Posted 09/24/2006

Columbia community, Arnold School support cancer survivor's courageous five year struggle

An uphill struggle with cancer has defined Olga Ogoussan’s life for most of the past five years, uniquely qualifying her to talk about what it means to be a survivor.

That struggle also is why she wants to help an increasing number of other survivors who are faced with the emotional, physical and practical challenges of living with cancer.

Answering a call from the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Ogoussan and about 1,000 others will gather Oct. 27-29 at the inaugural Livestrong Summit in Austin, TX to raise awareness and respond to the needs of cancer survivors.

Ogoussan’s battle with cancer hasn’t been on the world stage as Armstrong’s, but it is just as powerful in its own way.

Ogoussan, a physician and a native of Benin, West Africa, was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2001. The news came just three weeks after she arrived alone at the University of South Carolina with a fellowship to study at the Arnold School of Public Health.

It was a low point in Ogoussan’s life. “In Benin, if you get cancer, you die,” she said.

What she wasn’t prepared for was an outpouring of love from her colleagues at the Arnold School and a group of new friends in Columbia. They raised $15,000 to bring her husband, Kisito, also a physician, and her two young sons to Columbia where she was recovering from a mastectomy.

For the next two years, her husband took care of the boys and worked odd jobs while Ogoussan went to school.  He also learned enough English to apply to the Arnold School and later earn  tuition assistance toward a master’s degree.

Ogoussan received her master’s of public health in December 2003. At that time her husband was one class and one major project short of his own degree.

Unfortunately the couple’s visa was about to lapse, and even though they had applied for an extension, the Immigration and Naturalization Service ruled they had to return home.

Thanks in part to the support of the Arnold School, some friends, and her country’s government; the couple was allowed back into the U.S. a month later when Olga began work on her doctorate. Things were looking up. Kisito finished his masters in August 2004 and began work as a public health researcher.

But, in September 2004, Ogoussan discovered to her dismay that cancer had returned to her lungs. Her doctors at South Carolina Oncology Associates immediately put her on a chemotherapy regimen that so far has kept the cancer from spreading.

In 2005 doctors found spots on Ogoussan’s brain.  Doctors, at Richland Memorial Hospital, were able to neutralize the tumors with Gamma Knife surgery, a non-invasive procedure that focuses radiation with scalpel-like precision. “Thank God for medical technology,” she said.

Ogoussan believes God was behind the decision to put her in South Carolina and creating for her a wide circle of friends, a dedicated medical team and a chance to help others through her example.

“I’ve been so blessed. Sometimes I’m so tired and I just want to stop. These people didn’t know me, but they’ve loved me so much. And when I see that I know there is a God and He’s taking care of me. When I see that, I can’t give up,” she said.

Ogoussan says that among the things she’s doing as a survivor is spreading the word about a statewide program for the uninsured that helps treat breast and cervical cancer

South Carolina is one of 13 states to offer coverage under the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act.  The program has treated hundreds of women since it began in 2001. 

Jeff Strensland, spokesman for the S.C. Department of Health and Human Services, said  201 women were treated under the program in 2005 and 582 so far in 2006.

The program was limited to women 47-64, diagnosed through the Best Chance Network. Beginning July 2005, the program was expended to any woman under 65 without health coverage.

“It is important that the word gets out about this new criteria because inability to face treatment costs makes some women postpone diagnosis giving time for the cancer to get worse,” Ogoussan said.

Ogoussan’s support of the program is entirely selfless because as a foreign national, she’s not qualified to receive benefits.

Thinking ahead to the Livestrong Summit, Ogoussan says among other things survivors should:

•   work to improve their lifestyles through nutrition and physical activity,

•   help raise money in support of cancer research,

•   advocate for public support of procedures that can detect cancer at an early stage,

•   talk publicly about challenges and what survivors can do to better help themselves.

Ogoussan hopes to finish work on her doctorate in 2008, focusing on women’s health and chronic diseases. What happens then is an open question. Her original plans were to return to Benin and work in the public health sector of the government.

How her cancer responds to treatment will determine in large part what the future holds.  “You don’t always get what you want,” she says.

In the meantime, Ogoussan is focusing on the different roles that fate has cast for her as wife, mother, student and cancer survivor.

For more information:

•  Livestrong Summit Home Page