Laura Everley, 36, realised she had the disease when she stumbled across a post on her timeline detailing the symptoms.
She’d experienced symptoms including bloating, lower back pain, constipation and frequently needing to urinate, but had put them down to either irritable bowel syndrome or endometriosis, which she had previously suffered with.
“The symptoms are the same, so I thought it could have been irritable bowel syndrome,” she said.
“I went down the gluten free route but that didn’t make any difference.
“The idea of cancer hadn’t even entered my head. You just never dream this going to happen to you.”
By early 2014, Mrs Everley, of Crawley, West Sussex, had been suffering with her symptoms for three months.
Idly scrolling Facebook one evening, she noticed a post raising awareness of ovarian cancer.
“A friend had shared a post from a friend of there’s about her experiences of cancer and what she’d been through,” said Mrs Everley.
“There was a list of symptoms and I realised I had them all. I called my doctor straight away and told her that I thought I might have cancer.”
Medics confirmed Mrs Everley had a cyst, which was removed and sent away for a biopsy.
She was also referred for an internal examination, which revealed a dark patch.
In October 2014, Mrs Everley was called into East Surrey hospital.
“I thought I was just going in for check up so I didn’t think to take anyone with me,” she said. I was told I had clear cell carcinoma.
I was on my own finding this out. It was awful. I spent ages with the MacMillan nurse afterwards, sobbing in shock.
“I phoned my husband Mark as soon as I came out of hospital and told him over the phone. I couldn’t keep it to myself, I had to tell somebody.
“Having to tell my son Harry was horrible. He knows I have ovarian cancer, but he’s only five so he doesn’t quite understand what cancer means.”
Two weeks later, Mrs Everley met with surgeons, who gave her a heartbreaking choice – whether to have one ovary removed, or a complete hysterectomy, which would leave her unable to have more children.
“I already had Harry, but I would have liked to have had more children,” she said.
“It was difficult but I decided on the full hysterectomy – I didn’t want my cancer coming back.
“Afterwards doctors told me I’d made the right choice. I had stage 1c cancer, meaning the cancer cells weren’t contained in my ovary.
“I’d have needed the hysterectomy eventually anyway.”
Now, Mrs Everley is nearing end of her course of chemotherapy and doctors are confident she can be cured.
Her treatment has been gruelling, with each round leaving her feeling constantly sick for a week afterwards. She has also lost her hair.
Mrs Everley has also been busy promoting Target Ovarian Cancer, hosting a coffee morning to raise money for the charity.
She is also keen for women to be more aware of the symptoms of ovarian cancer.
“I don’t think people are sure of symptoms. There’s not a definite list, they’re all a bit vague and lots of them could mean other things,” she said.
“It’s easy to dismiss and ignore symptoms, but it’s not worth the risk.”
She’d experienced symptoms including bloating, lower back pain, constipation and frequently needing to urinate, but had put them down to either irritable bowel syndrome or endometriosis, which she had previously suffered with.
“The symptoms are the same, so I thought it could have been irritable bowel syndrome,” she said.
“I went down the gluten free route but that didn’t make any difference.
“The idea of cancer hadn’t even entered my head. You just never dream this going to happen to you.”
By early 2014, Mrs Everley, of Crawley, West Sussex, had been suffering with her symptoms for three months.
Idly scrolling Facebook one evening, she noticed a post raising awareness of ovarian cancer.
“A friend had shared a post from a friend of there’s about her experiences of cancer and what she’d been through,” said Mrs Everley.
“There was a list of symptoms and I realised I had them all. I called my doctor straight away and told her that I thought I might have cancer.”
Medics confirmed Mrs Everley had a cyst, which was removed and sent away for a biopsy.
She was also referred for an internal examination, which revealed a dark patch.
In October 2014, Mrs Everley was called into East Surrey hospital.
“I thought I was just going in for check up so I didn’t think to take anyone with me,” she said. I was told I had clear cell carcinoma.
I was on my own finding this out. It was awful. I spent ages with the MacMillan nurse afterwards, sobbing in shock.
“I phoned my husband Mark as soon as I came out of hospital and told him over the phone. I couldn’t keep it to myself, I had to tell somebody.
“Having to tell my son Harry was horrible. He knows I have ovarian cancer, but he’s only five so he doesn’t quite understand what cancer means.”
Two weeks later, Mrs Everley met with surgeons, who gave her a heartbreaking choice – whether to have one ovary removed, or a complete hysterectomy, which would leave her unable to have more children.
“I already had Harry, but I would have liked to have had more children,” she said.
“It was difficult but I decided on the full hysterectomy – I didn’t want my cancer coming back.
“Afterwards doctors told me I’d made the right choice. I had stage 1c cancer, meaning the cancer cells weren’t contained in my ovary.
“I’d have needed the hysterectomy eventually anyway.”
Now, Mrs Everley is nearing end of her course of chemotherapy and doctors are confident she can be cured.
Her treatment has been gruelling, with each round leaving her feeling constantly sick for a week afterwards. She has also lost her hair.
Mrs Everley has also been busy promoting Target Ovarian Cancer, hosting a coffee morning to raise money for the charity.
She is also keen for women to be more aware of the symptoms of ovarian cancer.
“I don’t think people are sure of symptoms. There’s not a definite list, they’re all a bit vague and lots of them could mean other things,” she said.
“It’s easy to dismiss and ignore symptoms, but it’s not worth the risk.”
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