I am a 41 year old teacher and I was just about to go to visit my husband’s parents in Las Vegas for Spring Break. My stomach was bothering me and I didn’t want to travel with a stomach virus, so I made an appointment to see my doctor. She told me not to worry, that I had gas pains which can be very uncomfortable, but not serious. A few days later the pain got worse, I went to the emergency room. They told me I was constipated and sent me home. The pain was so bad that I went back to the hospital a second time. They gave me an enema and sent me home again. Telling me to follow up with my doctor. My doctor sent me to a gastroenterologist to have a colonoscopy. He said my symptoms were completely normal, and he gave me the prep for a colonoscopy to fix the “problem”. Half way through drinking the prep, I began to throw up and was told to go back to the emergency room. They did a cat scan and finally found out that it was not gas or constipation, but stage 4 ovarian cancer! I have since had 2 surgeries and a 5 month course of chemotherapy. I am currently showing no evidence of disease and hope to spend this time educating others about this disease.

Andrea
NY