‘Taking Time to Be Alone’: ‘90 Day Fiancé’ Star Liz Woods, 33, Who’s Already Battling Stomach Cancer, Says Latest Scans Found Ovarian Cancer, Now the Mom of One Prepares for a Hysterectomy

Reality TV star Liz Woods, 33, says her first thought was of her daughter after a routine doctor’s visit revealed signs of ovarian cancer — a heartbreaking update she shared alongside a black‑and‑white photo of the two walking on a beach.

“reminiscing in this moment – it’s heartbreaking to announce the doctors found another cancerous mass on my ovaries,” Woods said.

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Ovarian cancer often begins in the fallopian tubes, where rogue cells migrate to the ovaries and form tumors. This diagnosis makes for Woods’ second in recent years.

“There’s different kinds of ovarian cancer that affect women in different decades of life. The most common type of ovarian cancer, however, typically occurs around the time of the menopause,” Dr. Beth Karlan, a gynecologic oncologist at UCLA Medical Center, told SurvivorNet.

In December 2024, Woods went public with her stomach cancer diagnosis on an Instagram story when she addressed comments about her sudden weight loss. During the early days of that cancer journey – that’s still ongoing – she focused on getting better so she could continue being the best mom she could be to her then pre-teen daughter at the time.

 

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“My body has been through depression, which made me gain an uncontrollable amount of weight, treated me well during my own weight loss journey, and then endured 14 rounds of chemo,” Woods said.

Now, in the face of a new diagnosis, Woods is mentally preparing for more treatment in the form of a hysterectomy.

A hysterectomy is a procedure that removes part or all of the uterus (or womb), often along with the cervix, according to the National Cancer Institute. Women who receive a diagnosis of uterine, ovarian, and cervical cancer may have their cancer treated with a hysterectomy.

Women may need a hysterectomy for a variety of reasons, and she and her doctor carefully review. Some examples may include endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, endometriosis, chronic pelvic pain or vaginal bleeding, and uterine fibroids.

WATCH: Surgery Decision-Making for Ovarian Cancer

In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, Dr. Heidi Gray, a gynecologic oncologist, discussed open versus robotic surgery and how the two can be used to perform a hysterectomy.

“The most common procedure that we do robotically would be a hysterectomy, removal of the tubes and ovaries, you can also do more complicated omentectomy, removing the omentum [a fatty apron surrounding abdominal organs],” Dr. Gray explained.

The National Cancer Institute explains that there are different types of hysterectomy procedures.

• Total hysterectomy: Removal of the uterus and cervix, but the ovaries and fallopian tubes may also be removed.
• Supracervical hysterectomy: Removal of just the upper part of the uterus, but keeping the cervix. This may also be called a partial hysterectomy.
• Total hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy: Removing the uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes (salpingectomy), and ovaries (oophorectomy).
• Radical hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy: Removing the uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes, ovaries, the upper portion of the vagina, and some surrounding tissue and lymph nodes. This hysterectomy is done when cancer is involved.

 

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Woods says she’s “taking this time to be alone with the ones closest to [her].”

If you are facing a cancer diagnosis, your emotions are likely to run high, which is completely normal. Psychiatrist Dr. Lori Plutchik says emotions are often fluid when coping with a diagnosis.

“The patient or person going through the stressful event should accept that emotions will be fluid. You may feel fine one day and then feel a massive wave of stress the next. It’s also important for those you look to for support, whether that’s a therapist, friends, and family, or both, to understand the fluidity of stress-related emotions,” Dr. Plutchik said.

WATCH: How to cope with complex and changing emotions.

If a stressful event affects how you think and feel, it may be time to seek mental health treatment. This could mean traditional talk therapy, medication, changing lifestyle habits (like exercise and diet), seeking a support group, or many other approaches.

SurvivorNet experts suggest women needing a little extra help coping with a breast cancer diagnosis.

• Let your family and close friends know, and let them help. So many cancer survivors tell us they want and need support, but are often too preoccupied to make specific requests. Urge those close to you to jump in with whatever practical help they can offer.
• Keep a journal. It can be extremely cathartic to let those feelings loose on paper. Grab a pen and a nice journal and chronicle your thoughts throughout the day.
• Join a cancer support group. Groups in nearly every community offer opportunities to connect with others going through a similar journey. You’ll learn constructive insight from others who can tell you what to expect and how to stay strong on tough days.
• Consider seeing a therapist. Ask your doctor to refer you to a therapist so you can discuss your fears and concerns in a safe space. Often, vocalizing your thoughts and feelings rather than internalizing them can provide relief.

Understanding an Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis

Ovarian cancer has been called the “cancer that whispers” because women often don’t experience symptoms until their cancer has already reached its late stages. The symptoms that do appear at first are hard to identify as cancer.

“Ovarian cancer does not have any specific symptoms,” Dr. Karlan explained.

The symptoms of ovarian cancer may include the following, according to SurvivorNet experts.

• A feeling of bloating or fullness
• Pain in the pelvis or abdomen
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Changes in bowel habits

WATCH: Fighting “Platinum Resistant” Ovarian Cancer

On the horizon is a treatment option for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Platinum resistance is typically defined as progression within 6 months of receiving platinum-based chemotherapy. The Phase III ENGOT‑ov65/KEYNOTE‑B96 trial has shown great promise for this difficult-to-treat form of ovarian cancer, exploring adding immunotherapy, where the patient’s own immune cells are reengineered to fight cancer, to chemotherapy.

Dr. Premal Thaker, a gynecologic oncologist at Washington University, recalls, “We all know, checkpoint inhibitors have made a big splash in many cancers, and we have been trying so hard in ovarian cancer to try to use these immune checkpoint inhibitors…”

For patients whose tumors had a PD-L1 (a protein on the surface of some cancer cells) CPS combined positive score (measuring how much PD-L1 a tumor expresses) of 1 or higher, treatment with pembrolizumab helped them go longer without cancer progression. Their median progression-free survival was 8.3 months compared with 7.2 months for those who received a placebo, a difference that was statistically meaningful.

Dr. Robert Coleman, a gynecologic Oncologist at Texas Oncology in Houston, remarks, “We saw no new adverse events outside our expectations, nor did we see an acceleration of adverse events with the combination, including the triplet.”

Dr. Coleman explains, “In the platinum-resistant setting, I believe these will be favored regimens, so as a second-line therapy…Ultimately, cross-trial comparisons will drive some of the influence of those trials and the sequencing of therapy. This will likely be further augmented by biomarker expression, which we expect to be more robust as time goes on.”

With regard to how this treatment may fit in with other systemic options, such as antibody drug conjugates, Dr. Dana Chase, a professor of gynecologic oncology at UCLA Health, explains, “The sequencing of the treatment is really dependent on the patient’s tumor biomarker profile.  We will need to take into consideration:  1) biomarker profile, 2) prior toxicities, 3) patient’s performance status, and/or goals of care/treatment.  Depending on these three factors, we may either treat with an ADC first or choose options like the B96 option first.”

Dr. Chase adds that, “The sequencing of the treatment is really dependent on the patient’s tumor biomarker profile.  We will need to take into consideration:  biomarker profile, prior toxicities, patient’s performance status, and goals of treatment.”  Depending on those three factors, doctors can best decide which treatment to pursue first.”

The Standard of Care for Ovarian Cancer

The standard of care for ovarian cancer patients is chemotherapy, which helps many patients reach remission.

WATCH: How your ovarian cancer responds to certain types of chemotherapies guides your future treatments.

With recurrence a strong possibility for this disease, especially in the later stages of ovarian cancer, certain drug treatments to deal with it are giving many women hope.

Maintenance therapy is continued treatment after the patient finishes their initial treatment. After an ovarian cancer patient completes a round of treatments — such as surgery and chemotherapy — her doctor may recommend some form of maintenance therapy to try and delay possible recurrence. Maintenance therapy can involve taking an oral pill called a PARP inhibitor every day after chemotherapy and can keep cancer in remission longer.

Genetic testing helps doctors determine the best maintenance therapy.

The type of treatment recommended for recurrence can depend on several factors:

• The period within which the cancer recurred
• The kind of chemotherapy the woman underwent in the past
• Side effects that came as a result of past treatments
• The length of time between the last treatment the woman underwent and the recurrence
• The specific mutations and molecular features of your cancer

What’s the Standard of Care for Ovarian Cancer Recurrence?

Ovarian cancer returning after initial treatment is common; in fact, recurrence happens in “almost 25 percent of cases with early-stage diseases and in more than 80 percent with more advanced stages,” according to research published in the Gland Surgery medical journal.

For many women, platinum-based chemotherapy—often the first line of defense—remains effective across multiple cycles. But over time, cancer cells may adapt, and resistance can emerge after just one round or several.

Platinum Sensitivity vs. Resistance: What It Means for Treatment

• Platinum Sensitive: If a patient remains cancer-free for more than six months after platinum therapy, they’re considered platinum sensitive. This signals that the cancer is still responding, and doctors may continue using platinum-based drugs.
• Platinum Resistant: If recurrence occurs within six months, the cancer is classified as platinum resistant. In these cases, oncologists typically shift to alternative therapies tailored to overcome resistance.

Adjusting Chemotherapy Strategies

• Taxol (Paclitaxel): Commonly paired with platinum in initial treatment. For platinum-resistant patients, doctors may increase its frequency—administering it weekly instead of every three weeks.
• Other Options: Drugs like Gemzar (gemcitabine), Topotecan, and Doxil (liposomal doxorubicin) are often introduced, sometimes alongside Avastin (bevacizumab).

How Avastin Works

Avastin is a VEGF inhibitor that blocks angiogenesis—the process by which tumors grow new blood vessels. By cutting off this supply, Avastin helps starve the tumor and slow its progression. It’s frequently combined with chemotherapy in recurrent cases.

Targeting DNA Repair: Platinum & PARP Inhibitors

• Platinum drugs and PARP inhibitors share a powerful mechanism: they disrupt a cancer cell’s ability to repair damaged DNA. This is especially effective in patients with BRCA mutations, whose cells already have impaired DNA repair pathways.
• PARP Inhibitors: Initially tested in BRCA-positive patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, these drugs are now used more broadly. Emerging evidence shows they can extend survival even in patients without BRCA mutations.
  Genetic Testing: Oncologists strongly recommend BRCA testing for all ovarian cancer patients. Knowing your genetic profile helps guide treatment and opens doors to targeted therapies.

Questions for Your Doctor

If you have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and need guidance to further educate yourself on the disease and treatment, consider these questions for your doctor.

• What type of ovarian cancer do I have?
• What stage is my cancer in?
• Do you recommend I get genetic testing for any gene mutations, such as the BRCA gene mutation?
• What initial treatment options do you recommend?
• What are the possible side effects of the recommended treatment, and how can they be coped with?
• Will insurance help cover my recommended treatment?

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