In November 2023, I was diagnosed with stage 3C ovarian cancer. It came as a complete shock to both me and my family. In hindsight, I did notice my stomach looked bloated, but I put that down to the more common causes. My husband also noticed I was slowing down and seemed more tired than usual, but I had no obvious symptoms, and there was no history of ovarian cancer in my family.
I’m not alone in this. A close friend was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer seven years ago, and a good friend of my daughter’s was diagnosed with stage 3 at just 27 – she's now 35 and both are doing well. Their experiences should give hope and optimism to us all. But how many more women remain completely unaware, just as I was?
Sheer luck
It was sheer luck that the cancer was found. A good friend felt that “at our age” we should prioritise our health and suggested I get a check-up. A few weeks later, I booked an “MOT” with my GP. During my appointment, I suspect the GP felt something abnormal in my stomach and added a CA125 blood test to the others. At this stage, there was no mention of ovarian cancer.
Fast forward to just before Christmas: I had my first round of chemotherapy. After the second round, I developed sepsis and spent eight days in the hospital. Once I completed my initial course of chemotherapy, I underwent cytoreductive surgery.
Unfortunately, another infection followed, and I found myself back in hospital. By May, I had completed six rounds of chemotherapy with the added bonus of having an allergic reaction to the final one. Now, I’m on Niraparib.
Sanctuary
During those early months of treatment, I struggled to process everything that was happening to me and what lay ahead. It was winter, and I retreated into what I called my sanctuary – my home – where I spent hours watching TV, trying to cope with the various side effects of chemo.
One thing that stood out during this time was the constant media coverage about breast, bowel, and prostate cancer awareness. I was very frustrated and upset because not once did I hear ovarian cancer mentioned.
Onwards and upwards
It was through a friend I first learned about Target Ovarian Cancer. It was great to see that they were raising awareness and advocating for better tests and treatments for women like me. We all know the statistics – we have a better chance of survival if the cancer is caught in its early stages.
We're fortunate to have so many treatments available today, thanks to ongoing research and the generosity of donors. My personal motto through all of this has been “onwards and upwards.”
To anyone reading this who is also going through a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, I wish you strength. It's an overwhelming journey, full of fear, doubt and anxiety that affects entire families. But there is hope thanks to the incredible research and hard work of charities like Target Ovarian Cancer.
An update from Margaret – October 2025
This time last year I thought I was closing the chapter on my ovarian cancer diagnosis, but after six months it returned. I was devastated. It affected me more this time. Maybe because I saw others around me living relatively normal lives after their initial treatment. And maybe because I thought I would too.
I will never be cured, nor will I ever feel ‘normal’ again, but I am determined to make sure there is much awareness of the disease as possible. And people know it as well as breast cancer and prostate cancer.
The symptoms of ovarian cancer can be confused with other things. I put my tiredness and chronic constipation down to an underactive thyroid and ‘getting old’. To this day, I am grateful to my friend who suggested we got a ‘MOT’ because of our age, and to the doctor who flagged that something could be wrong and undertook a CA125 blood test.
Everyone’s experience is different when they are living with ovarian cancer. I am HRD negative, so my body didn’t respond well to the maintenance drugs available. But I didn’t know this until I started research and reading about it. Right now, I am doing fine but the treatment this time has been difficult and exhausting.
Before I was told the cancer had come back, I was determined to make more people aware of ovarian cancer. I feel that since I was diagnosed in November 2023 that the profile of the disease hasn’t been raised, and I am desperate for that to change.
I needed to do something, play a part in getting more people to hear the symptoms. I decided to sign up to Target Ovarian Cancer Ovar-Dressed London fundraising event – a walk in Regent’s Park which I completed with my husband, my children, their partners and children. People were very generous, and we raised over eight thousand pounds – which will go towards the charity’s efforts into awareness, diagnosis, support and research.
I didn’t think I’d ever do something like that, it’s not in my nature to put myself in the spotlight, let alone ask people for money. But when I thought about it, I felt like Ovar-Dressed really was something I could do. Something that would make a difference. I reached out to everyone in my address book (and my husband’s!) and told them about my diagnosis and Target Ovarian Cancer.
The conversations that came up and all the money that was raised was fantastic, I think it’s a great way to get other people involved and raise the profile of the disease, because quite honestly in the two years since my diagnosis I don’t hear ovarian cancer being spoken about much at all.
This is a way we can reach more people… by bringing them together for an event. Meeting people with real-life but varied experiences.
It’s time we ramped up the conversation on ovarian cancer, and get everyone understanding exactly what it is, and what to look out for.
Join others like Margaret at Ovar-Dressed London
Ovar-Dressed London takes place in Regent's Park on Sunday 19th October. Go 5k or 10k in your best ovar-the-top outfit to help us stop ovarian cancer devastating lives.
