Diem Brown blogs about cancer, wanting kids

Diem Brown, who gained fame as a cancer-stricken contender on MTV's "Real World/Road Rules Challenge" in 2006, Thursday began blogging about her cancer's recent recurrence, and about the risky procedure she faces to preserve the possibility of having children.

Brown, who is again combating ovarian cancer, will have her remaining ovary removed in a few weeks, reported People magazine, on whose website she blogs. First, however, she is undergoing hormone therapy to stimulate production of eggs that she hopes to harvest and freeze.

"I believe I am one of the first current ovarian cancer patients to try egg freezing," she wrote. "The effects of the fertility hormone shots on the ovarian cancer cells are unknown, but I told my doctor I'm OK with being a case study because for science to progress, case studies have to take place to help advance the technologies."

Brown, 30, who works as a Los Angeles reporter for the British TV channel Sky Living, has tweeted she is undergoing treatment under the supervision of Dr. Jamie Grifo, program director of the New York University Fertility Center.

"As of [Wednesday] I am on day seven of my shots," she blogged Thursday. "My latest results show that my estrogen levels are increasing and egg follicles are beginning to form. This is good news because it means that my ovary was not traumatized by my last surgery so I am on track for successful egg retrieval!"

She will learn within days, she wrote, "when I can have egg retrieval surgery and also an estimate of how many eggs the doctor thinks he might be able to extract. . . . I am scared about my ovarian cancer journey, but I know everything happens for a reason."

Brown received her first cancer diagnosis in September 2005 after being selected for season 12 of the MTV reality competition.

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