Advocate Spotlight: Randalynn

AdvancedOvarianCancer.net shares the stories and experiences of people living with ovarian cancer. We are highlighting the story of our advocate Randalynn who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the start of 2017. Since Randalynn's diagnosis, she has become a dedicated advocate for ovarian cancer awareness and advocacy.

This is Randalynn's story...

Randylnn's diagnosis story

I was diagnosed January 19, 2017, at the age of 36 with high grade, epithelial ovarian cancer, stage 1c, and a focused group of endometrial cancer as well.

Treatment experiences

A week after receiving my diagnosis I would undergo a full debulking procedure, which included a hysterectomy plus cervix and omentum removal. Shortly after recovering from the long surgery, I would start 6 rounds of chemotherapy; a combination of taxol and carboplatinum every 3 weeks.

Turn to others who understand for support

I think leaning on other young women who'd been diagnosed was where the majority of support came from. At the time I didn't know where to look for information, so outside of Google and my oncologist, I didn't really look anywhere else. My focus was probably just getting through the treatments and connecting with other women.

Words of encouragement to those newly diagnosed

Just keep showing up and your medical team will handle the rest. This is probably the most challenging thing you'll ever go through, but you can do this...we were all made to do hard things, even though we may not want to necessarily do them.

Being an advocate means sharing my story

Being an advocate means sharing my story and using my voice for those women who no longer have the ability to do so. My hope is that more women will become aware of the signs/symptoms of ovarian cancer. This way women can be diagnosed in the early stages when treatment is most effective and the recurrence rate is significantly lower.

Always a love for adventure

I love adventures and doing new things. Since being diagnosed, I've completed a Rim2Rim of the Grand Canyon, submitted a 14'er in Colorado, and will be Everesting in Utah this August!