A Crazy 2025 Update!
I’m not sure where to start this post, I recognise that it has been a very long time coming. Usually the first post of the year happens in January, but here we are heading toward the end of August at a crazy pace. So yes the first post for the year has been a long time coming! If you have been waiting on the next instalment of life in our household…sorry its been a while, but the story I will be telling you today hopefully will help you understand why I haven’t written! You might want a cup of tea or a stiff drink after this post!
I am uncertain as to whether or not I will actually publish this post, but I also use this blog as a place to tell some of my life stories, and things I have learned along the way. I just don’t know at this minute whether or not I want to press the publish button – we shall see how I feel at the end of the process of writing this post! If you are reading this, hello and welcome back to my crazy life!
Let’s start by acknowledging that this year has been incredibly difficult!! I am unsure if I want to record the events of 2025, but in other ways it is good to look back on to see how far I (we) have come. Not sure how I feel about that just yet – it’s a bit soon to say we are through it all, I might feel a bit better about it all come the new year when 2025 becomes 2026!
This whole ordeal started in January, and so I am quite weary of it all now. After a lot of abdominal pain, a week in hospital, I was told I had an abscess on my ovary, 7 weeks of daily IV antibiotics treatments in my home via the HITH (Hospital in the Home) nurses, weekly appointments at the hospital, and finally surgery (March 2025) to remove the abscess and very questionable ovary, I was hoping that would be the end of it all, but no the saga continued! The quick summary of it all is that the post surgery pathology came back as ovarian cancer… so as you can imagine, we were quite shocked with this news.
As of today, Monday (25th August), it has been 12 weeks since my second surgery for the year!
On the 9th June I had to have a hysterectomy and completion surgery for ovarian cancer. This was my second surgery for the year – the first surgery was in March, and it was through this surgery that we found out that the abscess on my ovary wasn’t the innocent abscess we all thought it was. Instead, post surgery pathology shocked us with the news that the abscess was in fact cancer!
The phone call from the surgeon was a bit of a shock. The objective was to heal from surgery and then get on with life, but the phone call from the surgeon seven days post surgery with the result from pathology was definitely not what we were expecting. I was expecting to heal up and get on with life again, but life had a different pathway for me. We were given limited information over the phone from the surgeon. He was very nice, and delivered the information well, but because none of us were expecting the pathology result we were given, I struggled to understand what he was trying to say the next steps were going to be. Lucky I had the call on speaker so hubby could listen in. At the time, I remember hearing words like RBWH, Ellie, gynaecology oncology, and appointments. Nothing really made much sense in the moment. After the phone call and had a few minutes to gather our thoughts together we were able to figure out that the RBWH, Ellie and appointments simply meant that we were being referred down to the Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital because they have the best gynaecological oncology unit, Ellie was my care nurse and the person to call with any questions, and appointments were in the process of being made for us through Ellie and the Care nurse down in Brisbane!
It is true what they say about a person getting a cancer diagnosis! There is a distinct moment in time when you suddenly realise your life will never be the same again. That might sound incredibly dramatic, but once you get a cancer diagnosis something happens to you. There is a distinct line in the sand – the life you had before your cancer diagnosis, and the life you will lead post cancer diagnosis! It probably sounds strange in many ways, but for whatever reason I never feared getting cancer. I never thought about it as something I would have to deal with. It is a complete game changer though when you are told that YOU have cancer!
At the time of the phone call with the surgeon I remember saying something to the doctor about the cancer was gone because it was taken out at the time of surgery, and that was true, but the thing that I wasn’t grasping was that I would have to undergo a myriad of further testing and surgery to work out how extensive or not extensive the cancer I had was. When I was on the phone call with the surgeon regarding the pathology, there was not enough information to stage where my particular cancer was at. Was it contained to the ovary or was there more lurking around?
I am one of the lucky ones. Not only was I given the most amazing surgeons for my surgeries, but my experience overall despite the physical pain etc, were really good. Post hysterectomy and completion surgery pathology did find a surprise cancer in my uterus, but due to surgery and whatever they do in surgery I do not need further treatment – I will however be having regular appointments to make sure I don’t have any recurring cancer issues. I have googled, used grok and other medical ai sites to understand as much as I can about the types of cancer I had. I am nervous about future cancer recurrence – not that I am speaking that over my life, but it is unfortunately one of the issues we (those who have had cancer) struggle with. Recurrence!
My goal at the moment is to try to fill my life with things I can look forward to, unfortunately I am still struggling with abdominal pain, but I am trying to do things that make my heart smile. My family brings me a lot of joy, but I am thinking a lot more about our lives in general and what we want to achieve, do and places we want to go before we actually leave this world. Not from a morbid point of view, but from a ‘Crap! I had cancer – I really want to live life better than I have ever lived life’, point of view!!!
One thing I would really like to leave you with is a list of blood tests that you should consider getting done with your doctor. Even if it’s just to create a base line, you have a right to these tests. Your doctor will guide you and take into consideration your age, risk factors, and medical history.
- CA-125 (Cancer Antigen 125)
Purpose: Screens for ovarian cancer; may also monitor treatment response or recurrence.Who Should Get It: Women at high risk for ovarian cancer (eg. family history, BRCA mutations) or those with symptoms like bloating or pelvic pain.
Notes: Not specific to cancer; can be elevated in non-cancerous conditions (for example, endometriosis)
2. CEA (Carcinoembryonic Antigen)
Purpose: Monitors colorectal, breast, or lung cancer; may help detect recurrence.
