High Achievers: Three women take up 1000km

Three women take up 1000km challenge

Three women have travelled many extra miles during September to raise funds for ovarian cancer awareness and research during Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month.

Amanda Mitchell, Carmen Lintsen and Laura Carleton set a goal of cycling, running and walking a total of 1,000 kilometres to support Step Up for Ovarian Cancer in September. The trio were inspired to do the challenge by their friend Kate Spackman who was diagnosed with cancer in November 2019.

Kate had returned from her son’s wedding in Columbia in August and realised something was wrong. “I went skiing and was really tired. I’d been doing Pilates for 16 years but had no energy, my arm was sore and my tennis coach noticed something wrong with the way I was holding my racket,” Kate said.

“I had always been active, enjoying cycling, golf, tennis, tramping and sailing, I knew my body and I knew something wasn’t right.”

When Kate got an intense pain in her abdomen she marked where it was with a pen and went to her doctor. After a transvaginal ultrasound, a five centimetre tumour was found in her left fallopian tube directly under the pen mark. She had surgery which included a hysterectomy and paraaortic nodal dissection and was diagnosed with stage 3 high-grade serious ovarian cancer.

In January 2020 she started six cycles of chemotherapy with carboplatin and paclitaxel every three weeks.

Kate’s surgery was at Christchurch Women’s Hospital but health insurance enabled her to have chemotherapy at St George’s Cancer Care Centre. There she was offered help from a dietician, physiotherapist and psychologist.

“I’d encourage anyone going through this to see someone like a psychologist. It helped me understand it was normal to feel what I was feeling, the sadness, grief and anxiety.”

Within days Kate began to get side effects.

“Chemo is brutal. I lost all my hair, including my eye brows and eye lashes. It hurt, like someone was pulling each hair out because the follicles were very sensitive. Nerve endings in my feet and hands were affected, causing numbness and my jaw was really painful, I mostly ate soup so I didn’t have to chew, and my joints were really painful.

Kate recovered from the chemotherapy but earlier this year she became very tired, and was feeling something wasn’t right when she found a lump on her pelvis. A scan showed a cancerous lymph node on her pelvis. After surgery her doctors recommended another six rounds of chemotherapy - this time carboplatin on its own, starting in April.

A nurse recommended soaking in a warm bath to ease the joint pain, so in between treatments Kate would retreat to her second home in Wanaka which has a bath, unlike her Christchurch home. “The warm water really does help” says Kate.

Her sixth and final chemotherapy session was scheduled for mid August and Kate felt it was déjà vu when lockdown was announced because the country was locked down before she had completed her treatment last year. Her daughter

Sally had been keeping her company throughout the treatment but once lockdown struck, Kate had to go by herself.

“Five hours is a long time to sit with your arm in one position but I could read, use my iPad and chat with the other patients to pass the time. The room has big windows, a view to a lovely garden and comfortable chairs.”

“The nurse reassured me that, as with last time, I could travel from Wanaka to Christchurch for my medical appointments during level 3 and 4. Last year we were stopped twice, but the police were very sympathetic.”

The Covid level change also created challenges for Kate’s friends Amanda, Laura and Carmen who planned to cycle, run and walk 1000km during September for gynaecological cancer awareness month. “Carmen, Laura and I were going to be training for the six hour Spring Challenge. Committing to Step Up was a good way to motivate us and help raise funds for awareness and research too, “Amanda said.

They had planned to do a lot of the training together but lockdown prevented that.

“We had to train by ourselves, but the Step Up challenge helped us motivate each other, checking in to share what we were doing and how far we were going.

“It was a really good motivator, giving us a reason to go out on the bike or for a run.”

“We set a goal of $1,000, a dollar for each kilometre, we’ve passed it and trying to push as far as we can”

Cycling is a passion they share with Kate.

“I find chemotherapy gives me painful joints, especially in my knees and cycling is helpful. I’d been planning a trip to Sweden and since I couldn’t go there I bought an electric mountain bike and named it Sweden.

“It enables me to exercise and means I can keep up with my friends” Kate said.

On the weekend of October 1st – 3rd she’ll be supporting from home as her friends participate in the Spring Challenge. Kate is currently battling with chronic fatigue. Carmen Laura and Amanda will be wearing Cure Our Ovarian Cancer t-shirts pre, and post race, to raise awareness and honour their friend.

“We’ll be one of 450 teams taking part, rafting, cycling and on our feet. We’re a super veteran team with a combined age of 150 plus. We’re competing in the six hour challenge. Last year it took us nine hours.

“It’s a team effort, and there’s a lot of synergy with Stepping Up. There’s always someone in the team who’s feeling stronger or experiencing an energy dip or not doing so well and we all help each other.”

The funds raised from their Step Up efforts support Cure Our Ovarian Cancer NZ’s Step Up Challenge which encourages people to get active to inspire, empower and celebrate women during September.

Cure Our Ovarian Cancer NZ’s founder Jane Ludemann said people taking part in the challenge during September have raised almost $14,000 for ovarian cancer. “We are so grateful to participants like Kate and her friends who kept going through lockdowns.

We don’t get any government funding so their support makes a real difference to kiwis with ovarian cancer,” she said. Ovarian cancer is the 5th most common cause of female cancer death in New Zealand, killing more women than the road toll.

The survival rate is less than half breast and prostate cancer. Cure Our Ovarian Cancer NZ is the only charity in NZ dedicated to ovarian cancer and has a crucial role in supporting women with the disease and improving survival.

They recently received an Impact Award from the World Ovarian Cancer Coalition recognising their efforts.

Oncologist Kate Gregory, Chair of the New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group says “Cure Our Ovarian Cancer NZ have done an amazing job at raising awareness of this disease. It is vital that women are more aware of the symptoms of Ovarian Cancer. Increased funding for research and treatments is essential to improve outcomes for New Zealand women.”

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