Understanding Ovarian Cancer
- “The Voice” singer Virginia Lillye, 54, has been battling stage 3 ovarian cancer since last summer and recently took to a stage to sing, for the first time in a year, in honor of her mom’s 80th birthday. She shared a video of her performance on social media a few weeks ago.
- Ovarian cancer has been called the “cancer that whispers” because women often don’t experience symptoms until their cancer has already reached its late stages. The symptoms that do appear at first are hard to identify as cancer.
- “Ovarian cancer does not have any specific symptoms,” Dr. Beth Karlan, a gynecologic oncologist at UCLA Medical Center, told SurvivorNet.
- Last month Lillye, who revealed she has a few more round of chemo left, has undergone multiple rounds of chemotherapy and a full hysterectomy.
Lillye, donning a sparkly black dress and a shaved hairstyle as she lost her hair amid chemo, she sang alongside a guitarist and another singer to perform Meatloaf’s iconic song “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth.”
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“Thank you @peter_northcote and @Brydon Stace for the gentle push of confidence. I absolutely loved it and can not wait to sing with you both again,” she concluded.
Lillye appeared to be beaming with joy and dancing throughout most of the performance, something we’re delighted to see as she’s been through multiple rounds of chemotherapy and underwent a full hysterectomy to fight off cancer.
A hysterectomy is a procedure that removes part or all of the uterus (or womb), often along with the cervix, according to the National Cancer Institute. Women who receive a diagnosis of uterine, ovarian, and cervical cancer may have their cancer treated with a hysterectomy.
The professional vocalist, who resides in Sydney, Australia, revealed in another Instagram post last month that she’s nearing her “halfway point” in her cancer journey.
She wrote in a celebratory post, “My CA125 level is now sitting at a non cancerous reading of 19. If it maintains this level or lower for a further 3 readings, I’ve conquered it… again. Just another 3 rounds to go friends.”
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Lillye—who has performed alongside famous rockstars, including Poison’s Richie Kotzen and Guns ‘N’ Roses’ Gilby Clarke, as per Daily Mail Australia—has a lot to be thankful for amid her mom becoming an octogenarian on May 20 and her cancer journey.
In another recent post, she shared some sweet photos of her and her mom, writing, “Happy 80th birthday to the most incredible woman I know, my mum.
“Growing up in Bondi with a father of Irish heritage and a mother of American blood, she was drawn to the lights of the stage, the sound that the ebony and ivory keys made and the joy of being creative through dance. She studied hard and became a scholar of the London College of Music and started teaching piano as a young teenager. With her passion for musical theatre and the arts, she appeared in many shows and landed many roles in various productions. She went on to direct and choreograph shows such as ‘Grease’, ‘West Side Story’, ‘Annie Get Your Gun’, ‘Oklahoma’, ‘George M’ and many more.”
Her captioned continued, “Being a single mother, she took my brother and I to every rehearsal which would often see us going to bed much later than our school friends. We loved it and enjoyed the array of wonderful characters she associated with.
“She was also a showgirl, performing in feathers and heels in various club shows around Sydney. She’d head off with her tanned body and false lashes in the evening and then would adjudicate Scottish dancing eisteddfods on a Sunday morning. Versatility is what drives her! Her music studio, which is at home, was always and still is, full of students. The amount of people that have revolved through Mums front door is mind boggling.”
Helping Patients Understand Treatment Options For Ovarian Cancer
- A Targeted Ovarian Cancer Treatment– The Role of Avastin (Bevacizumab)
- Advances in Ovarian Cancer Treatment
- Chemo or Surgery: Deciding The Order For Ovarian Cancer Treatment
- An Extraordinary New Treatment Option for Ovarian Cancer: PARP Inhibitors
- Clinical Trials Give Ovarian Cancer Patients Access to New Treatments
- Coping with Hair Loss During Ovarian Cancer Treatment
- Genetic Testing Can Help Guide Ovarian Cancer Treatment Decisions
- ‘An Important Step Forward’: New Drug Combo Shows Promise For The Treatment of Some Ovarian Cancer
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Virginia Lillye’s Cancer Journey
In the summer of 2023, Lillye’s fans noticed she wasn’t sharing photos or video clips from her shows as frequently as she once did. And the reason was due to her being diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer.
