Candace H’s Story

I was diagnosed in April 2023 with ovarian cancer stage 3c at the age of 33 after 2 years of back and forth to the doctors complaining of bowel issues, bladder issues, periods being every two weeks, and pelvic pain. In the end, I had a private scan, and it revealed it wasn’t just my endometriosis but something more sinister. Three weeks after getting my biopsy results, I had to go to a specialist hospital and have ultra-radical surgery to remove the cancer. When I woke up, I had a cut from my pelvis to my breasts and had a full hysterectomy, bladder lining, and stomach lining removed, spleen, appendix, Morrison's pouch, half my diaphragm, part of my vagina removed, and a double bowel resection. After a long recovery, I had 6 rounds of chemotherapy, and I’m so thankful to be cancer-free at the moment. Although I have only just finished chemo, I’m very hopeful and looking forward to getting my life back and spending time with my 9-year-old son.

I found that unless I asked questions, I didn’t really get told a lot, and the mental bashing that goes along with the diagnosis and waiting for results and going through treatment is horrible. As I had a hysterectomy, I was put into early menopause at the same time as going through this rollercoaster, so that has been interesting, to say the least. However, I was lucky enough to find a friend at one of my first appointments who had exactly the same cancer as me, and we kept in touch the whole way through. Both having the same surgery within 6 days of each other at the same hospital and chemo at the same hospital too. It was nice to talk to someone who was going through the same thing and feeling the same as well. I would love to be there for others when they are having a bad time, so when I came across this page that my friend had posted on, I thought what a fantastic thing to do!

Keep fighting, everyone. You’ve got this, and you are not alone! Love and light to you all x.

-Candace