High School sweethearts fight cancer that ‘spread like dandelion seeds in the wind’

When Donna Monroe was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, her husband did what he always did, he remained by her side.

By TJ Banes, IU Health Senior Journalist, tfender1@iuhealth.org

There was the stomach pain. That’s what prompted Donna Monroe, 56, to visit her family doctor. It wasn’t a typical pain that led her to a gastrologist. She had a colonoscopy and was advised to add more water and fiber to her diet. She added exercise, but still the pain persisted. She was on vacation with her husband, Jack, when the pain was so bad she visited another doctor. A CT scan followed showing Monroe’s gallbladder needed removed.

On Oct. 4, 2024, Monroe went in for what she thought would be a routine surgery to remove her gallbladder. Instead, surgeons discovered a mass in the fatty part of her stomach. They determined that ovarian cancer had spread from her left ovary. Shortly after, Monroe became a patient of IU Health Simon Cancer Center’s Dr. Zenas Chang who specializes in gynecological oncology.

Ovarian Cancer forms in tissues of the ovary. Monroe underwent chemotherapy treatments between October and December followed by a full hysterectomy.

As she described the cancer, she said it spread like “dandelion seeds scattering in the wind.” A hysterectomy was an option to rid her body of the unwanted cells. It was the first surgery of her life. During her treatment and recovery, Monroe and her husband stayed at Fair Haven, a housing option that provides free apartments at downtown locations close to the IU Health campus. It was the best option for the couple who had been together since their first meeting at Jennings County High School, North Vernon, Ind.

Donna was a freshman and Jack was a junior.

“We grew up in the grade school together and we were neighborhood kids, but he went to a private school and then in high school he came to a homecoming dance,” said Donna. They started talking on the phone because Donna wasn’t old enough to date. Before long they were a couple and were married in 1986 in the front yard of Jack’s parent’s home. They are the parents of a daughter and son and have five grandchildren.

As Donna recuperated from surgery, she said she’s getting stronger every day and looks forward to traveling and fishing with her husband. The last part of her career was spent working for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources at Crosley Fish and Wildlife in Jennings County.

“My care at IU Health has been amazing. I was just telling a family member how you meet a nurse, and they don’t know you from Adam and yet they just keep asking what they can do for you,” said Monroe. “Dr. Chang treated me like I was his only patient.

“Being an hour and a half from home, it was a blessing to have a safe place to stay close to the hospital,” said Monroe. “The people at Fair Haven are so kind. I can’t wait to feel well enough to go back and visit them.”