Hospital nurse Mater Brisbane was recently told she had no cancer, and said she “never felt happier”.
“I was diagnosed in late December 2020, just days after Christmas,” Mrs. Harridge said. “I was very tired, had indigestion, severe abdominal pain and an irregular menstrual cycle. “I listed all these symptoms as something else – lactose intolerance, a burning candle on both ends and replenishment after our recent vacation.”
Mrs. Harridge of Birkdale eventually went to see her doctor, who was diagnosed with a rare type of ovarian cancer.
The survival rate of Australian women diagnosed with ovarian cancer is less than 50 percent. It is estimated that 1,720 Australian women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, and 1,042 women will die from the disease – one woman every eight hours. 1
Mrs. Harridge said her path to cancer was “incredibly emotional.”
“I was so young and I didn’t believe it could happen to me,” she said. “I worked full time, went to the gym four times a week and was very active.”
Due to the lack of a family history of ovarian cancer, Mrs. Harridge said the diagnosis left her in “complete disbelief” and used her experience to warn other women of the dangers of ignoring or being too busy to eliminate persistent symptoms.
“We all know our bodies so well. We know what is normal and what is not. I urge other women not to delay seeing a doctor. Don’t say you’re too busy to check everything out, ”Mrs. Harridge said.
“It could be a life or death situation. I was lucky because I had cancer of the first stage, and it was found at the right time, but everything could have been completely different. “
Mrs. Harridge returned to work and said her family was very supportive of her all the way to cancer.
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https://shesociety.com.au/health/ovarian-cancer-survivor-says-dont-ignore-the-symptoms/
