The State, Columbia, S.C., C. Grant Jackson Column: Novinger Takes on Her Toughest Battle Yet

By C. Grant Jackson, The State, Columbia, S.C.

Apr. 6–’God must have been smiling on you’

Cathy Novinger knows how to fight. As a lobbyist for SCANA Corp., she regularly took on state government. As a business and community leader, she has dealt with some of the area’s most contentious issues.

Now, she is in the biggest fight of her life. So far, she is winning.

Novinger was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in August. Like many women, she went to the doctor to complain about minor pain in her abdomen.

Her doctor found a 5 ½-inch mass. Novinger underwent surgery to remove the tumor, followed by radical chemotherapy.

Ovarian cancer patients typically can expect a 25 percent survival rate. Novinger’s doctors told her, “God must have been smiling on you.”

Her last scan was clear, and she is on monthly maintenance chemotherapy. “I’m hoping and assuming I’m in that 25 percent” of survivors, she said. “My hair is even growing back.”

While fighting her own battle, Novinger is reaching out to others. She wants to educate women about the dangers of ovarian cancer.

Novinger is working with Myrna Jeffcoat of Lexington, a volunteer serving as executive director of the S.C. division of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. The two are putting together a board and a May event to raise awareness.

“I just don’t want people to be uneducated like I was,” Novinger said. “So we are having a tea with corporate sponsors and trying to get the word out of what the symptoms are.”

Women know what to look for with breast cancer, Novinger said, but with ovarian cancer, many don’t have a clue.

“A pap smear will never detect ovarian cancer, and people think it does. I did,” Novinger said.

As part of her own education, Novinger discovered she is at risk for other forms of the disease. A test at the genetics department at the USC School of Medicine revealed she inherited a gene mutation from her father.

“I am up to an 85 percent risk factor for breast cancer and three times the normal risk for melanoma and pancreatic cancer,” she said.

“The good news is I know that, and I can be proactive to this dread disease rather than reactive,” she said. “I’m going to have a double mastectomy, and I’ll just deal with that.”

Novinger said her faith also has helped sustain her. She cited a passage from Ecclesiastes: “To everything there is a season.”

“I live my life by that,” she said.

Novinger’s response to her illness is what you would expect from a woman who has been involved in many of the major issues facing Columbia and the state. She has tackled utility deregulation, the transfer of the bus system from South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. to the city, and USC’s effort to build a hotel on campus. She currently is chairwoman of the S.C. Civil Justice Coalition, which has advocated tort reform and changes to workers’ compensation.

“Cathy gave the same dedication, the same commitment and enthusiasm in fighting cancer that she has done with all of the other issues and causes she has taken on over the years,” said Lee Bussell, a friend and business colleague. Bussell is the chief executive officer of Chernoff Newman in Columbia.

Bussell stepped in as interim chairman on a couple of community boards for Novinger while she underwent treatment.

He thought it would be six months to a year before she might be back. But at the second meeting of one board, Novinger was back in the chairman’s seat.

“That speaks to her tenacity and her courage and what she brings to this community,” Bussell said.

Novinger has not stood alone in her fight. By her sidehas been her husband of nearly 40 years, Bob Novinger.

He said his wife’s strongest traits are persistence balanced with patience.

“We are taking it one day at a time,” Bob Novinger said. “Our attitude is we get up each morning and are thankful for every day. Now let’s go make something of it.”

Beyond family support, Novinger has a community behind her.

“When faced with this illness, Cathy didn’t have to ask for our prayers. I think we all lifted Cathy up in our prayers.” said Louis Lynn, president of Enviro AgScience. Lynn and Novinger have served on numerous civic boards together.

About her determination to beat her cancer, Lynn said, “I sometimes say if you ever see Cathy Novinger in a fight with a bear, help the bear out. Cathy’s going to be okay.”

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Copyright (c) 2006, The State, Columbia, S.C.

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