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'I won't let ovarian cancer beat me!'
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Karen first started to notice symptoms in August 2008 - but never even considered she could have cancer: 'I noticed that while packing and lifting boxes I kept needing to go to the toilet and I had an intermittent shooting pain down my groin.'
When she spoke to her doctor she was told she had a prolapse and had an operation to fix it.
A month after the surgery, she began to feel bloated and ill. She assumed it was down to the surgery to fix the prolapse: 'I started to think that during the operation somehow my bowel had been blocked. I couldn't go to the toilet or even get out of bed. I was breathless and looked about 8 months pregnant.'
At this point, Karen was given a CT scan which revealed that she had ovarian cancer - it had spread to her bowel, stomach, diaphragm and right lung. She had 6 litres of fluid removed from her abdomen and started a 3-weekly cycle of 4 rounds of chemotherapy. She then had a hysterectomy and had her omentum removed. After this operation she had 2 more rounds of chemotherapy - and was told she was in remission on September 22 2009.
Be aware of the symptoms
Karen thinks it's vital for all women to know the symptoms of ovarian cancer. When she first started experiencing them, she had no idea that they could point to cancer.'There was a catalogue of events that hid the fact that I was ill. I totally believed the later symptoms were caused by my prolapse. I put the pain in the groin down to lifting boxes. But I think if I'd been aware of the symptoms of ovarian cancer I would've said to the doctor "I've got every single one of those."'
Karen would encourage anyone experiencing the symptoms of ovarian cancer to keep going back to the doctor: 'I'd say keep being a nuisance to the doctor - or if you can afford it, get a private CA 125 blood test. Or just keep driving your doctor mad. That blood test is key.' (The CA 125 blood test is the test carried out for ovarian cancer).
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Linda, posted 5 months ago
It is great news for Karen that she beat ovarian cancer. Sorry to hear your sad news Linda but keep thinking positively as you say you are here for a reason. My sister in law lost the fight purely due to being misdiagnosed. She had all sorts of tests from blood tests through to scans and nothing was picked up until a Harley Street surgeon felt her tummy. I recently found an article in a newspaper about a new early detection test for ovarian cancer that is only available privately. I know if this had been around when my sister in law was alive and that she had known about the symptoms of ovarian cancer she would have taken the test. They claim it has a 94% accuracy rate in women with symptoms so I took a look at www.ovplex.co.uk and it looks pretty good. The BEAT campaign is a great idea this month as it is highlighting the symptoms of ovarian cancer as many of us aren't aware what they are which is why we wouldn't ever think of asking our doctor if we have ovarian cancer and from what I have read even if we did most of the doctors wouldn't know the symptoms either. Let's spread the word and save lives.
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Linda Harris, posted 6 months ago
Ovarian cancer is known here as the silent killer. Mine was picked up when scans were done of my ovaries when I was having heavy bleading during menopause. It is a year this month after I finished 6 lots of chemotheropy after I had a hysterectomry. I was not told it was cancer until the operation was done and was in denial for months after. There is not much support here after the operation, it is mainly for women after breast cancer operations. There is more support for women in the capital cities. As well as dealing with the cancer I have been sacked from my job and am going through separation where I needed to go to a councilor. There must be a reason why I am still here and I have business plans for the future.
