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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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