Lexi Mestas of Mobile, Alabama, was diagnosed with stage 3C low-grade serous ovarian cancer in 2021 at the age of 27.
She’d had bloating, abdominal pain, frequent urination, and changes in her bowel habits for many years.
“I was like any other 27-year-old, focused on my career and hopeful to one day have a family,” she said. “But my daily life was plagued with unexplained and misdiagnosed ongoing pain. This pain disrupted my sleep, work life, social life, and everything in between. For years, I was brushed off by doctors and given simple solutions and explanations that still didn’t resolve my pain.”
Her pain became so severe that she began vomiting uncontrollably and went to the emergency room. “From there, many tests were performed and I had emergency surgery to drain ovarian cysts,” she said. “Six days later, I was diagnosed with low-grade serous ovarian cancer.”
She had a full hysterectomy, removal of her spleen, appendix and scraping of her bladder flap and wall, followed by six rounds of chemotherapy. Since then, she has pivoted from a career in public health to raising awareness and fundraising for low-grade serous ovarian cancer.
“There are so many challenging things about this diagnosis – physically, mentally, emotionally. Infertility, fatigue, anxiety around treatments, recurrences, and death. Every day, this diagnosis is with you. But you find the good where you can. I adopted an emotional support dog, Val and I’ve spent some amazing moments with my family.”
“I’ve met so many amazing people going through this diagnosis and it’s given me a purpose in life that I’ve never felt before.”
“Low-grade serous carcinoma only receives the tiniest portion of all funding for ovarian cancer research,” she said. “The young people diagnosed with this cancer are desperate for the hope to live a long life. Your donations make such a difference. We can’t do this without you.”
