As the spouse of someone who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, I live with the constant reminder of how much work we have to do to better understand this disease. Survival rates for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer have not improved in over 50 years! I don't think the same can be said for most other forms of cancer. Of the 3000 women diagnosed with this disease every year in Canada, half will not survive beyond 5 years of their diagnosis.

 My spouse, Karen, was diagnosed with stage 2 ovarian cancer in 2015. She has been one of the fortunate ones. Thanks to science and a lot of luck, she has been cancer free for over eight years. Many of the women she befriended over course of her treatment and recovery were not so fortunate.

That is what draws me to the annual Walk of Hope; not just what has happened in the past but a real belief that our continued efforts will lead to better outcomes for all women!