1. Why did you decide to practice gynocolgoic oncology in the first place as opposed to any other oncology specialty? 

When I was going through medical school, I realized that I really enjoyed taking care of women and promoting women’s health.   I chose gynecologic oncology specifically because it is the only field where a subspecialist has the skills to not only perform cancer surgery but also to administer chemotherapy.  This provides the optimal continuity of care for my patients and helps me achieve a higher level of understanding of my patients’ disease process.

2. What, in your opinion, is the biggest misconception about ovarian cancer? 

 That this is a deadly disease, like “pancreatic” or “brain” cancer.  We have traditionally only had surgery and chemotherapy to treat ovarian cancer.  However, in 2011, the FDA approved the first biologic agent for the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer.  Since then, several biologic agents have been approved and I anticipate that the addition of these agents will change the course of ovarian cancer in the long-term.  This is a very exciting time for ovarian cancer as new therapies are continually being introduced.  These biologic agents are quickly becoming a routine part of ovarian cancer care, and this brings hope to all patients with ovarian cancer.  Many clinical trials are available that study these new drugs, and the importance of being a part of a trial, if appropriate, cannot be emphasized enough.

3. Do you think that one day a screening for ovarian cancer will exist? Or is that precisely the problem with OC; that coming up with an effective universal screening is not likely based on the characteristics of the disease?

I would love to see a true screening test for ovarian cancer!  Many, many studies have been done looking at performing regular USGs, or drawing routine CA-125 levels, or performing both CA-125 and USG simultaneously, for the detection of ovarian cancer.  These methods are neither sensitive nor cost-effective.  Universal screening may be more possible in the future than it has been previously as we continue to uncover more about the behavior of ovarian cancer.  It is also clear that ovarian cancer is a multifaceted disease and what one tumor expresses may not be expressed in another, making screening ultimately very difficult.

4.  If you could text message every woman in the world, right this minute, what would you say to them in regards to ovarian cancer or their health in general?

Follow your instincts.  If you have some vague symptoms- (all symptoms of ovarian cancer are vague and can be explained by another disease process)- bloating, feeling full early, pelvic pressure, urinary or GI symptoms- trust your instincts and do not rationalize them (I’m not eating right, I’m not exercising, I ate Mexican the other night, etc).  Get input from your physician and keep questioning and get an answer for your symptoms.  Be your own advocate and push until you are satisfied that you have done what you can for yourself.

5. When you’re not ridding the world of ovarian cancer, what do you like to do in your free time?  

I’m an avid runner! And love to spin.  I enjoy my family greatly, and love spending time with them.  I also love to read, and recently read both books by Amor Towles.

23 is so young to be diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. That said though, were you tested for the BRCA gene? Do you have it?

I was incredibly young to be diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. It was the absolute last thing on my mind when I went to the doctor complaining of pain; by the time I was diagnosed the cancer had spread so much that it was very complex and complicated to treat. My grandmother passed away from Ovarian Cancer 6 months before I was diagnosed. When I was first diagnosed with the severity of my situation doctors thought I for sure was BRCA positive. It turns out I was negative for the BRCA gene.

We know chemo wasn’t working for you so you sought out a specialist in NYC that changed your prognosis. What, specifically, did that specialist do in NYC recommend that worked?

When you do 12 weeks of straight pumping poison into your body, you end up with ALOT of weird residual side effects. When the chemo didn’t work and I was deemed “inoperable” I ran out of options. My oncologist with Texas Oncology and another oncologist she worked closely with came up with the idea to send me to what they called a “legend” in New York and Memorial Sloan Kettering. Something he thought he could do would be to “TRY” to operate. He  said that he didn’t know what the outcome would be but he knew that he had to try. I was too young to just be tossed to the side. He felt with my age..I could endure the long procedure and wanted to give it a shot to try and remove as much cancer as possible. Chemo is meant to push your body as close to the edge as possible in order to kill the cancer cells in there, without killing YOU!! It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that my only option after this poison was surgery…but in the end..with 33 items removed, and as colon resection; I ended up with a chance at life because of Dr. Chi.

Is that doctor now your primary oncologist? If not, who is and how often do you go in for CA 125s and general check ins?        

My oncologist is Dr. Christine Lee. She is a phenomenal doctor and fought for me the entire time during my battle. She made sure I had the best surgeon operate on me even if it meant sending me to New York. (which it did) I still go see Dr. Chi in New York yearly and will be seeing him in October. I have regular CT scans, Chest x-rays, and labs drawn every 3 months with Dr. Lee.

