This article was originally published on wapt.com.
Hundreds of people hopped on stationary bikes Thursday to raise money for ovarian cancer research.
Newk’s Cares and St. Dominic Hospital teamed for the third annual Ovarian Cycle event at The Club at the Township.
Lori Newcomb, the cofounder of Newk’s Cares, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in early 2013.
“It was one of the scariest things I have ever had to deal with in my life,” Newcomb said. “I thought to myself, ‘I’m not going to make it. I don’t know what it’s like. I’ve never talked to anyone who is an ovarian cancer survivor.’ But once I started walking down that path, I realized that there is hope.”
According to the American Cancer Society, one in every 75 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. About 20,000 will find out they have it this year, and more than 10,000 will die from the disease.
Newcomb’s doctor, Paul Seago, said he thinks the most important part of the 5-hour fundraising event is raising awareness about the early symptoms of ovarian cancer.
“They are vague. It’s abdominal pain, bloating, weight gain. The waist gets bigger while you are trying to lose weight,” Seago said. “If people have something that’s just not going away, that’s when they need to seek care of their doctor.”
More than $160,000 was raised this year, which surpasses last year’s total of about $120,000.
“The great thing about so many cancer patients like this, the Newcombs have taken adversity and are using that for the positive,” Seago said.
“You can survive it,” Newcomb said. “It is a hard path, but you definitely can survive ovarian cancer.”