Your Stories
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Kirsty: “My wish for the future, is that together we can make ovarian cancer a disease every woman survives.”
Kirsty Chisholm was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer at just 29 years old. At the time, she and her husband were newly married and couldn’t wait to start their family. But they soon realised it wasn’t going to be that simple.
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Emma: "Never in my life did I think it would be me, especially not at 20"
It all started earlier in the year when I developed symptoms like having to get up to wee a lot during the night, feeling sick all the time and losing my appetite. The doctors and I both put it down to IBS, never in my life did I think it would be cancer.
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Anna Hannides: "I am eternally grateful to my gynaecologist for acting so quickly"
Anna was 24 years old when she was diagnosed with a stage 1c dysgerminoma. She shares her story.
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Kimberley Ramsay: "I’m one of 295,000 women diagnosed globally every year with ovarian cancer"
Kimberley Ramsay is top of our Walk In Her Name Step Challenge leaderboard having already raised over £2,000 for Ovarian Cancer Action whilst recovering from surgery.
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Danielle Golding: "All of a sudden I was 23 and going through the menopause"
Danielle was just 23 when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. It took months of going back and forth to the hospital before finding out she had tumours on both of her ovaries and required immediate surgery.
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Caroline Brown: "Research into early detection is paramount."
This year marks 26 years since Caroline's ovarian cancer diagnosis. She reflects on the importance of early diagnosis and the impact that cancer can continue to have on your mental health, even after being given the all-clear.
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Bethany Dinsley: "Everyone was complimenting me on losing weight"
Bethany was diagnosed with ovarian cancer two years ago, when she was just 19. She shares her story.
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Karen Lamont: "Early diagnosis is the key."
Karen was diagnosed with ovarian cancer aged 19. Now 30 years after her diagnosis, she shares her story.
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Younger women with ovarian cancer
21 May 2019
Laura Gibbon: "Had I known the symptoms of ovarian cancer I might not have left it so long before going to A&E"
Laura Gibbon's life changed forever in March 2016 when she was told she had stage 3c ovarian cancer. She had been unaware that the symptoms she was experiencing were associated with the disease.
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Fiona Munro: "I want to raise awareness that young women are also at risk of ovarian cancer"
Fiona was with diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer in February 2016 at the age of 30. She has since devoted her energy to helping other young women with ovarian cancer, and has even written a book about her journey.
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Younger women with ovarian cancer
15 March 2019
Jess Brown: "Treatment needed to be aggressive and to happen quickly"
Jess Brown is 26, a mum, and an ovarian cancer survivor navigating surgical menopause. Jess feels lucky her ovarian cancer was diagnosed early and is organising a Walk In Her Name to raise money for ovarian cancer research this March.
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Louise Mitchell: "Cancer has taken a lot from me, but it’s left me with a totally new perspective on life"
Louise was diagnosed with ovarian cancer after a pregnancy scan detected a mass on one of her ovaries. Now two years on from her diagnosis, she has thrown herself back into fitness and is determined to find the positives in her experience.
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Suzie Aries: "Now, my main focus is to make sure that every day is a good one"
Suzie Aries was diagnosed with Stage 3/4 ovarian cancer, aged 25. She shares her story and explains why research into early detection is so important.
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Jo Blankley: "When I look back to that time, I realise how easy it would have been to have ignored my symptoms"
Jo Blankley was diagnosed with ovarian cancer aged 29. Eight years on from her diagnosis, she shares her story to encourage other women to listen to their bodies and to act on anything that doesn't feel right...
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Younger women with ovarian cancer
02 March 2017
Fiona Murphy: "I had my appendix, omentum and a small piece of my bowel removed"
Fiona was just 25 when she was diagnosed with a rare type of ovarian cancer. She had no family history and the symptoms she was experiencing were initially overlooked because of her age.
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Emilie Woodman: "This was the first time in my life that someone had mentioned the connection between breast and ovarian cancer."
Emilie always knew it was a possibility that she might have the BRCA gene mutation as her mother and grandmother had both died from early onset breast cancer.
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Cara Wright: "I’d battled cancer and lost my baby to cot death all on the same day."
Cara's ovarian cancer was detected by a routine blood test when she four and a half months pregnant
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Laura Moses: "What has happened to me at 27 is very rare, but it can happen."
Diagnosed with ovarian cancer at just 27 and now on the road to recovery, Laura has started a blog to raise awareness of BRCA mutations and ovarian cancer for women of all ages.
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Sara Lowe: "Ovarian cancer was not something I had ever pondered before my diagnosis."
US-based Sara was was first diagnosed 15 March 2013 at the age of 21 and suffered a recurrence on 12 December 2014. Now in remission, she hopes to use her story to raise awareness of the disease and help others.
