Hi,
I have very recently been diagnosed with Stage 1 Mucinous Ovarian Cancer (still waiting for confirmation on the stage), for context I am 29, no children and not currently in a relationship. Please read my profile for further context as I have a very complex medical history (ulcerative colitis, ileostomy, scoliosis).
I had a very large cyst/tumour removed a few weeks ago, size was around 25cm x 10cm x 10cm and this ruined my life for the last 11 months with terrible painful symptoms that limited my ability to do anything, changed my body and shattered my confidence in myself.
To say I am devastated is a bit of an understatement, to be honest I feel very sorry for myself. I've been ill for a very long time with various serious long term health conditions and was hopeful that my last surgery would be the last for a while. Now i'm signed up for another 10 years of monitoring (if my next CT scan comes back clear) and potentially losing my womb and other ovary if it's not clear. I've been advised to freeze my eggs whilst I have the chance.
I feel very let down by my medical team, my tumour markers and scans consistently came back clear of cancer and I was essentially told that it wasn't bad enough to do surgery (they were reluctant due to previous abdominal surgeries I'd had). But I was having severe symptoms, extremely painful intercourse, bleeding after intercourse, a large lump on my stomach, unexplained weight gain (i was told it was due to my metabolism slowing down with age/over-eating) and lower back pain so severe that I could hardly walk. It took me months to finally get the surgeons to agree to operate and ultimately the mass was huge and cancerous. When I was told it was cancer, my surgeon even expressed that he wished they hadn't waited to so long.
I've been very unlucky with my health and i'm wondering how I'm going to cope going forward as my mental health was already struggling.
It would be great to speak to anyone else whose had similar experiences (with diagnosis, age, other health conditions or interactions with health professionals). I'd also really like to tell my wider (longer) story if you could point me in the right direction.
Thanks so much for reading x
Hi and a warm welcome to the Online Community but I'm so sorry you find yourself here. You've gone through a heck of a lot in your life and I can't begin to think how it must have affected you. Most of us have enough problems dealing with one issue.
I have a different type of cancer so I can't compare notes as such but by joining this group you'll get support from the other members and be able to share experiences.
You could create a Cancer Blog, just go towards the top of this page and click on Blogs to start your own blog. They can be incredibly helpful to other members so good for you for being willing to share. I'm a firm believer in trying to take away the fears associated with cancer and if we can ever make people realise they're not alone on this scary journey it's beneficial in a big way.
Sending welcoming hugs, B xx
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