Tea parties will help fight ovarian cancer

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Jennie Camp Hudgins has missed and mourned her sister for 2½ years.

She wants to do more. Starting this spring, she's creating a meaningful memorial to her sister and all other women who have experienced ovarian cancer, with an idea that should be resourceful, healthful — and even fun.

Hudgins of Northeast Richland, and her niece Elizabeth McCune of North Carolina, are helping to organize a network of Blue Hydrangea Tea Parties that will raise money for organizations that help women battle one of the most difficult cancers. Ovarian cancer is virtually impossible to screen for and often tricky to detect. It has a five-year survival rate of only 25 percent.

It killed an estimated 190 South Carolina women last year, and in 2002 it took the life of Ann McCune of Greenwood, a spirited wife, teaching assistant and mother of three — Jennie's sister and Elizabeth's mom.

"When my sister was diagnosed, like most patients, her symptoms were very vague and had to do with gastrointestinal-type problems," Hudgins said. "The emphasis was really more on her colon."

Because they might have bloating and abdominal pain, women with ovarian cancer might spend months or years in treatment for what doctors suspect are gastrointestinal ailments. When McCune was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1998, it already had spread to her colon. She endured grueling years of surgeries and rounds of chemotherapy.

"She had the most incredible spirit, and just fought until the very last moment," Hudgins said.

Hudgins, 45, and her niece, 31, felt that a fun, social event would be a fitting tribute to McCune. And they wanted to raise money that would help make a difference for other patients. One day Hudgins read a story about the potentially cancer-protective effects of tea, and the tea party idea came to her. Excitedly, she got in touch with her niece, who lives near Charlotte.

They love the brilliant blue hydrangeas that brighten summertime — and McCune loved the flowers, too. (Her home in Greenwood once belonged to a member of the Park Seed Company family and the yard was filled with flowering plants.)

They settled on a plan to organize annual Blue Hydrangea Tea Parties, all to be held on the Saturday afternoon before Mother's Day. This year, that's May 13. Hostesses are asked to invite women to socialize and to make out checks to a designated ovarian cancer organization.

"Mainly, we wanted to help local agencies, because the national agencies are a little more high-profile and these local agencies struggle," Hudgins said.

She and her niece created a Web site to promote the parties. Visit bluehydrangeateaparty.org for ideas on hosting a party. It can be as formal or as casual as you want. You can even download an invitation.

Interestingly, the first party registered on the Web site is planned in Buffalo, N.Y. One of the groups that has embraced the idea is the New York-based Gilda Radner Foundation, named for the comedian who died of ovarian cancer in 1989.

Many people know someone who has been affected by ovarian cancer, Hudgins noted. This is a way for them to do something about it.

"This is a labor of love for us," she said. "It's a way to memorialize my sister."

Blue Hydrangea Tea Parties, raising money to benefit local ovarian cancer organizations, will be held on Saturday afternoon, May 13.

Some suggested organizations are the S.C. chapter of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition and the S.C. Ovarian Cancer Foundation.

Register your party, get ideas and download an invitation at bluehydrangeateaparty.org. For info by phone: (803) 699-5534.

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