How my 'break-up' stomach ache was diagnosed as ovarian cancer

Marie-Claire Dorking
Updated

A woman who thought her stomach ache was a result of break-up "anxiety" was eventually diagnosed with ovarian cancer, aged just 19.

Storm Reveley, now 22, a beauty therapist from Nottingham had recently split from her ex-partner, when she suddenly started suffering from stomach pains. Initially she assumed the pain and loss of appetite she started experiencing in March 2021 was due to the stress of the relationship breakdown.

"I started getting a bit of belly ache," says Storm, reflecting on the symptoms. "Then I wondered if I was lactose intolerant."

(Storm Reverley/SWNS)
Storm Reveley thought her symptoms were due to the stress of a break-up but she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. (Storm Reveley/SWNS) (SWNS)

But, despite cutting out dairy, Storm continued to get abdominal pain as well as feeling sick and a loss of appetite, again not unusual to experience after a stressful break-up.

"I couldn't eat anything," she explains. "I would have a mouthful and be full, which was not like me."

Storm also noticed she was losing weight, bloating and feeling lightheaded. "I started waking up in the middle of the night with a painful bladder, paired with abnormal bowel movements."

Concerned about her increasing symptoms, Storm made a GP appointment. They originally thought she may be suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and told her to come back if the symptoms continued.

But, when a friend spotted Storm in pain at college she took her to hospital. "They felt my tummy and told me they could feel a mass, which they thought was a twisted ovarian cyst," Storm explains.

Storm was just 19 when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. (Storm Reveley/SWNS)
Storm was just 19 when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. (Storm Reveley/SWNS) (Storm Reveley/SWNS)

She was told the mass was the approximate size of an 18-week-old foetus. "I went back in the morning for an ultrasound," Storm continues. "But they couldn't see my ovary at all."

Storm was admitted for a CT scan but when she started to show signs of infection, doctors took her to surgery. "They prepped me for keyhole surgery but when they started operating they realised it was going to be major surgery because it was a tumour and not a cyst," she says.

Following the six-hour surgery, in which the tumour was removed, Storm faced an anxious wait for her biopsy results. "I was in so much pain I was so glad to have had the surgery and for the pain to be gone," she says. "I felt relieved. But I probably didn't understand the full extent of what I was facing."

Storm's doctor originally thought she might have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) but told her to come back if her pain continued. (Storm Reveley/SWNS)
Storm's doctor originally thought she might have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) but told her to come back if her pain continued. (Storm Reveley/SWNS) (Storm Reveley / SWNS)

In June 2021, following the surgery in May, Storm was diagnosed with germ cell ovarian cancer.

According to Cancer Research UK, germ cell ovarian tumours begin in the ovarian cells that develop into eggs (germ cells). They are rare and usually affect girls and young women up to their early 30s.

"When I got my diagnosis, my immediate reaction was to burst out crying, because my parents were crying," Storm says of the moment she learned what had been causing her symptoms. "But at the time the doctors didn't say the word cancer. They said it was a germ cell tumour and I had to ask if that was cancer?"

Later that month, Storm began four rounds of chemotherapy as treatment for her cancer. Thankfully, in September 2021 Storm was able to ring the bell and is now cancer-free. But, unsurprisingly her journey has impacted her mentally.

Storm Reveley rings the bell at the end of her ovarian cancer treatment. (Storm Reveley/SWNS)
Storm Reveley rings the bell at the end of her ovarian cancer treatment. (Storm Reveley/SWNS) (Storm Reveley/SWNS)

While she was able to remain positive throughout treatment, she says she struggled afterwards. "I didn't allow myself to feel any of the anger, frustration or sadness," she explains. "It has an impact on you when you finish treatment. It doesn't end when you ring the bell."

Storm says she also struggled with grieving the "old me." "I lost my hair and had to wear wigs," she says. "It's the little things you don't expect."

She is also concerned her cancer treatment may have impacted her fertility. "They don't know for definite," she says. "My egg count is lower than the average person my age but I'm still fertile to an extent. You think for the future - how am I going to feel when my friends are having babies if I can't?"

  • Ovarian cancer is the 6th most common cancer in women in the UK, accounting for about 7,500 new cases and 4,100 deaths each year.

  • According to NHS Inform, ovarian cancer is rare in people under 40 and particularly rare in girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 19.

  • Age-specific incidence rates rise steadily from around age 10-14 and more steeply from around age 40-44 with a peak at age 75-79. The highest rates are in the 75 to 79 age group.

  • There are thee types of ovarian cancer: epithelial tumours, germ cell tumours and stromal cell tumours, but teenagers and young women are most likely to be affected by the germ cell tumour type.

  • Germ cell tumours start in the egg-producing cells of the ovary. According to Cancer Research UK symptoms of germ cell ovarian cancer might include: pain in your tummy (abdomen) or lower part of your abdomen that doesn't go away, bloating or an increase in the size of your abdomen ad irregular periods.

  • Treatment depends on your type of germ cell tumour. It also depends how far it has grown (the stage). And what the cells look like under the microscope (the grade). The main treatment is surgery. You might need chemotherapy if your tumour is cancerous. Treatment usually works well and most women are cured.

Additional reporting SWNS.

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