During your darkest, sickest days, what did you turn to for inspiration, a laugh, or a break in the weight of your situation? A show? A song? A family member? Anything?

During my darkest days I kept thinking to myself that if I was going to go out…I would go out fighting. I have an incredible support system with my family, my husband and my best friend. My husband kept putting things in perspective for me making sure I took chemo, and recovery from surgery one day at a time…I would always watch the show The Office with my husband for a good laugh and first and foremost we got closer to GOD. My husband and I ended up becoming close with our Church pastors Chris and Kerry Shook and ended up getting re-baptised together this summer.

If you had a megaphone that spoke worldwide to girls your age, what would you tell them about ovarian cancer? Or just their health in general?

I would SHOUT OUT TO THE WORLD that you know your body better than anyone else does! Fight for yourself when others won’t and never give up fighting. Do me a favor and start doing that today. Use the able body you’ve got to fight because one day you may not have that option. I would give anything to have that choice, to have that option.

What are you up to these days?

I am currently trying to get my strength back and try to live life as comfortably with my husband. I have been going back to my job taking on more and more responsibilities. We are trying to grow our family through the help of an egg donor and surrogacy. The truth is that once you have gone through Cancer you will never be the same. Ovarian Cancer is the type of disease you constantly have to fight your entire life! I WILL spend the rest of my life fighting this awful disease and RAISING AWARENESS. I want to be an advocate for women and for girls my age that aren’t taken seriously. I want to help them find their voice.

How did being a paramedic effect your experience as a cancer patient? You must have had more medical knowledge going through this experience than the average person.

MW: Being in the medical field, I felt that I knew more information about different topics that I was “diagnosed” with, but also knew all the factors that could potentially occur. But I didn’t know anything about ovarian cancer when I was diagnosed, nobody ever told me I should, including my gynecologist.

How did you come across Dr. Lee and work with her? Describe the relationship you had with her.

MW: The ER doctor that I saw was in the in the same network as oncologist, Christine Lee (of Memorial Hermann Woodlands Hospital). I had an immediate connection with her and have more respect for that woman than I could ever convey.

Obviously cancer puts your whole life on hold, is there a specific moment when you were hit by this realization?

 MW: The moment for me, and I hate it when people characterize this as no big deal, was when the girl who does my hair came to my house. My family came over, we sat in my kitchen, hair below my shoulders, and we cut it all off. She gave me the most precious short haircut but the reason for the cut was not a happy occasion.

What helped keep your spirits up and gave you support during this period? 

MW: My angel of a husband never left my side and attended every single treatment and procedure!  His co-workers donated all their PTO to him so he’d still get paid. If it weren’t for him. I wouldn’t have made it.

Also, my family coordinated a benefit, which I was not initially happy about (I didn’t want handouts), and planned an enormous fundraiser. I was able to pay off all my medical bills in 2 months. Reunion and awareness, word of mouth, social media and more made it possible for 600 people to attend from all parts of the country.

 What did you learn from your experience that you want to impart on anyone reading this blog post?

Listen to your body; the most-vague symptoms can be the most important symptoms. And if you feel like something is wrong, don’t stop until you get an answer. Tell your doctor what you want. There is no acceptable screening for ovarian cancers and most woman are diagnosed in late symptoms. Had I known with the first symptom sign I had that it was cancer, I would have had a 3-month head start on treatment. And also…screw you cancer! You weren’t as bad as I thought you were!

(Misty’s pseudo bell ringing day)

Tell us about Teal Tales.

I now run a Facebook page called Teal Tales and it has women from all over the world: Australia, Switzerland, India and more. Once every 24 min a woman is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. This gives an opportunity for women to connect with each other and provide information and support in a community setting.

1. Do you think that one day a screening for ovarian cancer will exist? (In other words, the equivalent to what the mammogram is to breast cancer.) If so, how far off do you think we are from that technology?

This is a tough question. Because ovarian cancer is much less frequent than breast cancer, it makes identifying an effective screening test more challenging. There has been promising information looking at algorithms for screening combining serial CA-125 with ultrasound that have looked good so far but I don’t think we are close to having routine screening for all women quite yet. Another strategy has been to identify women who may be at higher risk because of genetics and screening these women in a more aggressive way. We are hopeful that this strategy will decrease the overall numbers of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer with advanced stage.