“You may have noticed the absence of posts related to gigs and shows,” Lillye wrote in an Instagram post at the time.
WATCH: Treating ovarian cancer.
Ovarian cancer has been called the “cancer that whispers” because women often don’t experience symptoms until their cancer has already reached its late stages. The symptoms that do appear at first are hard to identify as cancer.
“Ovarian cancer does not have any specific symptoms,” Dr. Beth Karlan, a gynecologic oncologist at UCLA Medical Center, told SurvivorNet.
The symptoms of ovarian cancer may include the following, according to SurvivorNet experts.
- A feeling of bloating or fullness
- Pain in the pelvis or abdomen
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Changes in bowel habits
Amid treatment, which included multiple rounds of chemotherapy and a full hysterectomy, Lillye experienced hair loss. However, she remained in high spirits with her husband and loved ones’ support.
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On Feb. 13 of this year, Lillye proudly announced, “So.. it’s with great pleasure to let you all know that I am officially and clinically in remission… I am cancer free!
“Thank each and everyone of you for your tremendous outpour of love, support, wishes and prayers. I could not have continued through without you all.
We did it!!! It’s time to celebrate!!!!!”
Lillye has since been raising awareness for ovarian cancer, and on May 7, World Ovarian Cancer Day, she wrote alongside a photo of herself, “Ovarian cancer currently receives less than 0.7% of the Australian government’s medical research funding, yet the World Ovarian Cancer Coalition estimates that if nothing changes, there will be an 81% increase in ovarian cancer incidence in our region by 2050.”
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How Ovarian Cancer Is Treated
If your doctor diagnoses you with ovarian cancer, you might be referred to a gynecologic oncologist. The following treatments are available for ovarian cancer:
Surgery Then Chemotherapy, or Vice-Versa
Surgery and chemotherapy both factor into treatment for most women with ovarian cancer. The only variation is the sequence in which women get them, according to SurvivorNet’s experts.
Should you get surgery first, or chemotherapy? Gynecologic oncologist Dr. John Nakayama outlines your options.
Several factors go into deciding what kind of treatment is best, depending on the type and stage of ovarian cancer, your age, and whether you are planning to have children in the future. Surgery is usually the first treatment recommended, with chemotherapy afterward to get rid of any cancer that may have been left behind. The other option is to have chemotherapy first, called neoadjuvant chemotherapy, to shrink the tumor so that it’s easier to remove surgically.
If a doctor is confident that he or she can remove the ovarian tumor completely without initial cycles of chemotherapy, they will go ahead with a surgical procedure. Doctors who are not confident they can perform successful surgical tumor removal will go with chemotherapy initially, then proceed with surgery once tumors have shrunk.
How Turning to Music Can Help Cancer Patients
Although Virginia Lillye said she hadn’t been singing during while fighting cancer over the past year, it’s important to point out that creating and listening to music can be a powerful tool amid cancer. Most people have felt the positive effects of a musical experience, but fewer people know there is actually science to back it up.
“Just listening to music activates more brain regions simultaneously than any other human activity,” Dr. Alexander Pantelyat, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins, previously told SurvivorNet.
New Evidence About The Healing Power of Music
A study published last year in the journal Parkinson’s Disease researched the effects music had on the brain. It found music can help reduce anxiety for patients. Dr. Serap Bastepe-Gray, who co-founded the Johns Hopkins Center for Music and Medicine with Dr. Pantelyat, led the study.
“The guitar, which is portable, affordable, and one of the most popular instruments in the U.S., has potential as a motivational therapeutic tool both in the clinical and community settings,” Dr. Bastepe-Gray said.
Music therapy is a resource cancer patients turn to during treatment. Music therapy includes “creating, singing, moving, listening and/or relaxing” to the sounds of your favorite songs according to the National Cancer Institute. This form of therapy can help relieve depression, stress, anxiety, and pain.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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