Piedmont Oncology helps Fayetteville woman battle ovarian cancer

Fayetteville, Ga. (August 31, 2026) - Two years ago, Taran Swanson was coaching volleyball at a local school, and her team was addressed by Kimberly Airhart from Harts of Teal before a fundraiser for the organization, a faith-based non-profit started by ovarian cancer survivors. Airhart talked about signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer and stated there was no test for it. Several months later, while having an unrelated hysterectomy, the doctor was on the fence about whether to remove her ovaries. Swanson remembered Airhart's words and asked the doctor to remove her ovaries as well. Her reasoning was that she was close to menopause and removing them wouldn't matter. When the pathology came back after their removal, she was stunned to find out there was a cancerous tumor on her right ovary and that she had stage 1 ovarian cancer.

"It is very unusual to detect ovarian cancer that early," Swanson said. "Partially because there is no test, but also because many of the symptoms often get attributed to other things and passed over. This tumor hadn't been detected in any of my scans prior to this procedure."

Swanson had more surgeries to make sure there were no signs of the cancer spreading. She also had six rounds of chemotherapy at the Piedmont Fayette Hospital infusion center.

"I was on the fence about having chemotherapy as well, but ovarian cancer is an aggressive cancer and I wanted to make sure it was all gone," Swanson said. "Every member of my care team, from Cyril Spann, MD, (gynecologic oncologist at Piedmont Atlanta) to the infusion center at Piedmont Fayette and the team that placed my port at Piedmont Newnan, was wonderful."

Recently, Swanson became a Harts of Teal ambassador herself to educate other women in the area and to raise awareness.

"The firsthand experience of other women saved me," Swanson said. "Hopefully my experience can save someone else."