Chat – 25 July 2019

IfonlyI’dseen

mydoctor

sooner

Toothers

reading

this:don’t

ignore

thepain

Havingchemo

O

varian-cancer

charityOvacome

usestheacronymBEAT

torememberthemain

signsofthedisease.

B

...bloatingthatis

persistentanddoes

notcomeandgo.

E

...eatingdifficulties

andfeeling

fullerquicker

A

...abdominalor

pelvicpainyou

feelmostdays

T

...toiletchanges

(bladderorbowels)

BEAT

THE SYMPTOMS

49

a doctor’s
appointment.
She took
a blood test,
referred me to a
liver specialist,
thinking that
might be
the problem.
As the
specialist took
an ultrasound
of my liver,
nothing seemed
untoward. Until...
Moving the
wand lower,
he paused.
Then his
face dropped.
‘What have you
found?’ I asked.
‘I’m going to
refer you to a
gynaecologist,’
he said.
Could this actually be
cancer? I worried.
The next week, my
gynaecologist was blunt.
‘You need a full hysterectomy
immediately,’ she said.
I tried to protest but
she insisted.
Said there was
something on my
right ovary and it
had to be now.
That was when
I knew for sure
that whatever was
going on with my
tum was nothing
to do with middle-
aged spread.
In June 2015, I
was wheeled into theatre.
When I woke up, Barrie and
I were given the news...
‘The biopsy confirmed you
have stage-3 ovarian cancer,’

the specialist explained.

Even though I’d been

expecting it, I was still

beside myself.

Ovarian cancer mainly

affects women who’ve been

through the menopause.

I thought back

to my ‘menopause

symptoms’.

My bloated

belly. Then that

nagging pain ...

It was a

warning. A

warning that I

had cancer. But I’d

never listened.

‘What’s next?’

I asked.

I started chemotherapy

every three weeks.

But the hardest thing was

telling Alfie, then 14.

‘You’re going to be OK,

right?’ he sniffed.

‘Of course,’ I smiled.

Thankfully, in

February 2016 I got

a ‘no evidence of

disease’ result.

There was an 85

per cent chance the

cancer could return,

but I was determined

to get our lives back

on track.

In April 2016,

I returned to work,

plus Barrie and

I got engaged and tied

the knot that October.

But in January 2017, we

got the news we’d dreaded.

My cancer was back.

This time, it’d spread to my

spleen and pelvic lymph nodes.

I also learnt I carried the

BRCA1 gene – making me

more vulnerable to ovarian and

breast cancer.

Another devastating blow.

I was put on more intense

chemo treatment.

For a while it kept my cancer

at bay. But this February, tests

showed signs of cancer again.

I’m still having tests, working

out a course of treatment.

None of this gets easier.

I wish I’d gone to my GP

the moment I’d felt that

nagging pain.

Or just mentioned the

inexplicable bloating. It

would’ve given me a better

chance to fight.

I’m still here, and don’t plan

on going anywhere soon.

But, if I can say one thing to

women reading this...

Don’t ignore the pain. Don’t

reason any symptoms away.

Because it might just be

something nasty.

And wouldn’t you like a

better chance to fight?