Jodie Shagrin Kavensky set out 16 years ago to raise awareness of ovarian cancer, a disease that claimed the lives of her mother and aunt.
“To me, getting on top of a mountain and shouting as loud as I can to help whoever is willing to listen was really what I was after,” she said.
Well, they listened. And they learned. And they volunteered. And they donated.
And as Ms. Kavensky prepares to retire from her position as executive director of the Rock Island-based NormaLeah Ovarian Cancer Initiative, she can see the impact the organization has made:
- Raising more than $1.3 million to help tens of thousands of women and families facing a cancer diagnosis.
- Creating “homegrown” initiatives to address knowledge gaps about ovarian cancer and seeing them being embraced by health care professionals.
- Sending out more than a half million “BEAT the BIG O” symptom cards to educate women on the symptoms of ovarian cancer.
- Taking her message to a national stage.
Just as important to Ms. Kavensky are the hugs, the hand-holding, the shared tears, the medical victories, and the connections with ovarian cancer patients and their families.
The organization is named after her mother, Norma Yecies Shagrin, who died in 2008, and her aunt, Leah Yecies Hantman, who died in 1998.
Ms. Kavensky remembers her mother coming home from a luncheon about women’s cancer, frustrated that ovarian cancer was never mentioned. “And she said, ‘Please be our voice,’” she recalled.
“Seeing how she was pushed off from doctor to doctor, there was no support system for her,” Ms. Kavensky said. “There was very little online. This was in 2001.”
While there have been advancements in research and in treatments for ovarian cancer in the 16 years since NormaLeah was founded, the work on the detection side is slower, she said. Many of the symptoms of ovarian cancer — abdominal bloating/swelling, pain/pressure in the pelvic area and changes in appetite/bowel functions — mimic less-threatening medical conditions.
And by the time many women seek treatment, ovarian cancer has already reached an advanced stage. It is considered the deadliest of the gynecologic cancers, according to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance.
That’s why Ms. Kavensky is so passionate about educating women to know their bodies and to seek medical advice when they detect changes, and why the “BEAT the Big O” cards — with adhesive strips to attach to bathroom mirrors — are sent free of charge to anyone who requests them.
She has also expanded her focus to include all gynecologic cancers.
“There’s a big knowledge gap when it comes to gynecologic cancers,” she said. “I just think we could help more people, especially locally.”
Ms. Kavensky, with a background in advertising and public relations, is equally comfortable speaking to national groups as she is overseeing the details of a NormaLeah fundraiser. Back in September, she was busy working to make sure everything was just right at the registration table for the inaugural “Making Strides Together: Gynecologic Cancer Awareness” event.
“I’m kind of a jack of all trades,” she said. “I’m not afraid of very many things. You do what you got to do to get things done.”
Paula Sands, longtime Quad-Cities news broadcaster and up until her retirement in December, host of her own daily show, describes Ms. Kavensky as “a force.”
“She is a dynamo,” Ms. Sands told the QCBJ. “When Jodie has a goal, it’s going to be achieved. I’ve seen her in many different settings. She has a way of getting doors to open.”
The relationship between the two women is personal and professional. They met shortly after Ms. Sands announced on air in 2011 that she was undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer.
“I had barely heard about that type of cancer,” Ms. Sands said. “I was clueless about it and really shocked and stunned. Right away, I met Jodie and she told me about the (NormaLeah) initiative. I saw her as an ally, a sister.”
The two women worked together on the organization’s first fundraiser. Ms. Sands provided the media presence that put NormaLeah in the spotlight, and for that, Ms. Kavensky is grateful.
“Our relationship with Paula Sands was really the impetus to get our first community service programs started,” Ms. Kavensky said. “She’s just been really a godsend to this organization because she was able to help us send our message far and wide.”
Ms. Kavensky says she has been working toward retirement since her husband, Craig Kavensky, died in 2019 of lung cancer.
“We had a plan at 65 to both retire, and then he passed away,” she said. Then followed COVID-19 and a period of working from home while keeping the many NormaLeah programs going.
“I was very fortunate to have NormaLeah to throw my energies into,” she said. “I really was. It kept me going.”
A new executive director, Allison Kilfoy, has been named as Ms. Kavensky transitions out of the top leadership position.
At 67, Ms. Kavensky is looking forward to spending more time with her daughters, Elisse, 34, a doctor in Delray Beach, Florida, and Mia, 30, an actor in New York City. A Caribbean cruise with her cousins is planned, and a book is in the works. She also would like to hit the speaker’s circuit.
“If I could speak to some of these health care professionals, they’re going to be more likely to help their patients.”
And, yes, she will continue to volunteer for the organization that was the fulfillment of a promise she made to her mother.
