,000 committed by the Victorian government to ovarian cancer research, thanks to OCA advocacy;
- $2.9 million in federal government funding was secured at OCA's annual parliamentary breakfast for ovarian cancer nurses as part of the Teal Support Program and TRACEBACK programs (hereditary cancer).
OCA's Exercise and Nutrition program was launched in response to a 2021 consumer survey.
A new booklet entitled Life following Ovarian Cancer Treatment is about life after diagnosis, treatment, common feelings and symptoms post-treatment, and adapting to changes. Download the booklet or request a hard copy through the website.
After finishing cancer treatment, one of the most common worries people can have is the fear their cancer will return, so a webinar will cover the fear of recurrence via the iConquerFear program.
Visit ovariancancer.net.au for details.
*Last name withheld for privacy.
Lyn Osborn
It's great to write about and highlight the products and services of businesses so people buy local in the community.
It's great to write about and highlight the products and services of businesses so people buy local in the community.
