Litchfield Park lights up teal for Ovarian Cancer Awareness

Every teal light, every social media message and every proclamation, including yours, helps someone recognize symptoms earlier.”

Rachel Sackett Putman

Even the palm trees will don teal in Litchfield Park for the city's third annual recognition of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

The palm trees will be lit teal throughout September after the city proclaimed the month Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month during the Aug. 12 City Council meeting.

Rachel Sackett Putman, an ovarian cancer survivor and advocate who has requested the proclamation the past three years, said it is more than symbolic.

“Every teal light, every social media message and every proclamation, including yours, helps someone recognize symptoms earlier,” Putman told the council during the meeting. “It truly saves lives and honors those women lost far too soon.”

Mayor Thomas Schoaf read the proclamation at the meeting, citing estimates that about 21,010 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year and 12,450 will die from the disease, including 510 new cases and 330 deaths in Arizona.

The proclamation called ovarian cancer “the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death among women in the United States” and noted that many women are diagnosed in later stages because symptoms are vague and there is no reliable early detection test.

"We appreciate that you came to us and usked us to recognize this month," Schoaf said to Putman. "We hope the best for you and for all those who have Ovarian Cancer."

Putman thanked the mayor and council for their continued support.

“Arizona is where I built my adult life, my marriage, my career and my survivorship,” she said. “So receiving this proclamation from the city of Litchfield Park is so deeply meaningful.”

Putman was diagnosed six years ago at age 38 with low-grade serous ovarian cancer, a rare subtype she described as a chronic disease with an 85% recurrence rate.

She is also a breast cancer survivor, but said much of her advocacy centers on ovarian cancer because of its outcomes and lack of awareness.

“I was blindsided by it,” Putman said. “It was not on my radar at all. And I can tell you that most women diagnosed, they are completely blindsided by it.”

The disease changed the course of her life, she said, including taking away her ability to have biological children.

“It really changed the complete trajectory of my life,” Putman said. “If I can help people and bring awareness to this, that’s what’s important.”

Putman began seeking proclamations in 2021 after receiving one in New Jersey, where she grew up. Last year, she secured about 80 proclamations across New Jersey, Arizona and one in Florida.

This year, her goal is more than 100.