Fat belly? No. Ovarian Cancer belly (pt 2)

[TwitterQueen1]

The story of my ovarian cancer discovery is here

This is such an important health issue - there's a reason why OC is called the 'silent killer'. I really want more women to be aware of what few symptoms there are (I wasn't).

This is my story. I hope it's a long one.

Well done TQ, lurker here wishing you absolutely well. You are brave and marvellous xx

I couldn't agree more about raising awareness. I now do a lot of talks to medical professionals and public about raising awareness, (and to the docs) the impact my ovarian cancer diagnosis has on me personally, mentally and physically (not medically) and on those around me.

I don't have the energy tonight to go through my whole diagnosis debacle and subsequent treatment, but my message to people is, don't be complacent! Keep pushing if you feel something isn't quite right.

I have so much to say about this - regarding my mother. I will come back under another name though

Hello! So glad to have some company here. I'm taking every opportunity I can to talk about this.

I probably should have said that I'm 6 months post-diagnosis. On cycle 5 of chemo (after a 3 month break for debulking op - huge story there about NHS incompetence). Stage 3c/4. On Icon8B trial (Carboplatin, Paclitaxel (Taxol), with added Bevacizumab (aka Avastin)). Weekly chemo.

Thanks for starting a new thread. Definitely more needs to be done to raise awareness of OC and it's symptons. And of gps taking women seriously when they come to appointments - women are often made to feel like they can't go to the gp over things like weight gain, bloating, tiredness for fear that they'll just be told it's age/hormones or in their heads.
Thinking of you and your family op.

I fat-shamed myself. I blamed my breathlessness on Christmas, my dog dying and no longer walking every day and an entirely sedentary full-time job.

And the doctors all seem to say "lose weight and come back in 6 months..." not helpful.

I remember you dear. The last few months have been so hard for you. You really are a queen. more so because you are trying to raise awareness about this silent disease. Please tell us more about your NHS experience if and when you have the energy for it. It might help others.

Good to see you are still fighting on. I hope we will be hearing from you for a long, long time to come.

Am hoping it's a long story too TwitterQueen x

I read your old thread and was struck af what an amazing lady you are. Keep on keeping on and kick cancers arse 💛💛💛

Great to hear your updates and how well you "sound". What a trooper you are- and your lovely daughters clearly take after their mum.
Thank you for raising awareness.

Hello TQ, thanks for the new thread (and look at all the wonderful messages!)
Another new week tomorrow, and so glad that DD3 is enjoying herself!

You're telling an amazing story, TQ. What a journey you've been on since that first post that bemoaned eating too many pies.

May your story be very long and very boring (in the nicest possible way!) x

Just checking in

Also just checking in. Glad there's a nice thread. TQ you are a

*nice = new

Checking in too :-) Seeing you coping - and to me that includes experiencing all the pain and fear and still moving forward - is really helping me.

🤜🏻🤛🏻

How lovely to see all these messages! The support I've had from you lovely ladies has been immense. As a single, lone parent it can be very lonely sometimes, despite all my fab friends, and I don't want to dump on the DDs.

Hi OP haven't got round to changing name
Or reading old thread. Can I ask is the debulking info on there?

It's so hard I've seen it first hand with my mother.

Delurking from old thread to say I think you sound like an amazing lady and wish you all the best

TQ I remember you! Glad to hear you 'sound' so determined... positive may be a bit far eh?
I lost my mum at 60 to ovarian cancer but she had a good few years between diagnosis and death mostly on chemotherapy with some breaks - but her diagnosis was horribly messed up.
Glad you are in the Avastin era - it's pretty new and hopefully a game-changer - and also that you are into a trial so early on.
How are you feeling? Are your friends being the support you need?

TwitterQueen1, thank you for sharing your story, I'm so glad you got seen and eventually got your diagnosis confirmed. As you say, it's so important to make people aware of this and know to push when something isn't right.
Have you ever done any work with charities? Ovarian Cancer Action are always looking for people to tell their stories on their website and in the media for exactly this reason. It makes such a difference when real people tell their stories. Feel free to email me jo (a) ovarian.org.uk if you think you'd like to get involved in any way (doesn't have to be time consuming)

If anyone has any Qs about OC- head to www.ovarian.org.uk as there's masses of info to help you out on there.

Mids I don't think I've gone into detail on the debulking - not sure how much there is to tell. Basically I had chemo to reduce the size of the mass (24x20x14), then a laparoscopy to see if they could operate, and then the debulking/hysterectomy, when they cut out everything they could see on the liver, small bowel, diaphragm and stomach lining.

Happy to answer any questions on this.

Jostandford Thank you for the info . I have already volunteered to be 'voice' and my 1st blog is with OCA. I'm hoping it will appear somewhere soon!