Ovarian Cancer is a priority for an RAF Wittering officer who is working with a leading charity to alert those at risk of the disease.
Wing Commander Debs Wright commands 85 Expeditionary Logistics Wing and discovered she was carrying a faulty version of the BRCA2 gene only ten days after her wedding last year. The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes usually protect against cancers, but when mutations occur they become key risk factors in breast and ovarian cancer.
Image By: Cpl Paul Robertshaw
Wing Commander Wright said: “Learning all this was a huge shock. I was at a higher risk of something I now knew to be extremely serious. But my counsellor was amazing. I felt supported, I was never rushed and she was always at the other end of the phone.”
The normal risk of developing ovarian cancer is around two percent, whilst carriers of the ‘Angelina Jolie Genes’ have a risk between ten and twenty-five percent. Debs chose to have preventative surgery and her ovaries and fallopian tubes were removed at Addenbrookes hospital.
Wing Commander Wright is a competing triathlete and maintains an impressive level of personal fitness. This fitness is one of the factors to which she attributes the speed of her recovery after the operation.
Image By: Supplied Image
Debs said: “The NHS were brilliant, my genetic counsellor and the staff at Addenbrookes hospital were absolutely superb. As soon as I met the team at Addenbrookes I knew I wanted my operation to be done there. They said afterwards that if you can keep yourself fit, it makes a real difference to your recovery. After surgery I was moving around within a few days which was brilliant!”
Although surgery has reduced the risk of ovarian cancer, it took away any possibility that she could have children and triggered an early menopause.
Wing Commander Wright said: “I was in my mid-40s and although I’d recently got married, we’d decided not to have children. For the first few days after the operation, I felt like another person, but I am taking HRT now and my fitness is nearly back to normal.”
Although her life won’t be the same again, Debs feels that she is one of the lucky ones and said: “My life has changed, but I’m still able to work and keep fit. My husband and my family have been incredible and my colleagues in the RAF have been so supportive, but it is not that way for everyone.”
Debs is working with a charity called Target Ovarian Cancer, the UK’s leading ovarian cancer charity. The charity works to improve early diagnosis, fund life saving research and provide much-needed support to women with ovarian cancer. It was a decision that came easily.
Image By: SAC Kim Waterson
In addition to submitting her own case study for Target Ovarian Cancer to use, Debs is planning some fundraising events including and afternoon tea and a sponsored park run.
Wing Commander Wright concluded: “The more I found out about ovarian cancer, the more I was alarmed and needed to act, to do something to reduce my risk and to tell others. Knowing that there’s a community out there for me was really powerful for me.”
Anyone who is interested in joining the fight against ovarian cancer can find out more by visiting the Target Ovarian Cancer website.
