Interview 38- Ovarian cancer

Age at interview: 33
Age at diagnosis: 30
Brief Outline:

Ovarian cancer diagnosed in 2000 following abdominal aches and pains. Treated by surgical removal of ovaries and womb followed by chemotherapy.

Background:

Podiatrist; married; no children.

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More about me...

She thought she was being 'given the best chance of survival' by having a hysterectomy when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. However, her husband is finding it hard to accept that they cannot have children.

She thought she was being 'given the best chance of survival' by having a hysterectomy when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. However, her husband is finding it hard to accept that they cannot have children.

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 My husband was very bitter for a long time, very bitter about the fact that we'd had no pre-warning, about the fact we weren't given any counselling pre-hysterectomy, about the fact that there were no eggs kept. 

 
That was all positive for me and I really didn't see the point in worrying about eggs not being saved, anything like that, because at the end of the day, if I was being given the best chance of survival, then that was going to be the most important thing really, you know, and we had to move on. We couldn't go back, they'd all gone, you couldn't do anything about it. 
 
But my husband found it really hard to accept that part, that's a whole other thing, it wasn't just ovarian cancer we had to deal with, it was childlessness.

Her husband was annoyed that the option to save eggs was not presented to them before his wife had her ovaries removed as part of her cancer treatment.

Her husband was annoyed that the option to save eggs was not presented to them before his wife had her ovaries removed as part of her cancer treatment.

SHOW TEXT VERSION
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 My husband was very bitter for a long time, very bitter about the fact that we'd had no pre-warning, about the fact we weren't given any counselling pre-hysterectomy, about the fact that there were no eggs kept. 

That was all positive for me and I really didn't see the point in worrying about eggs not being saved, anything like that, because at the end of the day, if I was being given the best chance of survival, then that was going to be the most important thing really, you know, and we had to move on. We couldn't go back, they'd all gone, you couldn't do anything about it. 
 
But my husband found it really hard to accept that part, that's a whole other thing, it wasn't just ovarian cancer we had to deal with, it was childlessness.