Dr Siobhan O‘Sullivan
Dr Siobhan O’Sullivan was an Associate Professor of Social Policy and Research at UNSW Sydney. Her research was focused, among other things, on animal welfare policy and the welfare state. She authored ‘Animals, Equality and Democracy’ and co-authored ‘Getting Welfare to Work’. Her latest co-authored book, ‘Buying and Selling the Poor’ was published with Sydney University Press.
Unfortunately, Dr Siobhan O'Sullivan passed away in mid-June 2023 after living with ovarian cancer for three years.
Siobhan used her role as an OCRF Ambassador to be a fierce advocate for future generations of women and girls, determined to help give them a better chance of survival than she was given. She deeply understood the need for greater investment in ovarian cancer research and did whatever she could to advocate for it.
Above all, Siobhan was passionate about leaving a legacy and encouraging others to do so, knowing that she would not be alive to see change. Her wish was that her voice and story continues to be heard through the OCRF's communications.
Here, she shares her powerful personal story of diagnosis and how it took multiple doctor visits, before one took her concerns more seriously.
In August 2020, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
Before then, I was a very (seemingly) fit and healthy person – I participated in boot camp three times a week, I also walked regularly, I have been vegan for more than 20 years. But, in mid-July 2020, I started to feel generally unwell. I told people that I was ‘out of sorts’ and at that time, my father was very unwell and close to death; I was visiting him every second day. I assumed that I was feeling stressed because of my father’s situation.
I went to my GP, who told me I was probably suffering from constipation. I accepted that diagnosis, even though I do not normally suffer from constipation. I remember saying to the doctor ‘but I am going to the toilet without any trouble’. Still, I was told to go home and take laxatives.
That weekend I felt worse by the day. I stayed in bed and made an appointment to see a different GP on the Monday. I wasn’t in pain over the weekend, but I felt a generalised feeling of being unwell. My abdomen was also bloated. I didn’t think that was significant as my abdomen had been feeling ‘thicker’ for a few months; I assumed I had put on a little bit of weight during Covid.
I now know that my so-called 'CA125' blood marker, which should sit below 25, was elevated to around the 470.”
On Monday 3rd August, I saw another GP in the morning and by this time, I was really not feeling like my normal self. When I got to the doctor’s office I started crying and asked him to help me, I told him that something was very wrong. He said that he would start by assuming I have something seriously wrong and work backwards from there. He told me that it would probably end up being something minor, perhaps irritable bowel. Regardless, he started by testing for the serious things and sent me for a blood test.
That same afternoon he phoned me and said that my blood test results were showing that something is seriously wrong and that I should go to the emergency department at Royal Prince Alfred (RPA), my nearest hospital, ASAP. He said that I should pack an overnight bag as they would not let me leave until they figured out what the problem is.
At the RPA they ran more blood tests and performed at CT scan. I now know that my so-called 'CA125' blood marker, which should sit below 25, was elevated to around the 470.
In the early evening, one of the emergency room doctors came to see me. He said that they knew what was wrong and that my life was going to ‘change forever’. I asked what it was, and he said, ‘ovarian cancer’. Stage III ovarian cancer.
According to the Ovarian Cancer Research Audit, around 1,200 women will die from ovarian cancer this year. I will do everything I can not to be one of them. It may, of course, be too late for me. But that doesn’t mean it’s too late for everybody else.
Tell your mother, your sister, your daughter, and her friends ovarian cancer is silent and it is deadly. Be vigilant. Be ready to act. Perhaps most importantly, be lucky.
Siobhan’s story features in the latest Blooms Health Check magazine, out now, in stores.
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