A Chaplain’s Ovarian Cancer Journey

For more than two decades, Lisa Deckert has served others through Franciscan Health Indianapolis’ Spiritual Care team. In 2021, Lisa found herself on the other side of the hospital bed, facing an unexpected ovarian cancer diagnosis that would change her life.

Years later, Lisa now shares her personal journey, her faith and what compassionate care truly meant to her as both a chaplain and a patient.

Lisa’s Role As a Chaplain

Lisa is ordained in the American Baptist Church and has served in ministry for 35 years, 21 of those years with Franciscan Health as a chaplain.

“Spiritual Care Services is the spirit piece of the mind, body, spirit vision that we have here at Franciscan,” Lisa explained. “We meet patients wherever they are. Our goal is not to proselytize or evangelize, but to extend love and care to all people and explore with them what brings meaning to their lives and how that meaning can promote a healthier well-being during illness, loss and times of uncertainty.”

The Spiritual Care department offers holistic spiritual and emotional care through non-judgmental listening presence, assisting with advanced directives, providing devotional resources, facilitating faith practices and religious rituals, blessing babies and supporting patients, families and staff across all inpatient units.

Outside of ministry, Lisa lives in Indianapolis with her spouse, Pat, and enjoys time with family, friends, and her faith community, going to the local theater, fine dining, walking trails around the city as well as the scenic path on Franciscan Health’s campus.

Following Intuition When Something Felt Off

Lisa’s journey with cancer began in 2021 after noticing a lump in her groin. She quickly acted on it by scheduling a visit with her nurse practitioner, who scheduled her for a CT scan after feeling a mass. What initially appeared to be uterine fibroids quickly turned into a far more serious discovery during surgery.

“Dr. Ayeni came out to my family about an hour into surgery and said, ‘We are not looking at uterine fibroids. This looks like ovarian cancer,’” Lisa recalled.

Her surgery became far more extensive than expected, eventually the medical team brought in a colorectal surgeon.

“They were doing not only the radical hysterectomy, but as well as colon resection, an appendectomy and ablated some places on my diaphragm,” Lisa said. “So, it was a little more extensive than what we had anticipated.”

Lisa remembers waking up and sensing immediately that something had changed.

“My spouse said, ‘It went okay, but it's different than what we thought,’” she said.

Soon, she learned her diagnosis was stage three ovarian cancer. The uncertainty was overwhelming, but she leaned into her support system.

Finding Strength in Faith

“I had an incredible support system with my family, my friends, my faith community, and this Franciscan community embraced me wholeheartedly,” Lisa said.

Lisa was in recovery for about four weeks, that was followed by six months of chemotherapy. Though difficult, Lisa completed treatment and returned to work full time, only to face a recurrence in 2024 that required additional surgery to remove diseased lymph nodes and 25 rounds of radiation.

“The entire cancer care clinical team and support staff are just phenomenal,” she said. “The compassionate care and the genuine interest in people really shone through every time. I always knew that as an employee of the hospital, but it was a different experience as a patient.”

A Chaplain Who Became a Patient

For Lisa, stepping into the patient role was one of the hardest transitions.

“My natural inclination is to go see how other patients are doing, but I found myself sitting having my own infusion,” she said. “Eventually, I embraced it and said that my full-time job was to just take care of my health and well-being so I could get back to what I loved.”

In her time of need, other employees ministered to her.

“They ministered to me in ways that I was completely overwhelmed,” Lisa said. “It was one of the most comforting experiences of my life.”

Lisa credits her faith as a cornerstone of her strength and said cancer deepened her empathy and appreciation for life.

“I don’t take life for granted; this really awakened me to that even more,” she said. “I’ve truly tried to embrace life more fully.”

Recommending Franciscan Health to Others Facing Cancer

“There is the clinical piece of any health crisis, but also the compassion and the spiritual pieces that really makes the experience feel stronger and more supported,” she said.

Lisa also says leaning on your clinical team and leaning on whatever gives your life meaning and purpose is important.

“Embrace the process and move forward with hope in your heart for better days,” she said.

Now Lisa is in what she describes as a good place with appointments every six months.

“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only option,” she said.