Jan, 65 years

It’s a big surprise, when, three years after being diagnosed with breast cancer, another cancer appears! This cannot be true! Not me - I’ve done everything ‘right’- good food, exercise, meditation, focusing on the many wonderful things in life. No - it’s a wrong diagnosis; they’ve made a mistake! But it was true! It was another primary, which I’m told is ‘good’, and this time it was ovarian cancer.

Its discovery was by sheer chance. Having the Leiden 5 blood clot gene has caused several blood clots and on one occasion an ultrasound confirmed one in my leg. At the same time, my elbow was red and sore so an x-ray was ordered. Just for fun, the radiographer ran the ultrasound instrument over my elbow, revealing, to her surprise, a clot from the upper arm to the elbow! Surprise, surprise! Many tests later an abdominal growth was found.

I was eventually referred to a gynaecological oncologist, who believed it was a matter of urgency to be hospitalised and undergo surgery - thanks to Tom Jobling! The tumour was removed, along with other bits and pieces and ovarian cancer was confirmed. My other half had wondered for a while why my stomach looked bloated and also felt I’d lacked energy for some time. Vague symptoms, but this diagnosis could have been the reason!

When chemo was suggested I was upset - it did NOT appeal to me at all, since experiences during breast cancer treatment were not good. After heaps of soul searching and considering many alternatives, I made the decision to go ahead, believing it was the right course of action for me.

Consequently, Cisplatin was administered for six months, which was challenging and not at all pleasant. GCSF was also given, as neutropenia is another existing condition. A very trying time, for all of my family and I. I was like a rag doll a lot of the time!

It took a while to get back to previous energy levels, but ten years later what can I say? The experience has certainly had an impact. From my perspective, it has challenged priorities and confirmed my belief that there is an internal strength from which to draw. It has heightened my awareness of the wonderful, amazing things in life, there’s optimism and there’s also an urgency to follow dreams, as life may not be as long as we’d figured!

I’m one of the lucky ones. Many fellow sufferers may not be so fortunate.

It would be fantastic if research could reveal an accurate means of testing for this insidious cancer. Eventually we also hope that a more effective form of treatment will be found for this disease. The Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation needs all the help it can muster to enable it to achieve these objectives.

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