I was extremely lucky in my case as the PMP was only picked up on an ultrasound scan I was attending for an overactive bladder. There was a shadow the doctors initially thought was a cyst. Following appointment after appointment at Clatterbridge Hospital and Arrow Park Hospital to diagnose this, CT scans showing the cyst getting bigger with each scan and a final scan showing fluid in my pelvis, the doctors thought I had a burst cyst. An MRI scan showed the fluid still there after 2 months where it should have been absorbed by then should it have been a cyst. I was finally referred to The Christie Hospital in Manchester where straight away doctors diagnosed it as PMP. I was told I would need a full hysterectomy as well as gall bladder, appendix, tissue behind my abdomen scraping of my liver and maybe bowel all removed and then a hot chemo rinse (HIPEC).
Having just turned 28 with no children yet, I chose to keep my womb and my left ovary and underwent hormone treatment and had my eggs frozen before to the operation.
The operation was successful and I cannot thank team at the Christie and my amazing family enough for their skill hard work and on-going support, It was so strange being told I was going to need surgery when I felt fine! I was so lucky it was caught so early on in an unrelated scan!!!
I was up and out of hospital after a week and a half and went on to run my first marathon in 2014! I am a year and a half into my 5 year follow up stretch, where I have a CT scan every 6 months to ensure the PMP does not return.
In case you missed it...
Sent for ultrasound for possible hernia
For well over a year, I noticed my belly steadily getting bigger though I didn’t seem to be eating any more than normal. I of course tried dieting a few times but when I didn’t lose weight I gave up pretty quickly!
I was diagnosed with an inflamed appendix
Before I was diagnosed, I experienced increased abdominal size and piercing pain which was diagnosed initially with an inflamed appendix. It took about four months and another doctor for me to get the correct diagnosis at the end of January 2014.
Too young for cancer
It’s tough being only 20 years old and an appendix cancer patient at that. Mainly because no one expects or even wants to believe you could even end up developing cancer, and the worst culprits are medical professionals. True, the odds are so low it’s a waste of time to even bother, but that ‘waste of time’ could have cost me my life!
This is me 100 percent. I was pregnant with my very first child during it all!!!