Ovarian cancer survivor takes next step in journey

Ovarian cancer survivor takes next step in journey

News

By: Sandra Bolan

For three weeks, Debbie Antonio watched her abdomen inexplicably swell to the point she could hardly breathe.

A trip to her family doctor provided Mrs. Antonio with in a vague diagnosis that centred around bowel or intestinal problems. She was sent to a bowel specialist in Orillia, but once the doctor saw her ultrasound, he knew her condition was not bowel or intestinal-related. A CT scan, that still provided no diagnosis, was immediately ordered by the doctor, which resulted in her being admitted to Southlake Regional Health Centre for further testing.

Two weeks later, and still a patient at Southlake, Mrs. Antonio was finally diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer.

“I was devastated,” the Bradford West Gwillimbury resident said.

Stage three ovarian cancer means the cancer has spread from the ovaries, which are on either side of the pelvis, to the abdomen.

To try and rid her body of the cancer, Mrs. Antonio underwent four rounds of chemotherapy, had a complete hysterectomy and her ovaries removed.


DIDN’T FIND TUMOR

“We had a lot of people praying and God performed a miracle because when they opened me up, they didn’t find the tumor,” Mrs. Antonio said, adding she still underwent two more rounds of chemotherapy following the surgeries to ensure the cancer was indeed gone.

“Breast cancer is so much in the forefront; (ovarian cancer), you don’t even think about,” Judy Tomlinson, Mrs. Antonio’s mother, said.

There is no known cause of ovarian cancer, but what is known is the disease is more prevalent in women older than 50.

Because the symptoms reach across so many other illnesses, a diagnosis can be a matter of trial and error. But there are a few diagnostic tools available that include pelvic and renal exams, a pelvic transvaginal ultrasound and the CA125 blood test.

The blood test is not specific to ovarian cancer, but if there are elevated antigen levels, it may suggest the presence of ovarian cancer, according to Ovarian Cancer Canada.

When Mrs. Antonio had the CA125 test done, her blood count was 4,095. A normal count is between zero and 35.

“There definitely were a lot of cancer cells in my body,” she said, noting that as of February, her blood count was seven and she is now in remission.

When Mrs. Antonio was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, her sisters, Brenda Young and Gayle Palmer, wanted to do something for her, they just didn’t know what.

“I feel awful, I have to do something,” Mrs. Palmer said. “I personally knew nothing about ovarian cancer.”

After learning of her sister’s diagnosis, Mrs. Palmer began searching the web for information on ovarian cancer. This is when she came across information on an American ovarian cancer walk.

She contacted the organization, which told her about Ovarian Cancer Canada and its annual Winners Walk of Hope.

Mrs. Antonio’s diagnosis came just after the national Winners Walk of Hope took place last year, but Mrs. Palmer was allowed to organize a sanctioned mini Winners Walk of Hope in honour of her sister.

Within a couple of weeks, $5,000 was raised by 70 people for ovarian cancer research.

“We were overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of families, friends and neighbours,” Mrs. Palmer said.

“I was blown away by it because I thought it was really neat; I never heard of the walk,” Mrs. Antonio said.

Mrs. Antonio was unable to attend last year’s walk, but she plans on walking at this year’s mini Winners Walk of Hope in Aurora next month.

“Now I can walk. It’s a journey; one leg of the journey I can do,” she said.

All content contained in this or any other yorkregion.com website including but not limited to textual, audio, video and any graphics are copyright 2000-2008 Metroland Media Group Ltd. and can not be used in any part without expressed written permission, with the exception of content in the yorkregion.com Pen & Pixel section, which requires the written consent of the authors.