My period pain was cancer!! True Life Story...Read

Brave mum Julie is sharing her story to warn other women not to ignore the deadly symptoms
Julie Morgan, 43, Mount Waverley, Vic

Sitting down with my three kids, my stomach swirled with nerves. 'You know how Mummy had an operation?' I said gently. 'They found some cancer.' My eldest daughter Luella, 11, burst into tears while Chelsea, nine, sat in stunned silence. My boy, Cooper, seven, was too young to understand, but looked crushed. I was devastated I'd upset them, but I wanted to tell the truth.

It all began in February 2013, when I started getting abdominal pain. My periods had also become heavy and extremely uncomfortable. Assuming it was just because I was getting older, I tried to grin and bear it. Like most mums, I was too busy with the kids and my job as a teacher to worry about myself. 'It's probably just a cyst,' I told my husband, Craig, 45. But after three months, I went to see my GP just in case. After feeling my lower abdomen, my doctor sent me for an ultrasound. The scan revealed I had a dermoid cyst, a benign type of mass, on each ovary.

Going in for minor surgery to remove them, it was a simple procedure. But when I woke up the surgeon looked serious. 'Things didn't go to plan,' he said seriously. 'We found some tumours on your ovaries. I'll be able to tell you more tomorrow.' I've never been so scared in my life. 'What if it's cancer?' I cried to Craig. When I was younger, my mum, Pauline, 70, had battled breast cancer. Thankfully she'd survived and I was always cautious to check for changes in my breasts. But I didn't know anything about ovarian cancer.

The next 24 hours were the longest of my life. With my mind running wild, I spent the morning reading up on ovarian cancer. But it only made me feel worse. Was I going to die? What would I tell the kids? By the time the phone rang, I'd got myself into a state. 'You've got what we call borderline cancer,' the doctor said. 'It's not deadly but we can't leave it either. You'll need a hysterectomy right away.'

After 24 hours of imagining the worst, this actually felt like good news! I already had three wonderful kids, so I was prepared to lose my womb. Going in for the operation a week later, I just wanted life to go back to normal. Instead, there was more bad news. 'There were so many tumours, your ovaries were fused to the uterus wall,' the doctor said, explaining they'd sent the tumours for analysis. When the kids came in to see me, I tried to put on a brave face.

Back home two weeks later, Mum was visiting when I got the news I'd been dreading. 'Two of the tumours were invasive cancer,' the doctor said. 'You're going to need chemotherapy'. Feeling helpless, I collapsed into Mum's arms and wept. Going online, I read up on how to explain cancer and chemotherapy to kids. Realising I needed to keep things as simple as possible, I carefully broke the news. 'The cancer's gone,' I told them. 'But the chemo is to make sure it doesn't come back.' Watching their faces crumple, I wondered if I was doing the right thing. After they asked lots of questions, their main concern was about me losing my hair. 'It's a small price to pay to stop the cancer,' I told them.


Starting chemo a week later, my hair became sparse as the side effects took hold. Sometimes I felt so bad, all I wanted to do was crawl under the covers. But I carried on working two days a week and tried to stay positive. While my two girls seemed to be coping, Cooper became anxious. He refused to go to school and wasn't sleeping properly. I was desperate to help him. Then I had a brainwave while reading him one of his favourite Mr. Men books. 'How about we write our own book together?' I suggested. I figured it would be the perfect way to explain what was happening.

The next morning we created Little Miss Brave and wrote about her cancer diagnosis and treatment. She went into hospital for her first chemotherapy, I wrote. Sitting in a comfortable chair, Little Miss Brave enjoyed reading a book, having a cup of tea and eating crackers and cheese. The story ended happily with Little Miss Brave's hair growing back and her having a big party.

After writing the book with Cooper, he was like a different boy. 'Did you sit in your chair today?' he asked after one session. 'Yes I did,' I replied, smiling. It helped the girls too. I even took Luella with me once so she could see what it was like.

At times the chemo was so difficult, I'd wonder if I could go on. The worst part was the constant ache in my bones. When my hair became more sparse, I decided to shave it off. Sitting down in a chair in front of Craig with a razor, I had to laugh. 'I bet you never expected to be doing this when we got married!' I joked.

I wore a wig out in public, but each night Cooper asked to see my bald head. Then he'd rub my scalp with his tiny hand. 'It's so soft!' he exclaimed. After four long months, the chemo was over and I could finally focus on the future. Packing up the kids, we took a family holiday to celebrate.

It's been two years since I finished treatment and I still have checks every three months. Thankfully the cancer hasn't returned and my long-term prognosis is good. haI'm so glad I took my children through my cancer journey with me. Now aged 14, 11 and 10, they have grown into resilient and empathetic young kids. My message this is for all women to listen to their bodies. While it might be easy to ignore little niggles and pains, hoping they'll go away on their own, it's so important to get checked by a doctor. I did and it saved my life.
As told to Riah Matthews
Originally published in that's life! Issue 5, 2016, cover date 4th Feb 2016.

Ovarian Cancer

Each year 1480 Aussie women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. In Australia, the overall five-year survival rate is 43 per cent. In comparison, the five-year survival rate for women with breast cancer is 89 per cent.
If diagnosed early, women have an 80 per cent chance of being alive and well after five years. Unfortunately, 75 per cent of women are diagnosed at an advanced stage, when the cancer is difficult to treat successfully.
Symptoms include:

• Abdominal or pelvic pain.
• Increased abdominal size or persistent abdominal bloating.
• The need to urinate often or urgently, or feeling full after eating a small amount.

If these symptoms are new for you and you experience one or more of them persistently over a four-week period, you should consult your GP.