Dear Janey Godley,

Dear Janey,

One year ago, you told the world you had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. You’d mentioned that you felt as if you were full before you were eating a meal and how you felt constant bloating in your stomach. You went to the doctors and that’s when you discovered you had ovarian cancer.

We later discovered that you’d actually seen a post on Twitter of ours, that our wonderful Ambassador Julia Bradbury had shared, that alerted you to the fact your symptoms might be ovarian cancer.

It's our job and our duty to reach people with important messages about symptoms to look out for and knowing your risk to make people take action. But it’ll always stop us in our tracks when we see the real life impact. The impact it had on your life.

We can’t imagine what the last year must have been like. You’ve courageously shared so much about your diagnosis, coping with treatment, and the emotional side effects – the good and the bad, your hopes and your fears. 

So, through all that and everything you’ve gone through, there’s one thing we want to make sure you know on this fateful anniversary.

Thank you. 

We hope you know how much of an inspiration you’ve been and how much of a difference you’ve made to thousands of lives.

We’re so proud and grateful that you’ve supported Ovarian Cancer Action, sharing and commenting on our information on symptoms, research into better tests and treatments, supporting fundraisers and getting important messages out there – know your body, know your rights and be informed. It may have saved someone’s life.

Many people call ovarian cancer a hidden disease or a silent assassin. And why do they say that? Because often women with ovarian cancer aren’t heard. Their stories aren’t listened to by health professionals, governments, and beyond. They aren’t given the opportunity or the platform to speak loudly. Their symptoms can be confused for other ailments. These women aren’t being given a fair chance.

You spoke up. You’ve been incredibly honest about your predicament, spoken about signs to look out for, opened your heart about living with ovarian cancer and used your platform to spread the word about ovarian cancer to your followers, TV audiences, and the press, reaching more and more people.

Thank you so much.

We know this might be an anniversary you want to forget, but we just want you to know that you’ve helped so many people this past year. Your support can continue to keep people thinking and talking about ovarian cancer, encourage them to take action to change the future and help us reach a world where ovarian cancer is a survivable disease for all women.

To you and every woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer, we’ll always be by your side and on your side.

Our warmest wishes,

The team at Ovarian Cancer Action