Preeti

Preeti was just 41 when she started experiencing severe abdominal pains, back in 2007. It took a further seven years, which included a host of tests and trips to the doctors, before she received a diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer at Stage 3C.

“I had a number of trips to the GP, but it was just put down as hormonal changes. I was going two or three times a month but not really getting anywhere in understanding what was wrong with me, all the while the pain was unbearable.”

Alongside experiencing agonising pain, Preeti struggled with the fact that she could no longer fully concentrate on her work, and that she had to take a number of sick days.

“I had lots of sick days, and it was really worrying me about what work or others might think. However, I also thought that if I had to keep bending over and holding my tummy - how was I supposed to work like that? Naturally I started having lots of discussions about my sickness record and formal meetings with HR, but I just kept thinking this is not my fault and I just need to find out what’s wrong with my body.”

Preeti’s concerns and anxiety were also heightened by her awareness of her family history of ovarian cancer, and her mother had sadly passed away from the disease in 2002.

“In 2000, my mother at the age of 60 was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer stage 4. Prior to her diagnosis, she was regularly visiting her GP with abdominal pain, bloating, eating less but feeling full, back pain as well as having to go to the toilet more frequently. The GP examined and said ‘it’s hormonal changes and basically - all Asians have bigger tummies especially women so it’s nothing to worry about’ – I couldn’t really believe it.”

After three laparoscopies and an elevated CA125 test, Preeti’s concerns were taken more seriously. She was given an ovarian cancer diagnosis and informed of the need for surgery.

“From no one being overly concerned everything just suddenly fast-tracked. I had a meeting with my consultant and they basically said, ‘we suspect you might have cancer, and we need to do all of the tests again’. It was after those tests that I was told I needed a full abdominal hysterectomy."

Preeti’s diagnosis was a shock, despite feeling something had been wrong for years. There was little time for Preeti to process her diagnosis before having to inform her workplace that she would be going for surgery and had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

“I work as a Pharmacy Technician in a hospital and I was open about my diagnosis with my workplace, I told them I was going for surgery and just said ‘I have to do this.’ Thankfully, they were really supportive about it and said ‘okay, we’ll just knock this year off, see you in 2015’ – which I thought was quite nice of them to do."

After her surgery, Preeti had chemotherapy, which she described as an experience that brought both good and bad days.

“As a professional in the field of pharmacy and having previously worked at The Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton as a Pharmacy Technician, preparing chemotherapy for the cancer patients, it was my turn to be on the other side and experience the drugs themselves. On June 23 2014, I started my six cycles of chemotherapy with paclitaxel and carboplatin – the same as what mum had all those years ago. The chemo gave me good and bad days, the good days were eating lots of junk food and watching tele, the bad days were being sick, fatigue and getting all my words muddled up known as "chemo brain."

Alongside chemotherapy, one of the hardest things for Preeti to come to terms with was not being able to have children.

“Everything happened so fast after my diagnosis so there was no time to freeze my eggs for future plans of starting a family. This was very upsetting for me as I have always wanted children of my own, unfortunately this was never to be the case now. I honestly think this was the hardest part, and maybe it’s the same for a lot of other women.”

Despite struggling with this new reality that faced her, Preeti has always tried to maintain a positive attitude.

“I think over time you have to learn to accept it, and I kind of think you know if it wasn’t for this operation I wouldn’t have survived. I wanted to take back some control from my diagnosis, so I started being more proactive, going for little walks and some exercise, just to put myself in a more positive frame of mind. Obviously having cancer is seen as negative, but I truly believe it’s up to yourself to try and find the positives in life despite it – don’t let it rule you and it’s so important to still be the person you are in spite of it.”

Since 2014, Preeti’s been an advocate for raising awareness of Ovacome and ovarian cancer, also learning during this time period that she carries a change of the BRCA1 gene, which increases the risk of certain cancers, including ovarian.

“In the midst of all of this, I was offered genetic testing by the genetic team due to my family history of cancer. This revealed that I carry the BRCA1 gene change and after completing our family history, it was confirmed that the cancer was passed onto me via my maternal side of the family in India – obviously my mum had it and my grandmother also passed away from ovarian cancer, additionally, my mum's sister had also passed away from breast cancer.”

“Now that I'm a carrier, my brothers had to be tested, which fortunately they were all negative, meaning the chance of passing the altered gene onto their children is nil. So in our family, the spread of genetic cancer stops at me.”

Preeti has participated in several fundraising events since her diagnosis and also featured as a model in our annual Touch of Teal fashion show. We asked Preeti why she thinks raising awareness and coming together as a community to do this is so important.

“It is very important to raise awareness of ovarian cancer as it’s still not very well understood, especially with symptoms that can be mistaken for other things. Sharing our stories can help others feel less alone and I think through sharing these experiences, as well as attending support groups and events at Ovacome we can really come together as a community to reduce feelings of isolation and make people more aware of the disease."

We also asked Preeti what she valued most about Ovacome:

“I think knowing that there's a phone call I can have at any time to get a kind of listening ear, as well as any kind of information or support if I needed it - knowing there is somebody there that's going to hopefully understand me, what I'm going through, and be able to direct me to the right place – that’s what I value most about Ovacome."

We’re so grateful to Preeti for sharing her inspiring story, and you can read more of our member stories here on our website.