Cancer survivor runs to raise awareness
By Tommie Clark
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CLIVE, Iowa (KCCI) — A metro mom of four is organizing a run to raise ovarian cancer awareness. She survived the diagnosis by catching it early.
Nearly one year ago, Lindsay Wisniewski was on a morning run when she felt a severe pain in her back. Rather than passing it off as pulling a muscle, she got it checked out. At first doctors weren’t concerned, and she had to push for another look.
What health professionals thought were cysts, turned out to be cancerous tumors on both of her ovaries. The day she received that stage one ovarian cancer diagnosis, was the 20 year anniversary of losing her sister at 11 years old to leukemia.
Because the 39 year old caught it so early, the cancer was contained and treatable with chemotherapy and a hysterectomy.
In the process, Wisniewski kept being proactive, and found out she carries the BRCA1 genetic mutation. She underwent a bilateral mastectomy in May.
This strong Clive mom now has a message for every woman.
“If you have ovaries, you should know what the signs and the symptoms could potentially be, and to be your own advocate for your health. If I would have ignored my symptoms for a month, I could very easily have gone from a stage one to a stage three just in a month’s time,” said Wisniewski.
Today, she’s running again and recruiting others. COVID-19 has put a pause on large events, so she’s hosting her own 5K through the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.
Her team, Teal We Find A Cure, is running, or walking, and then throwing a block party on Saturday, Sept. 25.
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