A primary school teacher who thought she was going through the menopause was devastated to learn that she had Ovarian cancer.
Emma Durkin was diagnosed with the disease, which is known as the 'silent killer', after suffering from barely any of the symptoms. The 48-year-old, who lives in West Denton, Newcastle, has now undergone a major operation to remove the cancer and will soon start chemotherapy.
The mum-of-two said that when her periods became irregular she thought she was starting the menopause. She started to suffer from pain and was told that she had an she had a abscess on her right ovary which needed to be drained.
Medics at the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) also found a cyst on her left ovary and removed them during key hole surgery. They also took a biopsy during the procedure which revealed she had Ovarian cancer.
Emma, who is mum to Laura, 30, and Daniel, 27, said: "This has been a massive shock. I wasn't expecting it, it was completely out of the blue. I had never heard of Ovarian cancer.
"I was always up to date with my smear tests and I thought they would pick up anything down there but they don't. Ovarian cancer is known as the silent killer because it's really hard to find.
"Three specialists looked at my scans and not one of them picked up the cancer. I wouldn't have known if it hadn't been for the biopsy. I would have just gone on not knowing and thinking I was going through the menopause."
Emma first visited A&E at the hospital in Newcastle 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, she started to suffer from pain in her left kidney. Emma 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 was asked to return to the hospital on June 1 so they could speak to her face to face. She said: "The consultant asked how I was. He basically just said I'm really sorry to tell you you have cancer. One of the first things I asked the doctor was 'Am I going to die?' and he couldn't answer. I was terrified. I looked at the survival rates and they're not very good. .
"I had a meeting with my consultant and she was brilliant, she talked me through everything. She told me that they weren't expecting it. None of the specialists had looked at the scans and saw it. It was picked up from the biopsy's. I'm lucky that they have caught it early."
Emma, who is also grandmother to Zak, five, Daisy, three, and Violet, two, 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.
The year one teacher, who has been left with a 40cm wound up her stomach, said: "I think everybody thinks of cancer as you being poorly with no hair. You never hear, or tend to see, the surgery side of it. I had 44 staples in my stomach and I was really sick. When I was in hospital I had almost given up, it was just horrific.
"The nurses are amazing and so is the consultant who did the operation - he's basically saved my life. They're worth their weight in gold. I have got a scan on the 22nd August to see if they have removed all of the cancer.
"There are spots around my bowel but the chemotherapy will kill it. I have got six rounds of chemotherapy and I'm absolutely terrified. I'm going to be having it all the way up until New Year."
Emma has described her cancer diagnosis so far as a "massive rollercoaster" but she says that she had a lot of support from family, friends, colleagues and the parents of the children she teaches. She said: "I think I've got stronger as the time goes on.
"I want to get better, to go back to work and to go on holiday. I want to do all the things I have planned. I'm going to have a totally different outlook on life once I have got over this and beat this.
"I just think people don't have a clue about Ovarian cancer. I just want people to be aware. It's a silent killer and it's killing women. If you have any issues to do with down below go and get them checked out. If you think something is not right get a second opinion."
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.
Read more:
