Liz Dubois is the Honorary Patient of the 2025 Seacoast Cancer 5K.
Liz Dubois was exhausted and her back ached constantly. As a full-time teacher, wife and mom to a pre-teen daughter, she chalked it up to the demands of everyday life—what working parent didn’t feel that way? For two years, Liz dismissed the signs as the ordinary fatigue of juggling it all. Even when she spent two summers mostly sleeping while her daughter was away at camp, she assumed she just needed rest and to get more exercise to strengthen her back. The symptoms felt random and arbitrary, and never serious enough to warrant a doctor’s visit.
It wasn’t until a trip to Italy with friends that that Liz realized something started to feel off in a way she couldn’t ignore. She was exhausted, irritable and doubled over in stomach pain. She blamed the gluten-heavy meals and the whirlwind pace of travel, hoping it would pass. But when she got home, the discomfort lingered. Her primary care doctor suspected she had a urinary tract infection and prescribed Liz antibiotics. When they failed to ease her pain, Liz went back – only to leave without answers. She felt dismissed and afraid something deeper was being missed.
When Liz returned to the doctor for a third time, the pain was unbearable. Desperate for answers, she saw a nurse practitioner who performed a scan and suspected fibroids. In August 2023, Liz was scheduled for surgery and hoped relief was finally within reach. But when she woke up, the news was far worse than she had imagined. There were no fibroids—only two large tumors on her ovaries. Liz was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
“Medicine is science and science is tricky,” says Liz. “Ovarian cancer is especially hard to diagnose. There aren’t regular screenings like there are for breast or cervical cancer, and by the time they figure it out, it’s often advanced.”
From the moment Liz was diagnosed, she was in treatment. Four rounds of chemotherapy followed by surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She describes the care she received at Mass General as nothing short of extraordinary. “There aren’t words to explain how ‘held’ I felt by that team of nurses, staff and surgeons,” she says. “I didn’t have a worry in the world.”
But cancer is relentless. It returned, bringing more uncertainty and more rounds of chemo.
Through it all, Liz remained remarkably resilient. “I never thought of death,” she says. Instead, she leaned into the love and support of her close-knit circle—her husband, Rene, her daughter, Eva, her brother, Phil and her amazing group of friends. “I wouldn’t say cancer is a gift, necessarily,” Liz reflects. “But my hugs are tighter, stronger, and longer, and I always tell people how much I love them. That part is a gift.”
Her unwavering positivity has made her a beloved presence at the Mass General Cancer Center (MGCC) at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, where she continues her treatment. For 12 rounds of chemotherapy, Liz arrived dressed as 12 different strong women—Barbie (with her brother as Ken), Wonder Woman, Cat Woman, and even Taylor Swift, complete with friendship bracelets for the staff. If you wanted to join Liz for chemo, you had to dress up. Rene once handed out chocolate footballs dressed as Travis Kelce (see some of Liz’s costumes below).
“It’s not poking fun at cancer,” Liz says. “It’s saying—I’m strong. I’m invincible.”
For Liz, the Mass General Cancer Center at Wentworth-Douglass feels like stepping into an episode of the beloved 80’s sitcom, Cheers – where everybody knows her name. “You go in hoping they’ll keep you alive,” Liz says. “And they become like a second family.” From Cheryl at reception to Amy, her mental health counselor to her oncologist, Dinesh Atwal, MD, every person she encountered was not only professional but made her feel truly seen, heard and cared for. “They didn’t just treat my cancer,” Liz says. “They treated me.”
Liz first heard about the Seacoast Cancer 5K during one of her chemo treatments. Inspired by the energy and community surrounding the event, she showed up last year dressed as Barbie to cheer on Eva and Rene, who both ran the race. And because Liz was in costume, so was Rene, who ran the race dressed like Allan, Ken’s quirky sidekick. This year, Eva and Rene will run again (sans costumes), while Liz cheers them on from a yoga retreat in Italy.
“Until you’re diagnosed, you don’t realize how many people are affected by cancer,” she says. “Seeing the staff run the race after working so hard at the center—it gives you a whole new level of respect for them and the work that they do. The Seacoast Cancer 5K is truly a celebration of their work, of life and hope. It’s a beautiful experience.”
Cancer isn’t a journey, according to Liz – it’s simply her life now. She is an active member of Turning the Tide—a community of ovarian cancer survivors in Massachusetts who meet monthly over zoom and share stories, ask questions and offer support to one another. Liz wants to be a source of comfort, connection and support for newly diagnosed women and those living with ovarian cancer in the Seacoast.
“Ovarian cancer doesn’t get the same level of attention and regular screenings that other female cancers do,” she says. “So, it can sometimes be a lonely experience, but it doesn’t have to be, and I want to help change that.”
Liz completed her last round of chemotherapy in April 2025. She is currently awaiting test results and continuing treatment. But she’s still dressing up. Still strong. Still invincible.
And yes – she’s already planning her next costume.
