Jan told herself she must be going through the menopause when she noticed what seemed like regular symptoms, but they were actually a sign of a rare cancer.
Thankfully, he said that my prognosis looked as good as could be but we wouldn’t know properly until after I’d had surgery to remove the cancerous cells. I needed two major operations, then I’d be closely monitored for the next 10 years.
I had a de-bulking operation, which involved draining liquid out of my abdominal cavity. They told me afterwards they’d drained five litres and I’d lost two stone in the process. No wonder my stomach was so swollen. After the operation the doctor explained that I had probably had a burst appendix at some point in the past, which may have caused the cancer to spread.But six months later, in April, I returned to hospital for major surgery – this time I faced a nine-hour operation to remove my spleen, gallbladder, belly button and other ovary.
I was very scared about how the chemo would affect me because I’d never heard of it being done like this before.As I opened my eyes, groggy, post-surgery, I immediately clocked the huge scar from my breast bone to my public bone. I could barely stomach looking at it, and when I did touch it, I’d feel incredibly sad. With my belly button removed, I felt my stomach looked like the top of a pumpkin.
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