When Amanda Davies turned 42, she started experiencing symptoms and changes to her body that doctors told her were like to be symptoms of perimenopause. She was extremely tired and started to experience painful periods as well as swelling. But, she thought there was more to it than the menopause.
The now 48-year-old from Neyland in Pembrokeshire explained: "I started getting stomach problems, feeling bloated, lots of IBS symptoms, I thought there is something more to it. I had massive pains to the point I would have to come home from work. Severe bloating. I was constantly going to the toilet to change, it was awful to think people were watching me walk across the corridor in work.
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"I constantly felt the need to be eating something. But I wouldn't be able to finish my food. I would eat as much as I could then an hour later I would be hungry again. I was going to the toilet more than usual, but I didn't see it as a pattern until afterwards. At my time of the month I went up two dress sizes and I would come back down.
"I kept going back and for the doctors saying I am struggling with my time of the month, they said you are probably peri menopausal. It was 'it's your age, it's stress, it's your job. I didn't see the same doctor each time, so they didn't pick up how many times I was going there."
Amanda had been going back and for to the doctors for 18 months with these problems before she finally got answers. As she lives with a congenital heart condition, her GP recommended that she go and see her cardiologist about the problems she was experiencing.
"I was really worried it was my heart," she said. In May 2016 her cardiologist performed an ultrasound on her heart. She said: "He was poker faced. He said I want you to take these water tablets and come back in a month. I started taking the water tables and I was severely sick. I could not stop being sick. I phoned our GP straight away they said I will keep the practice open to see you. He felt my stomach and he said I think I can feel something I think you have a blocked bowel. We went to A&E, we were there for hours, and they gave me a couple of different medications to stop the sickness.
"They started doing scans, they said you have the doctor to thank for this - my cardiologist had put on my notes to have urgent scans, because he knew there was something wrong. Then at 3am that morning, they told me it was a cancerous mass. A stage three tumour."
Amanda was referred to the oncology team in Swansea where she was told she had a low grade serous ovarian cancer. She was told this type of mass starts out very slow growing and can go undetected for years until later stages when it becomes more aggressive.
"I was told I had six to 12 months without treatment. No one with my heart condition had had chemotherapy before but they were willing to treat me if I wanted to try."
Amanda decided to go for the chemotherapy treatment despite the unknown risks of having chemo with her heart condition. The chemo was successful and was followed up by a full hysterectomy in February 2017.
"My nan died of ovarian cancer in 1989, I was tested to see if it was genetic but my nan was not my genetic link. It was hard for my mother. Her mother died of cancer and her daughter had the same cancer that killed her mother."
She added: "Chemo is hard, probably one of the hardest things you will ever do. I remember my biology teacher said chemotherapy is the closest you can come to being poisoned without dying. I had anaphylactic shock with the first session. It was the rate it was going into my body, they had to reduce the speed of the drip by half. It was an unknown test because of the heart condition. Instead of the normal sessions where people would have a day there then go back in three week, they had to do it at a lower dosage over a longer period of time"
Amanda had to have a full cardio surgery team on stand by during her hysterectomy in case anything went wrong with her heart. Fortunately the surgery went well and the cardio surgeons did not need to intervene. However six months after it, Amanda suffered an embolism and went into stage four heart failure. "I nearly died in A&E, all the family were called."
Amanda was treated with warfarin to move the clot and eventually needed an operation on her heart to replace a valve - which was her third heart operation in her lifetime. "It would not have happened if I had not had the chemotherapy."
She feels extremely grateful to the NHS for the treatment she has received over the years for both her heart and cancer. Adding: They have saved my life more than once. I feel really privileged to get up in the morning."
What is ovarian cancer?
According to a recent report from Target Ovarian Cancer, just over a quarter of women in Wales know that bloating is one of the key symptoms of ovarian cancer. And a quarter of women with ovarian cancer reported visiting their GP three or more times before being referred for tests. Over 300 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer in Wales each year, and survival rates are among the worst in Europe. Women are being failed, charity Target Ovarian Cancer says, and this must change.
Anyone with ovaries can get ovarian cancer but it mostly affects those over 50. According to the NHS, it can run in families and the risk of developing the cancer increases with age.
You may also have an increased risk of ovarian cancer if you:
- inherited a faulty gene, such as the BRCA genes or those linked to Lynch syndrome
- had breast cancer or bowel cancer
- had radiotherapy treatment for a previous cancer
- have endometriosis or diabetes
- started your periods at a young age or went through the menopause late (over 55), or have not had a baby – because these things may mean you’ve released more eggs (ovulated more)
- have never used any hormonal contraception, such as the pill or an implant
- are taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
- are overweight
- smoke
What are the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer?
According to the NHS, symptoms of ovarian cancer include frequently (roughly 12 or more times a month) having:
- a swollen tummy or feeling bloated
- pain or tenderness in your tummy or the area between the hips (pelvis)
- no appetite or feeling full quickly after eating
- an urgent need to pee or needing to pee more often
Other symptoms can include:
- indigestion
- constipation or diarrhoea
- back pain
- feeling tired all the time
- losing weight without trying
- bleeding from the vagina after the menopause
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