A Radiant Hope.
What were you doing the day before Thanksgiving?
Maybe you were prepping the turkey, cleaning, baking a dessert, or playing games with your family.
Me? I was sitting in the Watson Clinic Urgent Care, praying I didn’t have appendicitis and desperately hoping to avoid surgery. I’ve never had surgery before—not even for wisdom teeth! My ideal outcome was a simple diagnosis, a prescription, and heading home to finish Thanksgiving prep with Kyle and Peyton, maybe squeezing in a round of Uno Attack.
But life had other plans.
An Unexpected Diagnosis
Routine bloodwork and a CT scan revealed that I did not have appendicitis (yay!), but what I did have was an 11 cm mass attached to my right ovary. And then came the words that changed everything:
“Stage 3 ovarian cancer, and it looks to be spreading.”
The urgent care doctor handed me a packet and urged me to go straight to the emergency room at LRH to be admitted for immediate surgery. I drove home in silence. How do you begin to say those words to your husband? How do you tell him that life as you both knew it was about to shift in a way neither of you had planned for?
But God knew.
A Cancer That’s…Extra
I have Stage 3 ovarian cancer—specifically, small cell carcinoma, hypercalcemic type. A rare and aggressive cancer that my surgeon admitted there is no standard treatment plan for. My oncologist at Moffitt, who has been in the field for over 25 years, has only seen two cases like mine.
Because, of course, I can’t just have normal cancer. My cancer had to be extra!
So, here I am—facing a medical guessing game. My team is crafting a chemotherapy plan, searching for the right cocktail to fight a tumor that “barely exists” in their research.
And yet, even in this uncertainty, I feel overwhelming peace.
Radiating Light in the Darkness
Through every appointment, Surgery + recovery,, every tough conversation, God’s presence has been undeniable. His fingerprints are all over my journey. I don’t know what’s ahead, but I do know this: I am covered in His mercy, love, and companionship.
I wanted to share this update with you—my clients, my friends—because you are all part of my story. Rose + Swan Co. is still here, still creating, still thriving. Because even in the midst of this storm, I choose to bloom.
So, as I walk this road—one that is rare, uncertain, and at times, daunting—I do so with hope. A radiant hope. Because God is good. Because He goes before me.
because even in the face of cancer, His light will always shine through.
— With love + strength,
Meaghan Woehlert
