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"Women need other women. Or at least I do. When I&amp;#039;m feeling blue or joyous or perimenopausal, I immediately pick up the phone and call Harriet, my best friend, who after 30 years, knows me almost better than I know myself. I couldn&amp;#039;t write a word without my other best friend and fellow writer, Jane, with whom I share some of my deepest thoughts. And my life would not be the same without my &amp;quot;Reading Group,&amp;quot; a close-knit group of six women who first met years ago when we were in graduate school, and now, though scattered across the country, still meet to parse and discuss our lives with the same skill and care we once devoted to literary works.  Say what you will about husbands and boyfriends being best friends, I go to Steve when I want a solution to a problem\u2013\u2013and he has been right 100% of the time\u2013\u2013but I turn to my female friends when I want comfort and hand holding.  For my mother, that comfort comes from her best friend, Kelley, 58, her confidant and more-than-sister for almost three decades, who now is battling stage IV ovarian cancer. As you may know, the warning signs of ovarian cancer are often subtle: abdominal bloating or fullness, pelvic pain, changes in urination, painful intercourse, menstrual irregularities, low back pain, and decreased energy, among others. These symptoms can mimic bladder or intestinal disorders, or even be confused with menopausal changes. There&amp;#039;s no screening, like an annual pap smear, for this deadly disease. And ovarian cancer is usually diagnosed at advanced stages. My mother has been there for each of Kelley&amp;#039;s multiple surgeries; she&amp;#039;s flown back and forth thousands of miles to hold her hand during many rounds of chemo; and in the last 5 years since Kelley was first diagnosed, she&amp;#039;s taken on the role of health care advocate, researching the best doctors and treatments, faxing medical records, and calling cancer specialists around the country to try to save her friend&amp;#039;s life. She&amp;#039;s still trying. Because good women friends are irreplaceable. Because how many people can you call, and say, &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s me,&amp;quot; and she&amp;#039;ll know instantly, from those two syllables and the tone of your voice, how you really are? So today&amp;#039;s blog is dedicated to Kelley and all those women who make our lives incalculably richer. My prayers are with you. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/a45091/the-company-of-women-2359/>