At the age of 39 she began to lose weight rapidly, which she put down to working long hours and looking after her children. Her periods then began to get lighter over the course of a few months to the point of having very few. She lived abroad, and on visiting the UK her family noticed her weight loss. Her abdomen was bloated but she had had pelvic inflammatory disease when she was younger, and put it down to that. On looking back, she realises she was also very tired most of the time. She went back to her home abroad and her symptoms persisted. She saw her GP and was sent for an ultrasound, and then trans-vaginal ultrasound. Growths were found and she went into hospital for surgery, thinking that she had endometriosis. She was, however, diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and had her uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, part of her omentum, half of her vagina and her cervix removed, and some cancer remained. Following surgery she was told that her cancer was a stage 4 ovarian cancer. She began chemotherapy (Taxol and cisplatin) a week later, which was not successful, and then peritoneal chemotherapy (cisplatin) directly into her abdomen. She went into remission but the treatment caused renal failure, which is now end stage. She has dialysis three times per week. She remained in remission for two years, and also moved back to the UK. She had CT scans every three months and these showed that new growths were forming on her bowel, diaphragm and liver. She had chemotherapy to target the largest tumour on her liver, but due to her kidney failure, she became very unwell and was in a coma in intensive care for two weeks, and then on a normal ward for two months. When she was intubated in intensive care, one of her vocal chords was paralysed. She used to be a singer and found this difficult to come to terms with. She also started on a trial of tamoxifen but experienced severe bone pain and stopped after a week. She has decided not to receive any further treatment, and now focuses on the use of complementary therapies, including homeopathy (such as mistletoe and Noni juice), spiritual healing, qijung (similar to tai chi), massage and the Alexander technique. She meditates daily and includes music in her life. At the time of interview it is seven years since her diagnosis.

She read books about surviving cancer psychologically and physically, and found Ovacome publications useful for being sensitive and realistic, but positive. Her local support group has also been a source of support, with its focus on quality of life and living with cancer. She found the sensitivity and compassion of the medical profession excellent, and particularly values her oncologist. She believes strongly in the power of the mind and aims to think positively, and not of herself as a cancer patient. She feels that having cancer has enriched her life and the lives of her family. She says she was a workaholic and cancer forced her to re-evaluate her priorities. She and her family now cherish every moment and each other, and don’t sweat the little stuff anymore.; She says that everything becomes so precious when you;ve come so close to losing it; and she is not ready to let go of life yet. Her husband and family have supported her throughout. She allows herself to plan a few months in advance and has a cruise planned at the time of interview. She has been on holidays and enjoys fine wine and dining. She encourages any woman with discomfort, tiredness, and changes in periods or weight to visit their GP promptly. She says that her family history of breast cancer led her to concentrate on that, and normalise any unrelated symptoms. She finds an American show-jumper, who has been living with ovarian cancer for fourteen years, an inspiration, and it reminds her that there can be life after diagnosis.