Butterfly Release Honors People Impacted by Ovarian Cancer

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Columbia, S.C. (WOLO) — On Thursday night, the Ovarian Cancer Coalition of Central South Carolina held it’s annual “Whispers” Butterfly Release at the State House. Attendees released butterflies into the sky in honor of those who have been impacted by Ovarian Cancer. “I got a sharp pain in my abdomen and a couple of weeks later I went to the doctor,” explained survivor Cathy Novinger. “He had checked me, did a blood test and my blood test was alarming” On Thursday, Novinger recalled 10 years ago when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. “I was told I had a huge mass and it turned out to be a diagnosis of 3c ovarian cancer,” said Novinger. Now a survivor, Novinger went through 5 surgeries and a series of 6 different chemotherapy treatments. “I prayed for peace and I‘ve had peace, I haven‘t shed a tear,” said Novinger. Novinger said prior to learning her diagnosis, she didn‘t recognize any of the symptoms as out of the ordinary. Oncology nurse Debbie Seale explained that is not unusual. In fact, ovarian cancer is often called the “disease that whispers” because many of the symptoms such as bloating, abdominal pain, and difficulty eating are hard to detect as signs of the disease. “Many of us have those symptoms every once in a while, a day a week but do they persist over a period of time? that’s the whispering part of the symptoms,” explained Seale. “Persistence of those symptoms over several weeks or more would promote somebody to say somethings changed, I need to go get this checked out.” Seale said ovarian cancer can not be detected by a pap smear and urges women to listen to their bodies. Meanwhile, Novinger said she wants to encourage other women to be proactive “I‘ve learned that your healthcare is your responsibility, it’s not your doctors, it’s not your caregivers, it really is your responsibility and you need to take responsibility to learn,” said Novinger. For more information on ovarian cancer, you can visit www.ovariancancer.org or www.ovariancancermidlands.org.