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Pseudomyxoma Survivor RuthI had just celebrated my 60th birthday, one of our sons and his wife were due a new baby and we already have two granddaughters.  In June 2007, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  I was fortunate enough to be treated by a wonderful surgeon, Mr. Roger Slade. He just said that he would remove this “mass” and take it from there.

A few days after the surgery he came to tell me that in his opinion it was not ovarian cancer but which he had seen before. I recovered quickly and was then passed over to The Christie Hospital in Manchester for treatment in their clinic.

In March the following year, I had further surgery to remove the spleen, gall bladder and naval, plus “chemo wash“.  I had been thrown a lifeline. Far better to have pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) than ovarian cancer.

When I was in the hospital there was a man in his late 70s and a 17-year-old. This can hit anyone!

I go to The Christie every six months for a scan because there are still a few bits of the disease left but as yet there has not been any growth. I keep my fingers crossed; I feel fine, have gained weight and the new baby I thought I would not see is four and she has a sister now!  We have now been retired for eight years and we had a great trip to New York last year as you can see from the photo.

I survived the shock of it all and the surgery. I also found out once again what a wonderful husband I have. His support was and still is unfailing. We travel a lot and enjoy our grandchildren, what more could I need?

Ruth

#ChemoWash, #pseudomyxomaperitonei

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I had cytoreduction and HIPEC and now I’ve climbed Mount Kilimanjaro!

I had cytoreduction and HIPEC and now I’ve climbed Mount Kilimanjaro!

My local hospital happens to be the centre in Israel for treating this disease and two of the surgeons working there have extensive experience in performing cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC. To those of you have undergone this procedure, I don’t need to say more. If you are still recovering or about to undergo it, I wish you excellent care, strength, patience, and a complete recovery.

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Just when your life is going well, things are sent to mix it all up