Remembering My Mom（英文）

Original printed byline: Cristina McGroarty

Summer 2014

此内容暂无简体中文译文，以下为英文原文。

Historical Summer 2014 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.

You may remember from our column last May that it is one crazy month here at the McGroarty house of mayhem. Not a whole lot of restaurant eating going on this month. So indulge me if you will as I write about my mom and honoring her memory this month of May.

On September 28, 2014, Saint Louis Ovarian Cancer Awareness (SLOCA) will hold its sixth annual Rise n’ Shine, Yoga for SLOCA event in the World’s Fair Pavilion in Forest Park.

This event has come to mean a great deal to me, and I would like to share this story with the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood.

My own unfortunate involvement with ovarian cancer began 11 years ago this August, when my mom, Mary Fleener, was diagnosed with stage 3C Ovarian Cancer. Before then, I had no familiarity with the disease that eventually took her life. Ovarian cancer begins silently, and is the deadliest of gynecologic cancers.

Each year, almost 22,000 women are diagnosed with the disease, and each year, more than 15,000 die from it. Few women know the symptoms, and medicine has not yet developed an early screening test.

As a result, when the disease is finally caught, it typically has progressed to the point where treatment options are limited. 75% of ovarian cancer patients are diagnosed in Stage 3 or Stage 4. At that point, the disease has a 70 to 90 percent rate of recurrence after treatment.

It is very difficult to cure; many patients can only hope to manage it as a chronic disease (statistics available on SLOCA.org).

My mom’s diagnosis (stage 3C) in August of 2003 took her completely by surprise, and turned our family’s world upside-down. Despite the shock, her spirit did not waiver. Friends referred to her lovingly as, “The Hurricane.” Mary Denise did everything at full speed, and battling cancer was no different. Nothing would stand in her way.

She vowed to beat this disease, and for five years, she did.

A year of surgery and chemotherapy kept her alive, but it also weakened her immune system, leading to an even deadlier diagnosis: melanoma. Still, she battled on. But, after four years of ping-pong treatments between both diseases, her battered body could no longer keep up with her ferocious will. One more task remained.

On Labor Day weekend of 2008, we traveled to Chicago for her grandson Henry’s (my sister Molly’s oldest) baptism.

Her body was severely weakened from years of treatment, but that was not going to stop her from missing Henry’s big day.

As we left the church in Chicago, she leaned on her walker, smiled, and exclaimed, “I MADE IT!” She had indeed!

Most people as sick as Mary Denise was would have sent their regrets, crawled into bed, and refused to come out. Not my mom.

My mom’s body had just enough strength. That same day, she was hospitalized in Chicago.

She made it back to St. Louis in October, and then to her beloved little home in Parkview in December. Mary Denise died January 27th, 2009 surrounded by her cherished family and devoted friends.

A year and a half later, my emotional wounds were still pretty raw, and I wanted nothing to do with this horrible disease.

Then my friend and Skinker-DeBaliviere neighbor, Nancy Kramer invited, me to a yoga event to raise awareness for ovarian cancer.

It was called Rise n’ Shine, Yoga for SLOCA.

The idea intrigued me because it combined some of my favorite things: good friends, yoga and Forest Park.

The fact that it was an event for ovarian cancer awareness made it a good fit for a Sunday morning.

I did not really know what to expect. What I found on that muggy August morning in Forest Park was immensely healing.

The tears, released by the sight of women and families affected by ovarian cancer, flowed as I worked through 108 Sun Salutations.

Some women participated as they navigate their current treatments; some were survivors of ovarian or other cancers. Many, like me, carried the wounds inflicted by ovarian cancer in our hearts. Others, like my dear friends, were there to support and to love. Yoga instructors from throughout St. Louis donated their time and talent to lead the sun salutations for participants as varied in age, experience and ability as those affected by this disease.

This event has something for everyone. For those who are not yogis, the instructors provide “Yoga in Chairs” where men, women and children sit and feel the power of many hearts and bodies connected in the cause to raise awareness of ovarian cancer.

Some come just to witness the event and soak in its healing power.

There is a small silent auction, and all money raised will benefit SLOCA.

My friend and Yogi instructor extaordinaire, Michelle Abounader, started Rise n’ Shine in 2009 after ovarian cancer touched her life. Michelle’s dear friend Amy Bell’s maternal aunt was diagnosed with Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer. Amy wanted to put on the event to raise awareness but wanted to do something different than a 5K. Six years ago, yoga was not as popular as it is now, so it felt different and appropriate. So Rise n’ Shine was born, and six years later, it continues to thrive.

This year, to honor my mom, I am on the planning committee and I feel mom’s presence.

The 6th Annual Rise n’ Shine, Yoga for SLOCA will take place this year in Forest Park in the World’s Fair Pavilion on Sunday September 28th. You can go to the SLOCA.org website. Look under the EVENTS section for more details and to sign up. For more information about the event, or if you would like to sponsor me as I complete 108 SunSalutations, please contact me at mcgroartys@sbcglobal.net.

I would love for you to join me! Love and miss you mom! Do you know the signs of Ovarian Cancer? For years, women have known that ovarian cancer was not the silent killer it was said to be. Over the past decade, science has confirmed what women have long known: ovarian cancer has symptoms.

The symptoms are: • Bloating • Pelvic or abdominal pain • Difficulty eating or feeling full • Urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency) See your doctor, preferably a gynecologist, if you have these symptoms more than 12 times during the course of one month and the symptoms are new or unusual for you (www.ovariancancer.org).