Fight against ovarian cancer takes to Sunset Park

Women of all ages gathered in Sunset Park on July 17, as pizza and drinks were being passed out on the blanket where they sat. Despite their difference in age, they’ve all been touched by a type of cancer which is becoming more and more dangerous for women — ovarian cancer. The pizza picnic was organized to show how the fight against this type of cancer is different, because it’s a very hard cancer to stop. “Mammograms can be used to find breast cancer, but there’s no known test to diagnose ovarian cancer,” said event organizer Kim Henry, who also lost her boyfriend to cancer, but out of her grief decided to take action.Four out of five women diagnosed with the disease are diagnosed after it has already spread beyond the ovaries, and because the symptoms of the cancer such as frequent urination and bloating are common, many are not diagnosed till it’s too late, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).Henry, who lost her sister Maureen to the disease eight years ago, has organized the annual Maureen Henry Walk of Hope to raise awareness of the disease, and the planning meeting is preparing for the fifth edition of the event on September 13, to be held in Sunset Park, 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue. At the picnic, she was joined by her four nieces who were all teenagers when their mother died, and many others who share the family’s story. “We’re teaming up with Dr. Vance Broach at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and he and his staff have been working to try and find a test that can say if women have ovarian cancer or not,” said Henry, who was chair of Relay for Life for seven years, and in 2012 raised over $275,000 for the ACS. “My sister is the one who raised me, and I decided to find a way to let others know how much she meant to me, and make sure others don’t have to go through the same pain,” she said. For further information on the event, contact Henry at kimmybklyn@gmail.com.

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