Woman beats advanced-stage ovarian cancer during COVID-19 pandemic

In January 2020, Kathy Coe, 67, of Washington, Connecticut, began to experience pelvic discomfort that became so severe she ended up going to New Milford Hospital’s Arnhold Emergency Department (ED). Her ED physician ordered a CT scan that showed a mass. The following day, Kathy’s diagnosis was confirmed; she had stage IIIB ovarian cancer.

Kathy shared the news of her diagnosis with her two sons. One of her sons is an emergency medical technician (EMT), and the other is a teacher — and both gave her good advice.

“My EMT son said, ‘Mom, you need to remember W-I-N — What’s Important Now,’” said Kathy. “He told me it’s a helpful tool in a crisis, and it has been powerful for me.”

Both of Kathy’s sons also urged her to think about how she could take care of herself by eating healthy, getting plenty of sleep, and exercising.

Taking her sons’ words to heart, Kathy decided to focus on the next part of her treatment, which would take her one step closer to getting better.

A ‘good solution’

The week after receiving her diagnosis, Kathy had several medical appointments and scheduled her surgery.

“In an incredibly short period of time, I went from knowing nothing about having cancer to preparing for surgery,” said Kathy.

After surgery, Kathy needed to have chemotherapy. Kathy intended to go to a large cancer center, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she was reluctant to travel far from home and wanted to minimize her risk of exposure to the virus as much as possible. Alexandra Chalif, a friend who does medical hypnosis at New Milford Hospital, suggested that Kathy consider the Diebold Family Cancer Center at New Milford Hospital for her chemotherapy treatment.