Interview OV28

Age at interview: 71

Age at diagnosis: 66

Brief Outline:

Ovarian cancer diagnosed in 1997 following indigestion and bloating. Treated by surgical removal of ovaries (previously hysterectomised) then chemotherapy. Further surgery to repair a hernia followed by more chemotherapy for recurrences.

Background:

Retired nurse, married, four adult children.

Had a barium enema and blood tests before having an ultrasound scan that showed masses on her ovaries.

The result of the barium enema showed that I had diverticulosis which also runs in my family and on the follow-up I was told that's what I had - thousands of other women in the country had it and I could just go away and get on with life. However there was a lady doctor who suggested I had a blood test before I leave. 

About October time I was feeling a bit down and arranged to go to the theatre - I hadn't been for two years, and had to come out of the performance because I had very painful backache and called in at my doctor's surgery hoping to catch her before she finished in the afternoon and she greeted me with 'Where have you been? We want to do another blood test'. She gave me some painkillers and said that the hospital would like to see me at the weekend and try and cope with the backache as best I could. Anyway it did get worse and we unfortunately had to call a doctor out and I was immediately sent back to the hospital for investigations.

The doctor on duty took my hand in hers and said the result of her blood test showed that there was something wrong with my liver. 

At the weekend I was taken down for an ultrasound and the young lady performed this and sent me back to the ward and nothing else was done or said over the weekend, but on the Monday morning the same porter took me down to the same place and I didn't say 'I've been here before' I thought don't want to be labelled a difficult patient, but I went in and this time was seen by a consultant who, on doing the ultrasound, just looked up said 'you have masses on your ovaries. 
 

Some of her children were tested for the faulty genes and she feels this benefits the family.

But we were very concerned that five granddaughters would need to be tested as they grew up because it was noted that although my sister and I had had ovarian cancer, it did closely relate to having breast cancer and I still have quite a high chance of developing it, if I live to be eighty. Anyway the gene was discovered and once that had been identified we had our children tested. They all went to see the consultant and had it all explained to them. Unfortunately my eldest child decided that he and his wife really didn't want to know, and so he left, but we're delighted that my natural daughter and son have been shown to be clear.  

And knowing that there's a gene in my family of course now, in a way it's almost helpful to have discovered it, and hopefully we can help the next generation by, if they have any problems you know they'll be referred earlier for diagnosis.
 

Says women should take vague digestive symptoms to their doctor at an early stage and ask for tests.

It's the early detection, so I do actually say to people now, if someone says 'oh I have a problem with eating and I've been told I've got an irritable bowel', I do suggest, rather interferingly, that they go to their doctor and say 'could I please have a blood test, and can I have an ultrasound?' because it's early detection is the best, and my one real regret is that because my symptoms were so vague, I hadn't realised that there was a blood test and that I might have asked for an ultra sound. 

As the patient I wouldn't expect to have to ask, but I would have thought it would have been done, but it wasn't, and so that's one thing I do tell, I tell almost everybody I know if they start telling me they have these kind of symptoms I say 'do go to your doctor, just don't leave them', because they are vague and they're different for everyone, and you don't want to wait until you feel ill, because it creeps on you rather slowly, and if only we could wake up one morning and feel as we did when we were well, then we'd realise how far we'd slipped. But you don't get that, you just get used to feeling below par all the time.