CINCINNATI — A mother of three is in the hospital after discovering the unthinkable during a routine procedure. Now, she's getting ready for the fight of her life.
Myra Smith, 36, had been feeling pain and discomfort for about one month.
"She just wasn't feeling well, and she just kept going back because she wasn't getting any answers," said Jasmine Smith, her sister.
Her father, Kevin Smith, said he told her to keep going back if she felt like something was wrong. Her instincts were right.
"Took a look around in her stomach area, and that's when they discovered the tumor," Jasmine Smith said.
Doctors diagnosed Smith with metastatic ovarian cancer. It spread to her liver and lungs. The phlebotomist at Mercy Jewish Hospital is now at The Christ Hospital, where she's getting ready to undergo chemotherapy and possibly more surgery to try and shrink that cancer that has since spread to her internal organs.
"Doctor said it's pretty serious and obviously they're going to handle it aggressively," Kevin Smith said. "The first day she was born, she had pneumonia and she had a 50-50 chance of making it, and I know she will — she's strong, but at the same time it scares me terribly."
Her father said Smith has spent her entire life caring for others. She plays the role of both mother and father for her three daughters. She had to stop working because she was feeling sick and having trouble breathing.
"Myra's life has been nothing but about her kids and trying to do the best that she can for them," said Kevin Smith, her father.
Her cousin, Dee Dee Brown, said the family will continue to fight and pray, hoping she will get through the difficult time and return to normal life.
For a woman who they describe as selfless, Smith's family is asking others to do something she would never ask, and that's help her during the fight of her life. Smith's sister Jasmine set up a GoFundMe to help pay for her medical expenses, as well as help raise her three daughters, since Myra hasn't been able to work due to her hospital stay.
Can't imagine what Myra Smith is thinking and feeling. Single mother of three, 36 years old, who works countless hours each week, and she just found out she has an advanced form of ovarian cancer. She's in for the fight of her life. Her family is asking for your help. @WCPO 11pm. pic.twitter.com/7nUdcHDh7H
— Bret Buganski (@Bret_Buganski) October 6, 2022
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