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Monday, September 10, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Ovarian cancer patient forms organization to warn, inform women about deadly disease

Crispin Morrison said she's come a long way since she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at age 37.

"It's a funny thing, but I've worked through the ups and downs and the depression and the fear and the panic and have come to a very peaceful place with it," said Morrison, now 40. "I think that what I'm doing with OCAN is my way of making the world a better place, and it's very important to me."

OCAN is the Ovarian Cancer Alliance of Nevada, which Morrison founded to educate other people about this quiet killer.

"When I got diagnosed and came to Las Vegas, of course I wanted to know everything about ovarian cancer," said Morrison, who had worked in Seattle as an assistant support administrator for a computer network. "I wanted to know treatment options and meet other women who were going through surgery and chemo.

"I was just desperate for information and I could really not find anything other than national organizations. I wanted something local. I wanted to look someone in the face and see the person and let them see me. I needed that contact and there was just nothing here."

Her own fear was fresh.

"Initially I was extremely depressed," she said. "I was terrified. I really thought I was going to die within six months."

Then it struck her: "I might not die within six months to a year; I might have a few years. How are you going to spend that time?"

She had an epiphany.

"The time had to be spent educating women about the symptoms of ovarian cancer, hoping I might prevent this happening to other women."

Morrison kept at her new project between surgeries and chemo.

"I've worked on this thing literally night and day," she said. "I feel like I've made a lot of progress."

She obtained nonprofit status, created a brochure and contacted all of the oncologists she could find in Nevada.

"I'm just endlessly writing letters, making phone calls, asking groups and organizations if they'd like to have a speaker," she said. "Just literally anything I can do."

She finds there's a lot of ignorance out there.

"People are shocked to find out that when they go to their gynecologist, they're not being tested for ovarian cancer," she said. "They assume they're being tested for all GYN cancers."

And, she said, there's a misconception the disease strikes only older women.

"The average age is 50," Morrison said. "She's being robbed of 30 years of her life. That misconception needs to be dispelled."

During September, which is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, Morrison is visiting local golf courses to pass out teal ribbons for cancer awareness, and cards listing the symptoms of ovarian cancer. Golfers on the Ladies Professional Golfers Association tour are wearing teal ribbons while on tour this month to help raise awareness.

For more information on ovarian cancer or to ask Morrison to address your organization, contact OCAN at 796-0430, or visit its Web site at www.ocan.org.

Or call the American Cancer Society at 798-6877. The society is a wealth of information and has access to counseling groups and support groups, and has programs that provide wigs to women who have lost their hair to chemotherapy or teach them how to take better care of their skin while they're going through chemotherapy and radiation.

The work is important to Morrison.

"This disease kills women so fast," she said. "They don't have a chance to get involved doing any advocacy work. I'm very fortunate that I have the time and energy and resources to do this. Financially I'm able to do it as well. There are a lot of women who would not be in that position."