The teal ribbon for ovarian cancer.
Words Laura Potter. Photograph Alamy
Before 2015, I didn’t even know ovarian cancer existed. It sounds ridiculous – of course you can get cancer anywhere in your body – but I didn’t know a single symptom and it had never crossed my mind. That’s why I want to share what I went through.
I’ve had painful periods since I was 14, awful cramps and pain around my ribs so intense I found it hard to stand. In order to work I had to take very strong painkillers, co-codamol, and tramadol. Then, in September 2015, I developed a searing pain on my right side and heavy, dragging pain in my pelvis. It was so blinding I was close to passing out, but it came and went so it was three weeks before I went to the GP. I was given antibiotics for a bladder infection, but told to call 999 if the pain got worse as it could be my appendix. The next day I felt better, but my partner, Darren, insisted I go back. Once I’d broken my ankle and walked on it for five days, so he knew if I said I was in pain, it was serious. They agreed to send me for an ultrasound.
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May 2017
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