Submitted by Lynn Stahl
Lynn Stahl and Lynn Franklin, both Watchung residents, are volunteers for Kaleidoscope of Hope Ovarian Cancer Foundation. On behalf of ovarian cancer awareness, they decorated the area around Watchung Lake with teal bows and ribbons, as teal is the color of ovarian cancer awareness and September was national Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Visit the Mountain Boulevard bench with teal ribbons blowing in the breeze and gaze upon Watchung Lake. This new bench was dedicated to a beloved wife who passed from ovarian cancer. The donor has chosen to remain anonymous.
In the din of the early morning or the late evening feel the serenity and hear the silence of the lake and its surroundings. Hear also the silence of ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer was once considered a “silent” disease, but research has shown there are early warning signs of this disease. Stop and rest at this bench or walk around Watchung Lake and take an ovarian cancer symptom card from the teal ribbons which surround the lake.
Unfortunately, there is no early detection test for ovarian cancer. Therefore, it is important for women to know the symptoms, which include pelvic or abdominal pain or discomfort; vague, but persistent gastrointestinal upset, such as gas, nausea and indigestion; frequency and/or urgency of urination in the absence of an infection; unexplained changes in bowel habits; unexplained weight gain or loss, particularly weight gain in the stomach; ongoing fatigue; and any abnormal postmenopausal bleeding. If any of these are new symptoms for a woman and last for two weeks or more, it is important to go to your gynecologist and let him/her know and get checked for ovarian cancer.
Lynn Stahl (center) and Lynn Franklin (right) receiving Proclamation Declaring September as Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in Somerset County from Somerset County Freeholder Mark Caliguire.
(above l-r) Lynn Stahl and Lynn Franklin of Watchung, volunteers for Kaleidoscope of Hope Ovarian Cancer Foundation with newly dedicated bench at Watchung Lake.
