Trees of Hope and MOCA: Chickie’s story

Last year, Chickie Broman and her husband, John, were getting ready to leave for a vacation to Florida.

“We were all packed up to go. I had my physical, and mentioned to my doctor that I was having some pain in my side. He said, let’s do an X-ray,” she recalled.

That lead to a biopsy. And then, a diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

“They called me, and it hits you like a brick wall.”

It meant a high grade chemotherapy. “We went on it. And it was really hard. But I’m going to beat this. We all want to beat this,” she said.

Then more chemo, and a hysterectomy. And then, a chance to be in a clinical trial. She asked her doctor this question. “If this was your mother, your wife, would you tell her to do this at this point in her life? And he said, Chickie, definitely. And then, here’s where I get happy tears,” she said, tearfully.

She goes to the University of Minnesota every few weeks for the trial, happy knowing she’s doing her part for a better, healthier future. Just like women before her.

“Because the chemo I took here during the summer and the whole year, these are from women that were on these trials many years ago,” she told us.

MOCA, the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance, is making a difference by supporting those trials with critical research dollars.

Broman is eternally grateful for the doctor who made her small pain his priority. She recently hugged him at her checkup. “If you didn’t do that, do you know where I’d be?” she asked him. “He said, that’s my job. And I said bless his heart.”

After all, she has a lot to live for. Friends, family, and maybe someday, that trip to Florida.

Her words of advice for other women? “Get a good support system. A good support group. Get the best doctors that you can, and listen to them. And then go with God with prayer. That’s what we do.”

If you want to support MOCA, please call into our phone banks on Tuesday, at 5, 6, and 10pm.

Your donations will be DOUBLED, starting Tuesday, up to $20,000, thanks to a match from the MOCA Board of Directors.

Donate now online: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/nfdmoca/

Or click here to find out more about MOCA: https://mnovarian.org/