Two years since pre-diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer

Today marks two years since what I call pre-diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer.

At 5.00 am, I arrived home from a seven and a half week overseas trip on a long haul flight. That afternoon I was sent to the hospital by my GP because I had alarming stomach swelling and pain from Singapore to Melbourne. I had various symptoms for five months prior, and they were thankfully manageable until right at the end of a life changing trip to South Africa and France. 

I had a long wait in the Royal Melbourne ED until I got a bed. I was so hungry, as I barely ate on the plane. I had a bite of a sandwich that Adam bought me from the hospital cafe, at about 5.30 pm. The nurses told me I had to stop eating because I might need surgery. 

I had two blood tests. When I had the second one, the nurse told me I was being tested for cancer. “What type of cancer?” I asked her. “It’s just numbers”, she said. I now know she was referring to the CA125 number – which is a cancer marker for Ovarian Cancer.

At midnight I had a CT scan. The dye made me feel like I’d wet myself. I later found out that at the same time this scan was happening, a woman who has been harming me online for many years was tweeting untrue stuff about me online. She urged me to get something more important to think about. Lady, I absolutely was. 

Adam went home after my CT scan. I tried to get some sleep. 

At around 4.00 am, a gynae surgeon came to my bed, to asked me about my family cancer history. There is no good time for this question, definitely not at 4.00 am with very little sleep on the back of 30 hours of travel back from France. 

The gynae surgeon asked me about all of my symptoms. He asked me what I weigh, and I told him I didn’t know. I document so much of my life that I showed him photos of me six months and three months prior, and recently. 

He told me I probably have Ovarian Cancer, but the bloods and CT scan couldn’t confirm it.  I’d have to have more tests, and said  not to get ahead of myself.  And so I kept things very quiet for more than a month – and I was being trolled for this! 

I imagined that if ever I was told I probably had cancer, I’d have someone with me. I scrolled Instagram. Darren Hayes, someone whose music and presence has been a constant in my life since 1996, had recently liked my Instagram message. He was awake on the other side of the world. So he was the first person I told, and he replied immediately. 

I was moved to the Women’s. I messaged Adam at 5.30 to tell him not to go to work that day, so I could tell him in person. The nurses let me sleep in, so I later called my parents to tell them.

Two years ago today,  my CA125 levels were 13,000. There was an 11 cm tumour in my stomach,  that grew to 25 cm when I was operated on a month later; and a smaller one hiding in my uterus (that I’d find out was Endometrial Cancer).

 

The Kebaby in midJanuary – a kebab where the bread was a gozleme. I can name the meal I ate when my tummy troubles started. I remember feeling full – and wasn’t too worried because this kebab was so enormous. I ate it in three sittings. But even dividing it in thirds caused me to feel full very quickly. 

A very swollen stomach at a friend’s hen’s party. My dress was so tight in the photos.

Commenting about how my body seems different during my travels – a loose waistband, shrinking of my boobs.

The times I worried I’d run out of toilet paper because I was going to the toilet 12 times a day. 

All the times I was too full to finish my food – like the silky smooth mashed potato with the long cheese pull in France.

A Facebook post in May 2023 when I said my stomach problems were getting worse. 

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Images: A 1. Carly in Care near pyjamas at her front door, just home from the hospital. 2. The last selfie of Carly, before everything changed – in Avène, France, about to fly home. 3. Sick in the Singapore airport. 4. Carly’s hand bandaged over a cannula, wearing a fluffy purple coat.

Some of the cancer signs:

5. Side by side photos of Carly in November 2023 and May 2024, that she showed the Dr. 6. Holding a giant kebab that she couldn’t finish – the Kebaby – the start of the cancer symptoms – feeling full quickly. 8. Carly trying on a dress in South Africa, wondering where her boobs went. 9. Carly watering the garden in a purple dress that’s tight across her tummy. 10. Cheesy mash that she didn’t eat in France because she was too full.