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| Photo via Witchery |
I recently had the honour of speaking at the Witchery White Shirt Campaign Launch at the Roslyn Packer Theatre.
The campaign is a fashion based initiative by Witchery in support if the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.
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| Photo via Witchery |
The event was attended by the 2017 campaign ambassadors including Megan Irwin, Tahnee, Atkinson, Annabella Barber and Zoe Cross. Along with Australia's top media Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, , Elle, Marie Claire, Instyle, Sunday Life and style influers Yan Yan Chan, Nadia Fairfax, Nathan Joliffe and Kaitlyn Ham, as well as many others including members of the Witchery and OCRF teams.
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| With Lisa from the OCRF photo via Witchery |
I share my speech with you here....
Firstly
massive thanks to the OCRF and Witchery for having me here to share my story
today. The more we hear real stories from patients and survivors the greater
the awareness will be.
I’m Letitia
Linke 37 wife to Paul, and mum to Ollie 11 and Tommy 10. I live on a farming
property 2 hrs from Adelaide.
In 2013 I
went on a health kick and lost a large amount of weight through diet and
exercise.
I felt some
pain in my abdominal wall and felt a lump.
I went to two GPs who suspected I had a hernia
and referred me to a reconstructive surgeon.
This surgeon
sent me off for an MRI in which they noticed some unusual tissue, at this time they thought it to be endometriomas.
I was then
referred to Gynaecologist who booked me in for a cleanup operation, on one of
the worst
cases of endometriosis she had ever seen.
Whilst in
surgery she biopsied my ovaries.
A few days
later I had a call from her to discuss my results.
I received
the news that they had found ovarian cancer cells. I was aged 34.
A few days
later I underwent a radical hysterectomy.
At this
point I felt extremely grateful for having had my two boys at a young age.
During this
surgery they removed the abdominal lumps I had felt. These turned out to be cancerous
tumours.
What
followed was 18 weeks of chemotherapy once a week in Adelaide.
Then another
operation to remove yet another tumour.
5 weeks of 5
day a week radiotherapy in Adelaide. Then another operation to fix part of my
bowel which had been obstructed by the cancer.
During this operation
my doctor noticed some spots on my abdominal wall....
My cancer
had relapsed.
I wasn’t surprised. I’d seen it happen to
other patients and the percentage of relapse in Ovarian Cancer Patients is
extremely high.
I then
started another 6 months of monthly chemotherapy.
I am now
still on maintenance chemotherapy once a month. My latest scans are good but I
know that this can change at any time.
It’s chemo
once a month and life as normal the rest of the time.
I feel
extremely lucky that my cancer was found early enough to treat. Not everybody
is so lucky.
There is a huge
need for an early detection test for Ovarian Cancer. Pap smears do NOT detect it
despite 50% of our population believing incorrectly that it does.
Before I was
diagnosed I knew nothing about Ovarian Cancer.
The work I
have been doing in my role as community ambassador for the OCRF has been both
rewarding personally and a great positive focus to have whilst undergoing
treatment.
The White
Shirt Campaign has helped hugely to raise the profile of Ovarian Cancer Research
in Australia whilst also raising the vital funds needed to develop an early
detection test and more targeted successful treatments.
My heartfelt
thanks to Witchery and the OCRF for their support of Ovarian Cancer Research.
During the
WHITE SHIRT CAMPAIGN I will be wearing my white shirt proudly because until 3 years ago aged 34 diagnosed
with ovarian cancer I had no idea of the signs and symptoms. I would like to
raise awareness for this horrible disease, educate women to know their bodies
and help fund research for an early detection test.
I will also
wear it for my friends from the chemo room who have sadly lost their battle....
let’s all do our very best to help others win theirs!
You can get your white shirt here !
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| With my bestie Sally photo via Witchery |