OVARIAN CANCER: DON’T BRUSH SYMPTOMS ASIDE, DO SOMETHING

Marisa Daicos

Ovarian cancer is the eighth most common cancer among Australian women, with about 1400 new cases each year.
It’s a cancer that may not cause symptoms in its early stages and, even if it does, they can be hard to recognise.
This means the cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, and is partly why survival rates are low — just 44 per cent of those diagnosed will survive for five years.
It’s been three and a half years since 52-year old mother-of-two Marisa Daicos was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer.
She is sharing her story as part of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, to raise awareness and encourage other women make their health a priority.
Marisa says she felt her body had “tricked her” and wishes she had seen a doctor sooner, as she had put her symptoms down to menopause and food intolerances.
“If we could just get all women to stop and think about whether they have got any of the symptoms and not brush them aside, but do something about it,” Marisa says.
“Women make too many excuses for the way we are feeling. Make this the month to get checked out.”
There is no early test for ovarian cancer, but you can lower the risk through a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables, by maintaining a healthy body weight, and by being aware of the signs and symptoms, which can include:

• Pressure, pain or discomfort in the abdomen or pelvis.
• A swollen or bloated abdomen.
• Changes in appetite, such as not feeling like eating, or feeling full quickly.
• Changes in toilet habits (constipation, diarrhoea, passing urine more often, increased wind).
• Indigestion or nausea.
• Feeling very tired.
• Unexplained weight loss or weight gain.
• Changes in the pattern of periods, or vaginal bleeding after menopause.
• Pain during sex.

These could be caused by something else, but if you have any and they are new for you, are severe or continue for more than a few weeks, arrange a check-up.
Marisa had been suffering from bloating and pelvic pain for a few months before seeing her GP, who sent her for tests, including an internal ultrasound.
Nothing showed up, but then, when her blood results came back, Marisa was sent for a CT scan that revealed shadowing around her abdomen.
Marisa was sent to Cabrini Gynaecological Oncologist Professor Tom Jobling.
“He was pretty straight to the point and said there was a good chance it was advanced ovarian cancer,” she says. “He organised a laparoscopy for the next day.
“I was pretty numb. The only way to cope was to tell myself it was all going to be fine.
“But I was in shock. Once I’d organised the paperwork, I got into the car and just lost it.”
Marisa’s worst fears became a reality and she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
Just two days later she underwent a total hysterectomy. After six days in hospital she went home before returning to Cabrini Brighton for chemotherapy four weeks later.
But just 12 months after her initial diagnosis, Marisa’s cancer markers began to rise and, on New Year’s Eve 2019, she was told her cancer had returned.
Marisa began chemotherapy that day, but it wasn’t working. She had become chemo resistant.
Then in March 2020, Marisa started on Olaparib, a twice-daily tablet, and Avastin, an in-hospital treatment every three weeks, and is now in remission.
Marisa says the gratitude she feels towards her GP, specialist and healthcare staff in general is overwhelming.
“They become like family. The kindness and the love people show – it’s just really amazing. I don’t know how I would have done it without them,” she says.
“I’ve never lost hope. There was just no way I could leave my kids, so I just kept hoping and praying that this wasn’t my time.”
For more information on Cabrini’s cancer services, go to www.cabrini.com.au/cancer