Lorrie Fox has survived ovarian cancer for 20 years now. The longtime nurse from Duluth noticed something was wrong when she was almost 50 years old.

“I just didn’t feel right. I was exhausted all of the time. Something was off,” she recalled. “I’d eat and take a few bites, and feel full quickly.”

She’d go and get checked out. And chocked it up to aging. But one day, she doubled over in pain while at work at Lake Superior College. She was an instructor in their nursing program.

That lead to the diagnosis of ovarian cancer. She had surgery right away.”They told my husband the tumor was the size of a small soccer ball.”

Then, chemotherapy.

“That is what scared me the most. My husband and I were sitting in the infusion center, and the nurse walked in. And it was one of my past students who was very special to me,” she said.

That made all the difference for her.

She shares her story at different events and at support groups, to show women that it can be done.

“I want people to see what it can be on the other side. Because I didn’t have anybody like that when I was going through it. It’s not an easy road,” she shared.

She connected with MOCA, the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance, at a Teal Strides walk down in the Twin Cities area, and is now active with MOCA here in Duluth.

She was the keynote speaker at this year’s Light Duluth Teal Gala. And she shares her story at the Survivors Teaching Students program for students studying health care.

“We all have two lives. The second one begins the moment you realize you only have one,” she said.

A reminder about symptoms: 1) Bloating 2) Pelvic or abdominal pain 3) Feeling full quickly 4) Urinary symptoms

There is no early detection test. MOCA is funding research to find one.

For more about MOCA: https://mnovarian.org/