Sorry, 4mysister, I just did not want to upset anyone about the 8 weeks.

And I an truly sorry about your sister.  You told us the type of cancer she had and how she passed away so quickly.  Is there anything else about your sister and her illness that you might wish to share with us?  Maybe it could help someone else.....thanks.

Sorry everybody, my bad. Novakof is right. I went with what my brother in-law told me about Gilda's cancer. I should have looked up the info to confirm before repeating it.
I suspect now that she didn't have the same type as my sister since she had it a few years.
Anyway, thank you for your kind words and I will back to check on all of you. :)

I am not sure what type of ovarian cancer Gilda Radner had, but it is not accurate that she only lived for 8 weeks after diagnosis.  Gilda was diagnosed in 1986.  Her cancer was quite advanced at that time.  She lived for nearly 3 years (til 1989) with tremendous courage and of course, humor!

I just finished reading Gilda Radner's book. Yes, she gave it a good fight, but even with her money and clout, she suffered through wasted months of misdiagnosis, etc. Mary V is so right! More money is desperately needed for research to find a way to detect this cancer EARLY. When I had finished reading Gilda's book, I was struck by the fact that the screening, diagnosis, surgery, etc., was just about identical to the process today. We haven't advanced very far considering the strides we have made in other cancer areas. I read about a new clinical trial for a blood test. It will combine several readings from different antibody levels in the blood, etc., to try and diagnose ovarian cancer. Wouldn't it be incredible to have a simple blood test to check for this horrific disease? We spend an exhorbitant amount of time waiting and wondering and sweating bullets between ultrasounds, CT scans, CA 125 tests, only to realize that the only accurate diagnosis rests on cutting into our bodies for the answer. Not a fantastic way to find out anything. So many women have needlessly lost their ovaries, tubes, etc., just to find out something is benign. There IS a better way, there is. Maybe we SHOULD write to Oprah. You just never know.

Katie - good idea!

I, too, am disturbed by the lack of more useful testing for ovca.  I was also disappointed that the media was more interested in reporting on the   disreputable nature of the foreign clinic that the late Coretta Scott King was visiting than focusing on her ovarian cancer.  It was, in my opinion, a great opportunity for the media to get the facts out to the public and possibly save a woman' life.

I keep writing Oprah, there is a "suggestion for show topics" place.  I said ditch the "I was a gay man for 30 days" and "Black women and white men" garbage and do a show on ovarian cancer. If we all do it...maybe the show's producers will listen.
Katie

Just in case you did not see the earlier posts: Claire's (you know the cute little jewelry store in most malls) is selling pins and bracelets for awareness of ovarian cancer.   The procedes are all going to Ovarian Cancer Research.  You know, I loved Gilda.  She was such a joy and I still use some of her phrases from her characters on SNL (back when it was good!!)  Godspeed
~Tascha

Dear Lisa,

Im very sorry that your sister had to go through that.  I thank you for posting and I encourage you to continue posting.  Your perspective can probably help many people who come visit this site.  Thank you, again.

Hi,
Gilda had a very aggressive, rare type of cancer. It was the type of cancer cells that made it this way. "Large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma". Hers as you know was ovarian. The same that took my sister. My sister passed away 6 weeks after being diagnosed. Guilda I believe passed 8 weeks after diagnosis.
The doctors rarely even have experience with this type as there are so few that have it. We tried to find cases of it to see how it was treated and we found maybe 2 people who had it at that time. One was in Texas.
Anyway, this is such a wonderful site and I really wish I had known about it during my sisters illness.
The support offered here is awesome!!!
Even though I don't normally post, I keep tabs on what's going on with all of you and have you in my thoughts and prayers.
Lisa.