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Gabriele Mayer is more than the “face” for ovarian cancer awareness, she’s the voice of hope
02.28.08 Dear friends,
I am so sorry I have such bad news: I need to cancel my trips to Japan and to Germany for this year. I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer on Monday this week. Tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 29, I will have an operation in Denver at Swedish Hospital, then we’ll see how bad it is. I am hopeful it is not too bad, but please keep me in your thoughts. I will write again next week to tell you all about it.
Love, Gabriele
Following that bombshell email to her friends, Gabriele Mayer began her battle with ovarian cancer.
Over the next six months, the Mesa State College English and German professor emailed friends about the physical and emotional struggles that come with chemotherapy side effects and with facing your own mortality.
Mayer’s honest writing is sometimes painful to read. But her ebullient personality also enlivens her emails with jokes about her “chemo buzz” and “mega whopper” medications, about cheering for Germany in the UEFA Cup European Soccer Championship.
Reporter Amy Hamilton wrote about Mayer here. But you also can hear from Mayer herself, by downloading from the story a PDF of her personal emails.
By letting us tell her story, Mayer agreed to be the “face” for ovarian cancer awareness. But through her writing, she is the voice, the heart and the fighting soul.
Thank you and danke, Gabriele. Continued joy in your recovery.
Comments
By Kevin
September 6, 2008 11:46 AM | Link to this
Here’s hoping to a speedy recover for you, Frau Mayer. I’m sure you’ll be back on your feet soon, hopefully just in time for the holiday season so you can bust out your Adventskalender!