‘I thought I had IBS – now an ovarian tumour may cost me my dream of having children’

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A lady who thought she had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) however was recognized with an ovarian tumour and instructed she may not have the ability to have youngsters consequently now looks like a “sitting duck” ready for the expansion to return.

Lucy Rudd, 29, a biomedical scientist, who lives in Cumbria together with her fiance John Atkinson, 34, started experiencing ache throughout intercourse, irregular bleeding, and IBS-like signs in January 2023.

By April of the identical 12 months, she developed a lump on her stomach, so visited the medical doctors.

Post surgical procedure, she was recognized with a mucinous borderline tumour which, in accordance with Cancer Research UK, is when irregular cells kind within the tissue masking the ovary – a tumour which isn’t made of most cancers cells however usually does maintain a low threat of changing into cancerous or returning. For Lucy, the possibilities of recurrence are 25% within the first two years post-surgery.

The tumour on the left ovary was 20cm in dimension and weighed 1.6kg, when Lucy herself solely weighs 50kg, however in an effort to take care of her fertility she refused a hysterectomy and as a substitute had surgical procedure to take away one ovary and fallopian tube – however this nonetheless means her probabilities of conceiving are now very low as her remaining ovary just isn’t functioning because it ought to.

At the time, she and her fiance had solely simply began speaking about having youngsters, and had been planning on getting married in 2025 – however since her analysis, they’ve moved the marriage to March 2024 and began taking a look at fertility remedies.

Lucy mentioned she usually looks like she’s “drowning” in her emotions, recalling getting residence from her surgical procedure and seeing the “hideous scar right down (her) middle” and it being a “constant reminder” of what she has misplaced and “the baby (she) might not get to carry”.

Lucy instructed PA Real Life: “I felt and still feel like a sitting duck at the fear of recurrence, and I am mourning a loss.

“While the surgery left my right ovary to conserve my fertility, it has not been as we’d hoped and conceiving has been given five to 10% chance of success.

“I felt like I was drowning, I was angry and feeling guilty for my feelings – I think everyone expects to choose when you have a baby and if you want one, so I always thought, the choice is there when I’m ready.

“It’s drilled into us from a young age, to use protection and we’re so fertile, when that actually isn’t the case for a lot of people.

“I didn’t realise how much I want mine and John’s baby until I was told actually you might not get to have one – it shocked and scared me how desperate I felt, and feel, for our baby.

“I think that’s been part of my guilt that it wasn’t a life dream until I got told I might not have the choice, and it’s looking like we might not get our baby.”

Lucy acquired her first warning indicators for a tumour in January 2023, when she started recognizing outdoors of her interval, experiencing ache throughout intercourse, and will really feel a lump in her abdomen.

Initially, Lucy put it right down to having a copper coil contraceptive or IBS, however by April, her signs acquired worse.

She mentioned: “Passing urine became painful and so frequent I was getting up multiple times during the night.

“I was also suffering from frequent acid reflux and night sweats.

“When I felt this lump in my stomach it quickly changed into a pelvic mass so I decided I’d visit the GP.”

At her first appointment, she was requested to do a being pregnant take a look at, which got here again adverse, and a CA-125 blood take a look at – a non-specific ovarian tumour marker take a look at.

She mentioned: “I never realised that there wasn’t a screening programme for ovarian cancer, and that the CA-125 blood test along with the ultrasound, CT and MRI can only indicate not confirm.

“My CA-125 result came back high and from then I was worried.

“I was told if these scans show the mass to look complex I’d be referred to the specialist hospital for surgery.”

Her subsequent appointment, the place she was speculated to be given details about subsequent steps, made her fear much more.

She mentioned: “We were only in the room for about 10 minutes, and they told me and John that I had an urgent appointment tomorrow, and I can take as many family members as I want with me.

“They gave us a bunch of leaflets for ovarian cancer and Macmillan, and that was it.

“I was a bit in shock – we were just walking out the hospital and I said to John, ‘Well, this doesn’t look good’.”

The subsequent day the hospital ready Lucy for a analysis of stage 3 ovarian most cancers, and it was really useful that she have a full hysterectomy.

“John has a little girl but we don’t have any children together and it’s something we’ve only just started speaking about,” Lucy defined.

“At the time, we were supposed to get married in November 2025, and we had said we were going to maybe start trying a few years after that.

“I just couldn’t stop crying because they said I might struggle to have kids in the future.”

Lucy requested for fertility-sparing surgical procedure, for them to take away as little as doable, however she was warned she may must have additional surgical procedure relying on her histology report.

The surgical procedure was profitable – it was much less advanced than they anticipated from the scans and the tumour was confined and never caught to different organs.

But Lucy misplaced one ovary and a fallopian tube, that means her probabilities of conceiving are very low.

“The size of the tumour had been putting pressure on my other organs which had led to some of my symptoms,” Lucy mentioned.

“The thickening of my peritoneum picked up on the scans, which they thought was the cancer spreading, was put down to inflammation due to the tumour being so big.

“But, when I came home and saw myself in the mirror, I burst out crying at the hideous scar right down my middle – a constant reminder of what I have lost, the surgery still to come and the baby I might not get to carry.”

Every week later, Lucy was instructed the tumour was stage one mucinous borderline.

She mentioned: “I was kind of relieved because it wasn’t cancer, but it basically means it could turn into cancer so it’s so worrying.

“Three millimetres of my tumour was actually malignant… and I think about how if I was a bigger person and didn’t notice that lump, my tumour was growing up squashing my organs, it could have gone on for longer and crossed over to that threshold of being a cancer.

“I’m so fortunate to have caught it at the stage I did.”

She is at the moment having common check-up appointments to verify her tumour has not unfold and turned cancerous.

Lucy and her accomplice have since been to a fertility centre and found her probabilities of conceiving and likelihood of profitable IVF are 5 to 10%.

She defined: “We went to see if we could freeze embryos because they basically told me they still recommend a full hysterectomy sooner rather than later because the chances of a recurrence are out there.

“It could be in six months, it could be in five years, I just feel like my ovary is a ticking time bomb, and I’ve basically been told that I need to have kids now, or never.”

On what she would say to others experiencing an analogous well being scare, she mentioned: “I am trying to process what I’ve gone through in such a short space of time and want others to know, it’s okay to feel exactly how you are feeling and you should not feel guilty.

“You still had a tumour with potential removed, you’re still mourning a loss, scans are still ongoing and your feelings are still valid, it’s okay to cry every day.”

Looking again on her expertise, she mentioned: “I didn’t know that unlike breast cancer and cervical cancer there isn’t a screening tool, and I didn’t know the symptoms, nor did my friends.

“I believe that if we know the symptoms – persistent bloating, abdominal pain, needing to wee more often and feeling full quickly, acid reflux – women might go to see their GP with their concerns.

“I’d encourage concerned women to say they are worried about cancer, and if in doubt ask for a CA-125 blood test – but remember this is a starter, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have cancer.”

For extra info, go to: targetovariancancer.org.uk