Colorado ovarian cancer survivor encourages other women to get checked out

You might notice a lot of Denver7 personalities are wearing the same color on Friday for "Wear Teal Day" to raise awareness about one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among women: Ovarian cancer.

Denver7 partners with the Colorado Gynecologic Cancer Alliance, which is launching a new campaign is "When it doubt, check it out."

When Glorida Rudolph was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, the fight to survive would take her life in unexpected directions.

"I was 53 years old, and I thought, 'Oh, I'm young, right? I can't have ovarian cancer,'" said Rudolph. "My tumor turned out to be grapefruit size, and that wasn't really recognized until I had the surgery."

Since there is no screening test for ovarian cancer, Gloria said she was lucky her doctor found the tumor during her annual gynecologic exam.

Jeanen Smith with the Colorado Gynecologic Cancer Alliance (GCA) said that every year, more than 330 women in Colorado are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and 220 of them will die from the disease.

Officials from the CGCA say more than 80% of diagnoses are late stage, metastasized cancer, when the chance of surviving more than five years is 44%. But, if diagnosed at Stage I, a person’s chance of surviving five years increases to 93%.

Smith said recognizing symptoms is key, and the new awareness campaign is: "When in doubt check it out."

"Things like bloating, abdominal pressure or pain, feeling full when they're eating a meal, or having trouble with urination — any one of those symptoms that exist for more than a couple weeks during any month should cause somebody to go to the doctor and have it checked out," said Smith.

Rudolph said she realized later she had experienced multiple symptoms , including persistent bloating.

Because of her experience, she became one of the first Colorado Ovarian Cancer Alliance board members. Now, she volunteers to educate medical students about the symptoms and raises awareness at Jodi's Race, where survivors wear one strand of beads for every year past their diagnosis. She now has 16.

"It's changed my life. I think that's the biggest part," said Rudolph. "It's given me hope, and I have friends there, and it's a community. It's lovely."

Her fight inspired her to shift careers from business analytics to healthcare and to keep sharing her story to give hope that if caught early, ovarian cancer may change your life, but it's not the end of the story. "There's hope," she said.

The most common symptoms of ovarian cancer include:

● Bloating that is persistent
● Eating less and feeling fuller
● Abdominal pain
● Trouble with urination or bowel habits

September is Ovarian and Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. Additional events taking place in Colorado during the month to raise awareness of ovarian cancer include:

• Sept. 1-7: Denver City & County Building will light up in purple (the color associated with gynecologic cancer) each evening to raise awareness of gynecologic cancer. 1437 Bannock St., Denver.
• Sept. 7: Walrus Ice Cream in Ft. Collins will dish up teal ice cream, host an awareness event and donate a portion of the day’s proceeds to CGCA. 125 W. Mountain Ave. in Ft. Collins
• Sept. 15: 16th annual Be Ovary Aware 5K/3K benefiting Sue’s Gift Gynecologic Cancer Support will be held at America the Beautiful Park in downtown Colorado Springs.
• Sept. 21: Kendra Scott will host sips and sweets at the Cherry Creek (175 N. Fillmore St.) and Park Meadows (8505 Park Meadows Center Dr. #2139) stores from 12-2 pm and donate 20% of sales to CGCA.

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