Who Should Get It: Women with a history of colorectal or breast cancer or those undergoing treatment.
Notes: Non-specific; elevated in other conditions like inflammatory bowel disease.
3. CA 15-3 and CA 27.29
Purpose: Monitors breast cancer, especially in advanced stages or recurrence.
Who Should Get It: Women diagnosed with breast cancer, particularly during treatment or follow-up.
Notes: Not used for screening in healthy women due to low specificity.
4. AFP (Alpha-Fetoprotein)
Purpose: Screens for liver cancer; may also be used for ovarian germ cell tumors.
Who Should Get It: Women at risk for liver cancer (e.g., chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis) or those with suspected ovarian tumors.
Notes: Also elevated in pregnancy and non-cancerous liver conditions.
5. Beta-hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin)
Purpose: Detects or monitors ovarian germ cell tumors or choriocarcinoma.
Who Should Get It: Women with suspected ovarian tumors or gestational trophoblastic disease.
Notes: Commonly associated with pregnancy; false positives possible.
6. HE4 (Human Epididymis Protein 4)
Purpose: Assesses ovarian cancer risk, often used with CA-125 for better accuracy.
Who Should Get It: Women with pelvic masses or high-risk factors for ovarian cancer.
Notes: More specific than CA-125 for ovarian cancer but still not a standalone test.
7. CBC (Complete Blood Count)
Purpose: Detects abnormalities like anemia or low platelets, which may suggest leukemia or other cancers.
Who Should Get It: All women as part of routine health checks or if experiencing fatigue, bruising, or infections.
Notes: Non-specific; used alongside other tests.
8. Circulating Tumor DNA (ctDNA) or Liquid Biopsy
Purpose: Detects cancer-related genetic mutations in blood for various cancers (e.g., breast, ovarian, endometrial).
Who Should Get It: Women with known cancer for monitoring or those at high risk for specific cancers.
Notes: Emerging technology; not widely used for routine screening yet.
9. BRCA1/BRCA2 Genetic Testing (Blood or Saliva)
Purpose: Assesses hereditary risk for breast and ovarian cancer.
Who Should Get It: Women with a strong family history of breast, ovarian, or related cancers
Notes: Not a tumor marker; identifies genetic predisposition.
10. CA19-9
Purpose: A type of tumor marker. It is particularly associated with pancreatic cancer, but it can also be elevated in other conditions like billiard tract obstruction, cholangitis, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, liver cirrhosis, cystic fibrosis, and thyroid disease.
Who should get it: Basically everyone should get it
Notes: CA 19-9 levels may indicate the presence of pancreatic cancer, but it’s not a definitive diagnostic tool on its own.
11. Hs-CRP (high sensitivity C-reactive protein)
Purpose: A blood test that measures the level of inflammation in the body. Often used to assess cardiovascular disease risk. Elevated hs-CRP levels can indicate an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular problems, even in individuals without a known history of heart disease.
Who Should get it: Individuals who would benefit from preventative measures like lifestyle changes or medication.
Notes: Lower hs-crp levels are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events, while higher levels indicate a great risk.
12. CRP – C-reactive protein
Purpose: The CRP test is a blood test that measures the amount of CRP in your blood at the time of the test. It is an acute phase protein so its levels rise quickly if there is inflammation, infection or tissue damage in the persons body. This test helps doctors assess the severity of inflammation and monitor the effectiveness of treatment.
Anyway, I hope this helps you on your health journey. I get that there are a multitude of pathology tests that can be done, but if you have any symptoms you are particularly worried about, then you should ask for some of these tests and if your doctor doesn’t want to let you have them or doesn’t think your symptoms are connected – GET A SECOND OPINION!!
While the abscess was an incredibly painful experience, I am thankful I had it because Ovarian and Uterine cancers don’t really have any symptoms until the disease develops to a stage 3 and or 4. My cancer was picked up early, but sometimes I lie in bed and wonder about the what if’s. What if I didn’t have the abscess, what would have been the thing that sparked my concerns to see my doctor? What if I ignored the RBWH advice to have the hysterectomy surgery – they wouldn’t have found the uterine cancer till I had a lot of symptoms and then I would be in a very different position. My cancer was found early not because I had significant symptoms but because I got an abscess that alerted a major problem. I now have the best chance because my cancer was found early. I hope no one ever experiences the pain I had this year, but I especially hope that women start to look after themselves more than what they do. It is time to stop ignoring our health and well being and start to face the facts that while it is uncomfortable to be a woman and have these check ups, we have no choice if we want to win the war on women’s gynaecological cancers. It is all about early detection for so many women!
Before I sign off, I would like to point out that my amazing surgeon Dr Andrea Garrett is raising money for Cherish Women’s Cancer Foundation. It’s not the first adventure she has done with Cherish to raise money! They (Cherish Women’s Cancer Foundation) raise money for research into curing women’s cancers. I was so blessed to be given Dr Andrea to look after me this year and I would like to give back to her by supporting a cause close to her heart. We have already made a donation. She along with a number of other people from all walks in life are undertaking the Jomolhari Trek in Bhutan in October. They are doing 87 km over 10 days ascending to a height of 4930m. The Bhutanese people are considered the happiest people in the world, so as Dr Andrea says, she will be walking along with a smile on her face knowing she is helping to fund research into women’s cancers. No pressure, BUT if you are interested in donating a little money to help raise some money for research into women’s cancer click on the link and follow the steps to donate. CLICK HERE TO DONATE!!
So, Till Next time…
Chat soon,
XO
