“I always thought if you had cancer, you’d know in your body that you had it. That it would be really obvious. The whole experience was surreal. When I was at home, I was just Mam. There was all this serious stuff happening in the hospital, but afterwards I’d go home and our life just felt normal again.”
A Mam in her thirties with two young children, Lorraine was living a completely normal life. Until she developed a urinary tract infection that she couldn’t shake.
On Lorraine’s third visit to the GP after two rounds of antibiotics didn’t clear her UTI, her GP ordered some tests.
“Something didn’t feel right. It felt like someone was pressing on my ovary. Like a tapping sensation. I decided to go to A&E at Connolly Hospital even though I wasn’t in pain. I got an ultrasound and discovered I had two cysts on my ovaries, adenomyosis and uterine fibroids. There was a lot going on.
“The cysts were 11cm and 5cm. My consultant decided to do a CA-125 blood test, which tests for ovarian cancer. They wanted to rule things out, thinking it might be endometriosis. I never once thought I could actually have cancer.
“My consultant also ordered an MRI, but it was a six-month waiting period. I figured it’d be a few months down the line. The next day, I got a call, ‘We want to confirm that you’re in for your MRI tomorrow.’ If I’ve just jumped a six-month queue for a scan, I thought, something’s not right here. My mind began to race. I was so afraid.
“A few days later, the results from the blood test and the MRI came in. I got a call, ‘The doctor needs to see you today.’ They couldn’t give any other information over the phone, and the panic started to build…
“In my head, I knew if three people were waiting to speak to me, it was going to be serious. I met with the Gynae doctor first, and then a nurse. One, two. I thought: We’re going to be fine. Then, they told me they were waiting for the other doctor. The tears began to flow – the news wasn’t good.
“I was told it was a 50:50 scenario. I could either have ovarian cancer, or it could be endometriosis. I was considered ‘too young’ to have ovarian cancer, but the scans just didn’t make sense. They decided to refer me to the Mater Hospital.
“At this point, I was still trying to be optimistic. But there were little hints of which way things were going.
“The following week I met with Dr Claire Thompson and Nurse Emma in the Mater. They were so kind. They were so lovely in how they handled everything.
“When you walk into that room, your mind freezes and you don’t take things in. You feel like you’re having an out of body experience, like this isn’t happening, this isn’t real life. I was just in shock.
“They needed to do a laparoscopy… to go in with a camera and see what we were dealing with. Claire drew visuals of different tumours and showed me what mine looked like. They answered every question I could think to ask.
“So yeah, it was definitely cancer. I wasn’t in limbo anymore. Everything happened very quickly then. There wasn’t time for me to overthink and be afraid. Claire was already planning my big surgery.
“After the laparoscopy, Claire and Emma came to my room. I had stage 3C cancer. I never would have thought. There were no signs. I wasn’t in pain, no heavy periods.
“Two weeks later I had my cytoreductive surgery – to remove all visible tumours. It lasted about 9 hours. I had a full hysterectomy, bowel resection, and they removed my spleen, gallbladder and appendix. When everything was checked, they confirmed my cancer had advanced to stage 4B. The cancer cells had spread.
“About a month after my surgery, I started on chemotherapy. They gave me this big bag of pills for prep. I knew once I took those tablets, my whole life was going to change. That’s the scary part. If you don’t do the treatment, you know what’s going to happen. But even with the treatment there’s no guarantee how things might turn out. You just have to trust it will work for you.
“I didn’t know what to expect when I went to the Day Ward on St Vincent’s for my chemo treatment. But the team there could not have been kinder, I was looked after so well.
“When my hair started falling out after the first round of chemotherapy, I said to my daughter, ‘I really don’t like my hair being black anymore.’ She said, ‘Yeah, me neither.’ I asked her, ‘Will I shave it off?’ and she agreed, ‘Yeah okay.’ So, we had a pizza party! My husband shaved off my hair and my daughter danced around the room. She never really questioned things, just went with the flow. Kids are so resilient that way.
“I did six rounds of chemotherapy in the Day Ward and then I started on oral treatment, and I’ll finish that round of therapy this summer. I feel very lucky. I’ve had minimal side effects from treatment.
“And since December of 2024, I’ve had no evidence of disease. Moving forward, I will be linking in with the Breast Clinic at the Mater because I carry the BRCA1 gene. This means I have a higher chance of developing both ovarian and breast cancer.
“At the minute, we’re just observing. When my ovarian cancer treatments are fully finished, I will have check-ins at the Breast Clinic four times a year. A mastectomy will come down the line to reduce the chance of breast cancer. That’s all very much at my pace, when I am ready. What I’ve gone through so far is pretty big, so I’m taking my time. For now, I do self-breast checks every single day.
“It feels so surreal. Like a story I tell but not something I actually went through. I feel so good now, it’s hard to believe that was me only two years ago. One thing I would say to other women is you know your body best. If something feels off, talk to someone… don’t wait. No one can see what’s going on from the outside.”
Lorraine, Co Dublin
To help raise awareness for World Ovarian Cancer Day, we are asking kind supporters like yourself to donate to our women’s cancer care fundraising event, Marilyn’s Mater Paddle. Or if you wish, we’d love for you to join us on Sunday 24th May for Marilyn’s Mater Paddle!