I thought it was the menopause but my symptoms were actually a rare cancer

i noticed In your early 40s, your weight will be on your stomach.

I’m usually a size 14, but it’s getting tighter around the middle. My eating habits didn’t change, but my stomach got bigger.

“I must be going through menopause,” I said to myself.

I talked to the doctor who told me what it was.

Then, about a year before I turned 60, I started suffering from a leaky bladder. It was usually at night when I coughed or sneezed. I thought it was a symptom of menopause.

But when I turned 60 in June 2020, my husband Phil noticed that my tummy looked weird. Her arms and legs are very thin, but her belly is still big.

I was worried, but I didn’t think it was worth seeing a doctor. In retrospect, this was ridiculous.

I had a routine blood test in July 2020 at my general practitioner’s surgery, and the results came back and showed that my hemoglobin levels were low, so I wanted an investigation.

My GP called to see me, and I had a repeat blood test later that day.

I wasn’t too concerned — until my primary care doctor said I had to go to Lincoln Hospital in a few days for an ultrasound scan. I was totally relieved that I might be able to get to the root of the symptoms I was experiencing.

The day after my ultrasound, my GP called me at 8am to tell me that there was something in my ovaries and that I needed to be investigated for possible ovarian cancer. Relief turned to horror, compounded by the fact that I had to go to all my appointments by myself due to Covid restrictions.

Waiting for the results was terrible. Every day I prepared for news that never came. I was jumping between thoughts, ‘if it was really that bad, I would have heard by now’ and ‘maybe it’s so bad they should ask for another opinion’ .

Four weeks later, the results came back and a scan showed they had found what appeared to be a lump in my ovary.

Doctors warned me it could be PMP or pseudomyxoma peritoney (a rare cancer that starts growing in the appendix), but Lincoln had only ever had one. It was immediately confirmed.

A lump formed in my throat when the consultant confirmed that it had already spread to my stomach.

Thankfully, he said my prognosis looked as good as possible, but he wouldn’t know exactly until he had surgery to remove the cancer cells. It was to be closely monitored for 10 years.

It took a while for the news to seep in, but when I got home with Phil and their daughter Sarah, 29, I was in tears. They were shocked but positive and supported me by refusing to let me panic. Instead, I repeated what my doctor said.

I had weight loss surgery which involved draining fluid from my abdominal cavity. They later told me they drained 5 liters and I lost 2 stones in the process. No wonder my stomach was bloated.

They also removed the appendix where the cancer started and the right ovary. Because there was a big cyst growing there.

After the surgery, the doctor explained that perhaps the appendix had ruptured at some point in the past, which could have caused the cancer to spread.

After five days at Christie Hospital in Manchester, I went home to rest.

But six months later, in April, I returned to the hospital for major surgery. This time I was faced with his nine hour surgery to remove the spleen, gallbladder, navel and other ovaries.

They also scraped my liver to remove malignant cells and filled my tummy with hot chemotherapy fluid to remove any remaining cancer cells. I was very scared of how chemotherapy would affect me.

After the operation, I opened my hazy eyes and immediately traced a huge scar from my chest bone to my public bone. I was sluggish when I saw it, and I felt very sad when I touched it. When I removed my belly button, my stomach looked like the top of a pumpkin.

I spent two weeks in the hospital recovering, during which time I could not eat much.

Thankfully, all my procedures helped get rid of the cancer, but I’m still on medication.

I now have scans and blood tests every six months to make sure the cancer hasn’t come back. I am suffering from extreme fatigue, but what I have been through has made me stronger and I am grateful for Phil and Sarah’s support.

Now that my period has stopped, I know I’ve gone through menopause, but I still don’t know which of the symptoms I experienced were actually caused by it and which were due to cancer.

For years I thought I was just going through menopausal symptoms, but I still can’t believe I was actually attacked by a very rare cancer.