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...
Receiving a diagnosis
My original symptom was an ‘irritated‘ bladder — it is difficult to describe but the closest I can come up with it that it felt like it was vibrating all the time. In March 2010, after several months of bladder discomfort and many trips to my GP, I was referred to the genito-urinary clinic at my local University hospital with suspected bladder prolapse. Eventually, this lead to a diagnosis of pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP).
I was convinced I had gallstones but it wasn’t gallstones
After an elderly relative was admitted to hospital with gallstones and, after researching her symptoms online, I was convinced I had the same problem. I pestered my GP to refer me for an ultrasound which eventually showed I had no gallstones, but “a fair amount” of fluid around my liver.
The doctor suspected that I had kidney stones
I was 59 years old when I was diagnosed with pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) and it took me eight months to get a diagnosis. My scan showed a “fog” or liquid around my liver and my spleen.
This is me 100 percent. I was pregnant with my very first child during it all!!!