A primary school teacher is now officially in remission after battling a cancer known as the "silent killer".
Emma Durkin was diagnosed with ovarian cancer earlier this year. The 48-year-old, who lives in West Denton, Newcastle, initially thought she was starting the menopause when her periods became irregular.
Medics told her she had an abscess on her right ovary which needed to be drained and a cyst on her left ovary. They removed them during key hole surgery and took a biopsy, which revealed she had ovarian cancer.
Emma had a major operation to remove the cancer and underwent chemotherapy, which has caused her to lose her hair. After five sessions of chemotherapy, she was told that she was officially in remission.
Last week, Emma rang the bell at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle with her grandchildren Zak, six, Daisy, three, and Violet, two. She said: "It's a massive relief. It's been a long time coming, it's been a hard six months.
"I found out about three weeks ago, after chemo number four, that it looked like the cancer had gone. I was told I had a pulmonary embolism - a blood clot - on my lung and I have got to be on blood thinning injections for about six months.
"I had chemo number five and I got covid as well so I ended up in hospital with that. I saw my oncologist last Wednesday and he said 'You're officially in remission, we're not going to do chemo number six'.
"I rang the bell with the kids and it was so nice. We went for food afterwards to celebrate."
Emma first visited A&E at the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) on January 7 after she felt a sharp pain in her womb which left her unable to move. She had an MRI scan and was informed that she had an abscess on her ovary and given some antibiotics.
Four months later, on May 17, the mum-of-two started to suffer from pain in her left kidney. She returned to the hospital where she had another MRI scan and was told the abscess had returned and was wrapped around her kidney and her bowel. Three days later, she had key hole surgery to remove the abscess, a cyst and to take a biopsy.
Emma underwent further surgery to remove the cancer on July 4. She had a hysterectomy to remove her womb and surgeons also took away some of her lymph nodes and her stomach muscle, leaving her with a 40cm wound up her stomach.
Emma, who is mum to Laura, 30, and Daniel, 27, is now being put on maintenance treatment for two years to prevent the cancer from returning. She has been supported by her family, her partner Richie, 29, and friends.
She said: "It's kind of bitter sweet. They know there's a chance it could return but I have got to try and put that at the back of my mind.
"Hopefully it's onwards and upwards now. I don't look at life the same way anymore. I'm not out of the woods but I'm doing it and I'm getting there so fingers crossed!
"The last year has been up and down. It's been surreal a lot of the time and it's been heart-breaking. It's been really hard. The chemotherapy has been brutal but I have had to go through it to get better.
"I have had amazing support. Richie has been amazing, he's been there for every chemotherapy session I have had. I have had messages from people from work and it keeps you going. Dr Hughes at the Freeman Hospital has been amazing.
"I'm on maintenance treatment for two years, it's a tablet I take everyday. I'm hoping to be back at work in about March time."
Emma was inundated with support after sharing her story with Chronicle Live in July this year. She said she has made friends with others battling ovarian cancer through the story and during chemotherapy treatment.
She previously called for more awareness of the disease. She feels women are not as aware of ovarian cancer as they are other types of cancer such as breast cancer.
She said: "I have never met anybody in the early stages of ovarian cancer, it's always been stage three or four. It's not being picked up sooner. The awareness is just not there. It's just frustrating."
Emma has urged women to get checked out if they have any issues and not to be scared of having treatment such as chemotherapy.
According to the NHS, the main symptoms of ovarian cancer are a swollen tummy or feeling bloated, no appetite or feeling full quickly, pain or tenderness in your tummy and 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 and bleeding from the vagina after the menopause.
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