Jade Williams

It’s been a year since Jade Williams discovered she had ovarian cancer.

Over the past months, Williams, ARNP, AGPCNP-BC — a gerontology primary care nurse practitioner at Van Diest Medical Center — has faced the challenges of her diagnosis with remarkable resilience and courage.

Williams was diagnosed with stage 1c2 clear cell ovarian cancer, a particularly rare and aggressive form of the disease. Despite being at an earlier stage, her treatment regimen was comparable to what is typically prescribed for more advanced stages of cancer.

Ovarian cancer often presents symptoms such as pain, bloating, constipation, frequent urination, and eating difficulties which can easily be overlooked or mistaken for other issues. For Williams, many of these symptoms were initially attributed to running injuries or stress from her fitness routine. However, an ultrasound, uterine biopsy and blood tests revealed the true cause of her discomfort.

She underwent a surgery to remove an ovarian mass.

A second surgery involved a total hysterectomy and removing her right ovary and fallopian tube. A layer of tissue on top of the intestines was also removed.

Her first chemotherapy treatment was at the end of January with the second scheduled for mid-February. She had a significant reaction to the placement of her port and to the chemo. She was premedicated with a steroid and a histamine blocker to try to dampen the reaction, but that didn’t seem to work.

“We had literally every medication that they could offer to dampen the effects of the chemo treatment. There were high dose steroids, Pepcid — that’s a really good immune suppressant. There were several drugs they used in the IV,” she said. “I’d also have a cocktail with all the drugs they were using in the IV,” she said. Ativan added to the mix allowed her to relax and sleep through most of the treatment.

Williams said the second round of chemo went smoothly.

But in the days that followed, waves of fatigue and exhaustion washed over her, making even simple tasks exceedingly difficult.

“They kind of try to prepare you for that, but this was unlike anything I had ever experienced,” she said. “You are just at this level of fatigue that you can’t really explain. You just can’t move; you want to sit down or fall asleep.”

After the third round of chemotherapy, a routine scan revealed that her absolute neutrophil count (ANC), an important measure of the body’s ability to fight infection, was dangerously low. Her doctors discussed options for managing her treatment, including potentially postponing the next round if her ANC remained low.

She consulted with her oncologist and together they decided she should take some time to let her body rebound from the treatment and hopefully see improvement in her labs.

Williams visited the Joan and Richard Stark Infusion Center at VDMC, where she would have an injection the day after treatment. The injection was designed to stimulate cell production in her bone marrow.

“I have to say, it’s a lot different to get this treatment in a small-town hospital. It was quiet, I had warm blankets, and they would dim the lights for me,” she said. “It was literally a five-star treatment.”

Williams gets emotional when she talks about how her mother, Denise Burgin, helped her in the days that followed each of the chemo treatments.

“The day after treatments, my mom would come over and help us get through that day. I couldn’t take care of my kids, and that’s the hardest part,” she shared. “She would take the kids that night and I would be bedridden for several days after from the fatigue and nausea. I don’t know why my symptoms were so terrible.”

The side effects got worse with each round of treatment. It could be up to a week before Williams would begin to feel better.

“You’d start to feel better, a little more like yourself, maybe for a day or two, and then the next thing you know, it was time for another treatment,” she said.

Her final treatment fell on her husband Ryan’s birthday, May 22.

“He got to spend that day with me at the cancer center,” she said. They did get to celebrate with a dinner out at a local restaurant with family members.

And now she waits to see the outcome of how the chemo has affected her cancer.

In the meantime, Williams has tried to return to a semblance of normalcy, including a family vacation to Florida.

“I don’t think we anticipated how tired and exhausted we would be after almost a year of all this,” she said. “It took a few days to finally relax, but it was still fun and a chance to disconnect and be in a vacation state of mind.”

Williams, an athlete and runner, missed her regular workouts and began reintroducing exercise during her vacation with resistance bands. She has since progressed to light weights and machine exercises, taking care not to overexert herself as she continues to recover.

As she continues to rebuild her strength and stamina, the nurse practitioner is getting back to work on a limited basis, seeing patients at Van Diest Family Health Clinic as well as patients in the hospital. She initially started off doing telehealth visits, but now has returned to seeing her patients in person.

She is also getting into the swing of her daughters’ dance lessons and competitions.

“As grim and dark as chemo was, we always had dance. It was a wonderful thing for all of us,” she said. The family traveled with daughter Finley as she performed in competitions. “That was a really good outlet for all of us.”

She has high praise for all the instructors and parents at The Dance Connection.

“They are a wonderful team — so supportive. The moms would check in to see if they could help with anything. I didn’t want Finley to miss out,” she said, adding, “And I didn’t want to miss out either.”

At this year’s dance recital, Williams noticed all the dancers were wearing little ribbons on their shirts.

“I had no idea what it was for … but it was for me,” she said. “I don’t even know if Finley or Halston knew. Just the thought that they took the time to do something for me … it was extremely amazing. I can’t ever repay them for something so kind.”

She added that she is glad her girls will have that memory forever.

“The sense of community is immense in this town,” Williams said. “I am so grateful.”

For more of Jade’s story, visit vandiestmc.org/registration/radio-page or listen to the Focus on Health podcast on your favorite podcast streaming app.