Woman’s plea to ‘get yourself checked out’
ADURHAM prison officer has told of her shock after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of just 23.
Emma College was so bloated that doctors thought she might be pregnant before they discovered the 30cms cyst.
And although ovarian cancer is mostly found in women aged over 50, Emma, now 24, is now on a mission to raise awareness that it’s not just older people who can get it.
“I’m determined to make sure that every young person knows about the signs and symptoms of cancer,” she said. “I want to let people know that it’s not just old people who get ovarian cancer.”
Emma was diagnosed with the Stage 3 cancer in September 2022, after her symptoms got so bad that she could barely eat. She had experienced bloating six months earlier, but thought – and was told – it was likely to be irritable bowel syndrome.
“I started a new job in a prison and we were doing restraint training. I was laying on the floor and I thought I could feel ball in my stomach. It felt like I was laying on a watermelon,” she said. “I then started going to the toilet more. I was thinking that maybe it’s not IBS but something else, like eating lots of salty food.
“I know people say don’t Google it but when I Googled my symptoms it always said that ovarian cancer is found in people mostly aged 50 and over. Even though I had the symptoms, I thought it was IBS - even the doctors were telling me it could be that.”
Emma said she became so bloated that she looked like she was pregnant, which doctors also considered, but multiple pregnancy tests were negative.
It was only when she was referred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead and the pain got so bad she went to A&E that an ultra-sound scan revealed the scale of her cyst.
Emma said: “At first, they thought it was just a cyst but then the doctors asked my mam to come in. When the doctors did the CT scan, they saw all of the cancer. It had spread to my stomach and the stomach lining.
“My first question was: ‘Am I going to die?’ and they told me I wasn’t. My mam started crying. I was crying too.”
Emma had the cyst and the ovary it was attached to removed in a fiveand-a-half hour operation, followed by nine and a half hours of surgery to carry out a full hysterectomy, along with the removal of her appendix, spleen and some of her bowel.
“Seeing the scars and the staples from my surgery really affected me at first but now I don’t care,” said Emma. “It shows what I’ve gone through.”
She then underwent six rounds of chemotherapy at the specialist Teenage Cancer Trust unit at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, supported by the charity’s Gemma Rutherford and Danielle Wotherspoon.
Now Emma wants to raise awareness of the cancer, saying: “If you’re worried about anything, it’s important to get it checked out, you won’t be wasting anyone’s time and if your symptoms persist, don’t give up, keep going back to the doctors for help.”
Emma had her last chemotherapy appointment in April 2023 and scans showed no evidence of her cancer. She is now back at work and enjoying an active outdoor life.
I want to let people know that it’s not just old people who get ovarian cancer Emma College