Woman diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer won’t let wedding wait

A Wisconsin couple were getting all of the wedding preparations done, but something wasn’t right. Caroline Ward wasn’t feeling well and was feeling pain in her lower abdomen.

After going to the hospital, she found out she had stage 4 ovarian cancer, just months before her fall wedding to Ben Olsen.

"[Doctors] went in and found out I have a huge tumor on my left ovary, and on my uterus, that's blocking my colon," she told WBAY.

They found the tumor on Aug. 4. The couple then decided they weren't waiting for the original date of their wedding which was set for Sept. 29 in near Atlanta, WBAY reported.

They moved the date up and decided say their vows closer to home. Not only was the decision to get married now a romantic matter for the couple, who have been together since 2012 and engaged since 2016. It was also a practical one.

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"We knew we were going to plan on doing it anyways, we might as well do it here and while I have a medical need to have somebody be able to sign for me," Ward told WBAY. "I wanted my fiance and my rock to be a person who could sign for me and help make decisions for me."

The hospital rushed in to help get Ward and Olsen married, putting the ceremony together in 48 hours, complete with the “something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue” donated by the nursing staff.

They adapted where they needed to.

"We didn't have an aisle runner, so we came up with the idea of just bed sheets, because we're in a hospital and why not, " Kayla Wiesman, who works at Bellin Health, told WBAY.

Now, the newly married Caroline Olsen will begin chemotherapy this week and will still walk down the aisle at their planned ceremony. She said she has a wedding dress fitting this weekend.

"This wedding that I just had was really special, and I'm hoping to have an equally as special fall wedding at the end of September with friends and family," Caroline Olsen told WBAY. "I may be short a little hair, but there's lots of cool things you can do."

Credit: Takmeomeo/Pixabay

Credit: Takmeomeo/Pixabay

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