So little is known about this cancer and I’m sharing my story in the hope that I can find someone else with the same diagnosis.
Survivor’s Story (UK) articles
Dead Man to Iron Man
As I came to terms with the news, I understood that it would be important for me to get as fit as I could to face such an invasive operation ominously dubbed the “The Mother of all Surgeries” or MOAS.
Stacey’s Local Landmarks Challenge
I don’t like running. I never have! I find it quite dull, BUT, give me some motivation and a challenge and I’ll do it!
My stomach looked really distended
When we got home from a family holiday and I looked at the photos, my stomach looked really distended. After noticing this, it just seemed to get worse and felt quite hard. I went to see the Doctor and he said I probably had wind or had just put on weight.
I was devastated at first as I am a single parent
Before I was diagnosed, I suffered from abdominal pain and tiredness. I felt full quickly after only eating small amounts. I saw various doctors who gave me a diagnosis between appendix, ovaries and bowel but no firm diagnosis.
The Waiting is Almost Over!
It’s just two days until my operation but how did I get to this point?
The call came out of the blue. When my gynae consultant’s secretary called, I thought she wanted to say the appointment I had changed was inconvenient. But no, she wanted to ask me to come back in! Even then I wasn’t particularly worried, didn’t really have a clue why…
I had no outward sign that this mass was inside my abdomen
Following an abnormal smear, I was referred to my local gynaecological oncology centre where an ultrasound scan revealed a complex mass believed to be ovarian in nature.
Surviving with pseudomyxoma peritonei
When I was diagnosed in with PMP in 1999, there was no information, no glossy pamphlets, no specialist nurses, no web site, NOTHING.
Diagnosed with pseudomyxoma peritonei when I was pregnant
Lauren was diagnosed with PMP following her 20-week prenatal ultrasound.
I felt something wasn’t right in my abdomen
I went to the doctor as I could feel a swelling and, yes, the doctor could feel it too. After taking pregnancy test under the doctor’s instruction, I was sent for an ultrasound.
Just when your life is going well, things are sent to mix it all up
Ruth was ignored by her GP until she asked to be referred to a gynaecologist.
The radiologist was rather puzzled by ‘a fluid in my stomach’
In the summer of 2008, after having pains in my side, which turned out to be gallstones, and not feeling at all well I went to see my doctor who sent me to Bristol General Hospital to have an ultrasound scan. During the examination, the radiologist was rather puzzled by, as she said ‘a fluid in my stomach’.