Mother Honors Daughter with Ovarian Cancer Fundraiser

In 2004, when Robin Babbini was a 17-year-old senior at West Hollywood’s , she was the kind of teenager many parents hope for.

A counselor with West Hollywood’s recreation program as a sophomore and junior, she’d blossomed in her senior year as an honor student, co-captain of the cheerleading team, homecoming queen, and active student with the school’s dramatic arts program. Her parents, Paulinda and Ron, couldn’t have been prouder.

Then Robin’s life took a devastating turn when she was diagnosed with Stage 3 ovarian cancer.

To her parents, it didn’t seem possible. Ovarian cancer is generally thought of as a disease that strikes much later, usually affecting women 55 and over, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The previous year, at 16, Robin had shown early symptoms of the disease, Paulinda said, but a gynecologist had dismissed them as “a young woman adjusting to womanhood.”

“A full year passed [from the missed diagnosis] when her symptoms became debilitating and we ended up in an emergency room,” Paulinda recalled. “Eventually a CT scan determined something was seriously wrong, possibly cancer. But ovarian cancer can only be diagnosed by surgery. And that was when it was diagnosed.”

At Stage 3, malignant cells are more likely to spread than at Stage 1, but have not yet invaded vital organs outside the pelvis, as in Stage 4.  The survival rate for some types of Stage 1 ovarian cancer can be as high as 94 percent, according to American Cancer Society statistics, and as low as low as 34 percent at Stage 3, which makes early detection so important.

For Robin, it would be an all-out fight.  With graduation looming, she underwent a total hysterectomy and began chemotherapy treatments. Still, she completed her classes, graduated high school, and enrolled at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), where she plunged into the academic life.

Six months later, symptoms of the cancer reoccurred.  Another surgery revealed that it had metastasized – spread to other areas of the body – and Robin began an endless round of rigorous treatments. Undeterred, she continued her studies, pledged a national sorority, and participated as co-captain at the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life at UCSB, where she spoke poignantly about the disease that was consuming her.

Six weeks later, on June 29, 2006, Robin Babbini lost her battle with ovarian cancer. She was 20.

But her mother wasn’t willing to let it end there. Today, Paulinda carries on her daughter’s fight through the Ovarian Cancer Circle, a nonprofit she founded last year to honor Robin’s memory and help educate others about a disease that last year struck more than 22,000 women, according to the NCI.

“The critical reasons why I started The Circle are to educate and bring awareness to the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer and raise funds for an early detection test, which does not exist at this time,” said Paulinda, who has posted symptoms of the disease on her organization’s website. “I firmly believe that if our family had known the signs and symptoms, Robin might have had a chance.”

On, March 20, to help raise funds for the organization and for UCLA’s Ovarian Cancer Stem Cell Research Department, the city of West Hollywood and the House of Blues are co-sponsoring the Ovarian Cancer Circle’s first annual “Dance to the Decades.” The event, to be held in Foundation Room from 7-10:30 p.m., will feature music, food and wine, and a silent auction. Ticket information and other details are available by clicking here.

“When I presented my passion to raise funds for ovarian cancer in Robin's memory,” said Paulinda, who still lives in the Mt. Olympus home where Robin and her brother Ehren grew up, “the West Hollywood believed co-sponsoring our event tied in with their core values.”

Other tributes to Robin include the Robin Babbini Outstanding Senior Award at Pacific Hills High, given in perpetuity to two outstanding seniors; the annual Robin Babbini Community Achievement Award honoring a member of her UCSB sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, funded by the Ovarian Cancer Circle; and an annual award given in Robin’s name by UCSB’s French Language Department to an outstanding French 3-Level student, as Robin was before she died.

For Paulinda Babbini, these awards and her own work with the Ovarian Cancer Circle keep her daughter’s spirit alive.

“Robin is my daughter who I love more than life itself,” Paulinda said. “She is my inspiration and strength to make a difference.”

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