2. What do you think the biggest misconception about ovarian cancer is?

From a detection standpoint, I think a common misconception is that if we just did a CA-125 on everyone we would find ovarian cancer earlier. I have heard many patients, family members, and even doctors say this. There have been large prospective studies that have shown CA-125 by itself should not be used as a screening tool. It can lead to unnecessary surgeries which can sometimes be harmful.

3. How did Angelina Jolie’s NY Times Article, Diary of A Surgery, change Gynecologic Oncology, if at all? Do you feel patients are generally more informed now about the BRCA gene?  

Anytime you have a celebrity be open about a cancer diagnosis or screening I think it helps get the word out.  I think more doctors, both primary care and general ob/gyns are more informed about BRCA for a number of reasons so I think that has increased awareness overall.

4. What is one thing you think people would be surprised to learn/know about your career as a gynecologic oncologist? 

People always seem surprised that gynecologic oncologists are both surgeons and chemotherapy doctors. This is not common in other types of cancers. The surgery and chemotherapy are often done by 2 different doctors for breast, colon and other cancers. This makes the relationship between gynecologic oncologists and their patients unique. We really take care of people through the whole course of their treatment.

5. People like Jessica Murnane (her brief story here) and Alisa Vitti (her brief story here) have found extreme success managing their ovarian conditions like endometriosis and PCOS by changing their diet. Do we know anything about the relationship between diet and ovarian cancer currently? Do you think we’ll know more in the future?

I would say that the relationship between diet and ovarian cancer is unknown. I am not aware that particular food or a particular diet can change the outcome of a patient with ovarian cancer. I usually tell people to have a well-balanced diet and continue to exercise. I do think that your overall health can help you make it through a big surgery and chemotherapy a little easier.

    Dr. Pamela Solimon

Below is everything you need to know about Memorial Hermann’s newest passion project.

WHO: Anyone who has been affected by cancer in some form or fashion (including friends and family members of cancer survivors) are welcome at Canopy’s warm, inviting space to receive support, learn something new, or simply relax. 

WHAT: Canopy is a cancer survivorship center with a mission of bettering the health and well-being of cancer survivors. They offer a wide variety of programs and services like yoga classes, tai chi, art therapy, cooking demos, small group counseling sessions, and more.

WHERE: Located on the campus of Memorial Hermann The Woodlands, Canopy is the first of its kind in Montgomery County.

WHEN: Canopy opened its doors July 5, 2016. The center is open 9:00-5:00 PM Monday through Thursday and 9:00-3:00 PM on Friday.

WHY THE NAME ‘CANOPY’: Canopy was given its name to convey The Woodlands’ forest-like feel, and to represent the center’s sole mission: to serve as an all-encompassing safe haven where guests can rest easy the moment they arrive.

FUN FACT: Canopy is run on philanthropic dollars and individual donations. Click here to donate or become a sponsor.

Questions? You can learn more about Canopy and their mission by emailing Amanda.Poole@memorialhermann.org.

When Stephanie Parke was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in June 2013, she had no idea that such tragic news would turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Three years later–after a total hysterectomy, 18 weeks of chemo, and a 4-month clinical trial at MD Anderson–Parke is cancer-free and living life at its fullest as a loving mom, career woman, and ovarian cancer awareness activist.

Aside from running her own dental practice and raising three kids, Parke spends her days helping women who have been diagnosed with the ugly disease and aiding in finding a cure. The most important thing for women right now, she believes, is being aware.

“My main platform is to know your body—and to listen to it,” says Parke, who admits to ignoring her own symptoms for months before being diagnosed. “As women, we get so wrapped up in taking care of others that we forget to take care of ourselves. ”

Parke works with organizations like Memorial Hermann’s In The Pink (http://www.memorialhermann.org/give-volunteer/foundation/in-the-pink-of-health/) and Pink Pals (http://www.memorialhermann.org/news/%E2%80%9Cpink-pals%E2%80%9D-raise-over-$13,000-to-date-for–memorial-hermann-in-the-pink-of-health/) to get the word out about ovarian cancer and to encourage women to speak up when they know something’s not right.

“We’re all in this together,” says Parke. “I’m here to encourage women to talk about what they’re experiencing and to help them through it.”

As for her own journey, Parke has made it a point to appreciate every day as it comes, and to never take anything for granted. Three years ago, she was given the worst news someone could possibly receive from a doctor—and now, having come out from the other side, she has a new take on life and an extremely grateful heart.

“I’ve met so many wonderful people through this experience, and my relationships with both God and my family have never been stronger. I’m thankful for even the smallest things in life. Everything—even just to be alive—is a blessing.”