Robin Wyatt had always enjoyed good health. A wife and a mother of two, she was working as an admissions director at Enterprise-Ozark Community College, a job that she loved, and she and husband Jim were enjoying life in the small town of Ozark, Alabama.

In October 2000, Robin experienced what doctors initially thought was a bladder infection. When antibiotics didn't make her feel better, her local gynecologist, Jim Pollard, M.D., examined her and felt a mass in her abdomen. He immediately sent her to Dale Medical Center, where a CT scan confirmed that something was seriously wrong: She had ovarian cancer.

Dr. Pollard immediately referred her to UAB. "I'm so glad that I was referred to UAB immediately so I could have access to everything offered there," Robin says. "I never realized how important being treated at a major research center could be. I was able to participate in trials and to be on the cutting edge of ovarian cancer treatment." She decided she wanted the most aggressive care possible. The following Tuesday, just four days after her diagnosis, Mack Barnes, M.D., co-director of the Multidisciplinary Ovarian Cancer Clinic, performed surgery to remove her tumors. The surgery was followed by chemotherapy.

Robin tolerated the treatment well and in April 2001 her cancer was declared to be in remission. She agreed to participate in a clinical trial to examine the possible prevention benefits of additional treatments using the drug Taxol. Throughout her entire treatment and the clinical trial, she continued to work and kept a journal of her experiences to help her cope with the uncertainties of treatment and recovery.

"The emotional part of this disease is what is most difficult for me," Robin says. "About 18 months after the surgery, I began to have some significant emotional problems, even though my coworkers thought I was doing great. I knew that I wanted to be as healthy as I could be both physically and emotionally, and so I began to see Dr. John Shuster," a UAB psychiatrist.

Finding ways to cope with her emotions, such as the journal, seeing Dr. Shuster, and her large support network of family and friends, helped Robin deal with a recurrence in August 2004. She again had surgery and chemotherapy at UAB-this time intraperitoneal chemotherapy, in which drugs are delivered directly into the abdomen. In February 2005 she was declared to be in remission once again.

Retired as of October 2005, Robin now stays busy working at a part-time job at a gift shop in her hometown, participating in activities in her community, and spending time with her family. Recently she and Jim traveled to Italy with two friends from high school.

Robin says that cancer hasn't fundamentally changed who she is, but it has inspired her to continue to enjoy each day. "According to Jimmy, it has just made me want to get up and go even more."

- Adapted from Crossroads, the magazine of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, Josh Till