Diagnostic Dilemas

 What happened next....

I was referred to see a gynaecologist within two weeks for further investigations including ovarian cancer. A week later I met with the gynaecologist after examining me she told me that my tummy was filled with fluid that they called ascities and this was making it difficult to find my ovaries. I was also introduced to the Macmillan nurse and I knew this was pretty serious.

I had an external ultrasound the next day which confirmed the ascities. By Wednesday I was on the ward having the fluid drained from my stomach. In total they drained off 5 litres of fluid some of which was sent to the lab for further tests.

It took a week for the results to come back and I was having to travel backwards and forwards between my home in Hampshire and Manchester to deal with some familiy issues. On the 15 March 2011 I phoned my consultants secretary to ask if the results were back and I was told that they had found cancer cells in the fluid that I would need a scan. This was the same day that my nanna died of stomach cancer.

My scans had to be in fitted around my nannas funeral. I was feeling a little better since the fluid had been drained off my tummy but I was still feeling poorly. I was getting constant pains in lower abdomen (this is the bit below the belly button) and I was going to the toilet frequently i.e. more than 12 times a day.

I had two scans one was called a CT scan which is a sort of 3D x-ray and I also had an MRI where I had to lie in the scanner with some headphones on as it was very noisy. At first I was told that the CT scan confirmed that I had something called Primary Peritoneal Cancer - the peritoneal is the lining of the tummy. This not only contains the ovaries but also the kidneys, liver and pancreas as well as the digestive system.

At this point I decided that I wanted to be closer to my family so I asked my consultant to refer me to The Christie in Manchester. I gave my notice in at work and took a couple of weeks to pack up the stuff I was going to keep and get rid of the stuff that I wouldn't need.

I met with my consultant at The Christie at the beginning of May 2011. He was not satisfied with my intial diagnosis and felt I needed a biopsy to confirm the type of cancer I had as this would be important to what treatment I would need.

I then endured some very painful procedures as my diagnosis did not turn out to be very straight forward but eventually I was diagnosed with a low grade ovarian cancer at the end of July 2011 after having surgery.

Low grade means that the cancer grows and spreads very slowly. I was told I would need chemotherapy to mop up the cancer cells and that my cancer was not curable as it was quite advanced. However this did not mean I was dying but that I might need more treatment at a future date.

Two years after I had finished my first chemotherapy the cancer came back and it had spread. I have had some more chemotherapy treatment which I have recently finished and I am now on a drug called Avastin to prolong my remission period.

Obviously there are days that I feel very sad when I consider how much I have given up for the cancer and I get angry as well. However writing my blog has allowed me to look back and consider what I have gained since my diagnosis.