Now is the time to act. Every day a New Zealander sits in a doctor’s office and receives the devastating news “you have ovarian cancer”. Five years ago, that person was me. I had spent the preceding two years …
Helen’s Story
“I was young and free and had no reason to even consider this could happen to me” – Helen Helen, now in her 30s, was only 18 years old when she was diagnosed with a germ cell tumour on her …
Chloe’s story
“Like the doctors, I thought ovarian cancer was only seen in older women not young women like me. We were all wrong and it must not continue to be discounted when women like me, no matter our age, present with symptoms.”
Miracle’s Story
“As a young working mama, I never thought cancer would be part of my journey,” she said…. Being misdiagnosed was the most traumatic part of this journey as I was told by my gynaecologist that pathology came back with no findings from the first biopsy and I was cleared for cancer,”
Diane’s Story
“The first real sign something wasn’t right was having excruciating pain under my ribs and down the ribs on one side and really struggling to breathe, resulting in a collapse at work and a hospital admission,” she said. “An ECG showed I wasn’t having a heart attack so a chest CT was taken and showed several blood clots in both lungs.”
Rachel’s Story
“In six months, I’ve gone from being told my treatment was palliative to being told I’m now in remission,” she said. “My fight isn’t over but I’m giving it everything I’ve got. I feel amazing, I feel alive. There’s nothing like a cancer diagnosis to make you sit up and listen to your body.”
Burnetta’s Story
“My hair was long before chemo, so I let my daughter who was 6 at the time cut it into a bob. That gave us all a few laughs. But when I did eventually go bald, she found it hard because I no longer ‘looked like mummy.’“Like other types of cancer, ovarian cancer doesn’t just affect the person going through it, but the people around them”
It shouldn’t be this hard
40 year old Kelly is a working mother of a three and a five year old. She spent two years trying to get help when, despite being unable to eat because she felt full and tired, her stomach got bigger. Her doctor suggested she had a possible personality disorder and should watch her diet and get better sleep. Two weeks into lockdown, the pain finally got too much…
It still feels like it happened to another person
I still don’t think I’ve come to terms with the fact that I had cancer and that it will be something I have to deal with for a long time. Regular checkups are becoming the norm , and the sensation of being frozen in time whilst waiting for results is resoundingly familiar.
Listen to Your Body
Even after I spotted a poster by Cure Our Ovarian Cancer on the back door of a toilet where I checked off all the symptoms – I thought I was overreacting! I was supposed to be watching my daughter play hockey at a tournament – but I was really sick and despite the regular bouts severe pain – enough to contemplate an ambulance – I still didn’t! I was worried about being …
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