A MUM “felt like she’d been shot” when the results of private scans costing £1,500 revealed the true cause of her “IBS”.
Natalie Pearce, 52, a teacher from Leeds, wasn’t initially too worried when she noticed some bloating that made her trousers “feel tight”.
She was young, fit and healthy, and her husband David, 56, who works in the medical profession, was reassuring.
“It was 2012, and I had just turned 40,” Natalie remembers.
“I started getting weird bloating symptoms. My trousers would feel tight one day, and the next day it wouldn’t be so bad.
“I also began not to feel hungry, and feel full after eating something small.
“It was a weird symptom because I’d never had it before and I hadn’t changed my diet, but I didn’t initially panic.”
When the strange sensations continued after a few weeks, Natalie Googled her symptoms and began to worry.
She’d also noticed new pains in her stomach when she slept on her side.
Natalie and her husband decided they would go to the GP but didn’t find answers.
“I knew my symptoms were a bit vague, but I was convinced that something wasn’t right,” she explains.
A locum at her GP practice dismissed Natalie, saying she “probably had IBS” and that she should make some changes to her diet.
However, Natalie begged him to refer her for a scan, saying she could feel something was wrong – and he reluctantly agreed, though he wrote “nil symptoms” on the referral.
“I was so annoyed,” Natalie recalls. “I thought, ‘I know my symptoms are vague, but they’re not nothing’.”
By now convinced something was terribly wrong, Natalie couldn’t bear to wait months for a scan, so she stumped up £1,500 to have tests privately – including an MRI, a CT scan and some biopsies.
It was then that Natalie was told she in fact had stage 3c ovarian cancer.
We all get too busy with our lives and we don’t put ourselves first. It’s so important to trust your instincts
Natalie Pearce
“When the doctor said, ‘I’m so sorry to tell you it’s ovarian cancer’, I felt like I’d been shot,” Natalie says.
“I’d convinced myself that ovarian cancer was something that older people got.
“My children were just 10 and 12 and I was terrified I might not see them grow up.
“I had no family history of cancer. I’ve always been slim, healthy and a non-smoker. I was in complete shock.
“I’d convinced myself that it was just going to be some harmless cysts.
“My heart just stopped. I couldn’t believe that this was so serious, after these symptoms, which were annoying and uncomfortable, but didn’t seem so sinister.”
Ovarian cancer does usually affect older women – with 28 per cent of diagnosed women in the UK aged 75 and over.
But Natalie was one of the 700 women per year diagnosed in her 40s.
In total, there are more than 7,500 cases per year.
Major ops to remove womb and breasts
“I look back and I think, ‘If I’d waited for a month or so for that first scan, I don’t know if I’d still be here because it was having those tests so quickly that made a difference’,” Natalie says.
“Most people don’t know anything about ovarian cancer: it’s not on their radar.
“We all know the symptoms of breast cancer and to check our breasts, but we can pass off so many of the symptoms of ovarian cancer by blaming it on IBS or our diets.”
Natalie’s doctor encouraged her to have genetic testing, and it was soon discovered that she, along with other members of her family, had the BRCA1 mutation, which increases the chance of certain cancers, including breast and ovarian cancer.
Natalie tested positive for the ‘Angelina Jolie’ gene, which means she is at higher risk of ovarian and breast cancer[/caption]
Natalie, pictured with her children, who were 10 and 12 years old when she was diagnosed[/caption]
She describes the fear of her cancer returning like ‘psychological torture’[/caption]
As an Ashkenazi Jew, Natalie is 10 times more likely to carry the BRCA gene mutation that heightens a person’s risk of ovarian cancer.
Natalie says: “In a bizarre way, it was quite a relief to find out about the BRCA gene, because I had thought, ‘Why have I had cancer? It’s so unfair’.
“But actually having that faulty gene made complete sense and it explained why I’d got it at such a young age.”
Natalie had a large mass on each ovary and the cancer had spread into her abdomen.
After chemotherapy, she had a full hysterectomy to remove her uterus, or womb, which brought on early menopause.
She then took part in a clinical trial for the last three rounds of chemo.
Natalie says she is naturally an anxious worrier, but adds: “After that diagnosis, I thought, ‘I’ve got to deal with this. I need to be the kind of person that fights this and puts on a brave face’.
“A positive attitude is so important. It wasn’t the original me, but it really helped.”
‘Psychological torture’
Even after the treatment and surgery was over, and Natalie was declared cancer-free in April 2013, the hard times weren’t over.
She had a preventative double mastectomy and breast reconstruction in October 2014 because her risk of breast cancer is higher, due to her genes.
Both her breasts were removed, followed by surgery to create new breast tissue (either using implants or other body tissue).
Natalie says: “When I was confronted with my faulty gene, I thought it was amazing.
“Knowledge is power and it allows you to take preventative action, and test the rest of your family.
“Finishing the treatment was actually one of the hardest times, because you’re so relieved you’ve finished, but it’s so terrifying to think, ‘What next?’
“You’re just absolutely terrified it’s going to come back. The chance of a recurrence is so high.
“It was like psychological torture.”
What are the signs of ovarian cancer?
Ovarian cancers affects the ovaries – the organs that store the eggs needed to make babies.
It mostly affects women over the age of 50 and can sometimes run in families, according to the NHS.
Symptoms of the cancer can be vague, particularly in its early stages, Cancer Research UK SAYS.
The charity advises you speak to a GP if you have the following symptoms:
- Feeling full quickly
- Loss of appetite
- Pain in your abdomen or lower part of your abdomen that doesn’t go away
- Bloating or an increase in the size of your abdomen
- Needing to wee more often
- Tiredness that is unexplained
- Weight loss that is unexplained
- Changes in your bowel habit or symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, especially if this starts after the age of 50
The NHS added that bleeding from the vagina after the menopause could be another possible symptom of ovarian cancer.
It was only years after being diagnosed that Natalie realised her chances of surviving beyond five years were actually pretty slim. It’s been 12 years since her diagnosis.
At her stage, 3c, 30 per cent will survive their cancer for five years or more after they are diagnosed, according to Cancer Research UK.
So Natalie recommends others take their symptoms seriously.
“We all get too busy with our lives and we don’t put ourselves first,” she says. “It’s so important to trust your instincts.
“I could not believe how serious it was after just a couple of months of symptoms.
“Your mind can play tricks on you and convince you you’re making a fuss over nothing.
“We try to convince ourselves that things aren’t serious, which is human nature. But if you have any unusual symptoms, keep a diary.
“We know our own bodies: you know if something is different and not normal.
“Get tests done and don’t take no for an answer because it can quickly become very serious.
“If you catch cancer early, it’s got so much more chance of being treatable.”
To find out more about Natalie’s story and the work of the Institute of Cancer Research, click here.
