Hannah Catton.Photo: GoFundMe
Hannah Catton had long dealt with a litany of painful symptoms that pointed to a bigger problem — since 2019, she had frequent urinary tract infections, bloating and “extremely painful,” irregular periods. But doctors in both her hometown of Kent, England, and new home of Melbourne, Australia,always brushed them off.
The 24-year-old was prescribed antibiotics, told it was menstrual stress, and most upsettingly, that she just needed to lose weight, until she collapsed in pain one day. That was when she finally got a true diagnosis — she had stage 1ovarian cancer.
Catton, a veterinary nurse, had dealt with her pain for years until it started ramping up in Sept. 2020,she toldToday. That’s when her periods left her with bloating, constipation, hot flashes, diarrhea and pain, and one doctor said that the changes to her menstrual cycle were due to stress. In March, she went to another doctor for a second opinion.
“She told me to lose weight which was hard to hear, and I definitely wasn’t overweight… I’m pretty physically fit,“she told BBC News.
Plus, Catton said, “She didn’t palpate my abdomen, and if she had taken the time to do that she probably would have felt something was wrong in there.”
Because her weight wasn’t actually the issue, Catton’s pain continued, and she went to a gynecologist who performed an ultrasound that showed what was likely a 10-centimeter fibroid around her uterus. Catton was put on the waiting list for surgery, but after a horseback riding session in Oct. 2021, her pain ramped up.
“When I dismounted after the first day riding, I collapsed in pain to the point of almost vomiting. It was excruciating,” she toldToday. “I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time so I took as much pain relief as I could and tried to sleep it off.”
The next day, Catton tried working out and collapsed, and her boyfriend made her go to the emergency room. Doctors thought she had an ectopic pregnancy at first, but after ultrasounds, MRI and CT scans and blood tests, they finally determined that she had stage 1ovarian cancer, and that her tumor had ruptured.
Hannah Catton.GoFundMe
After emergency surgery to remove the tumor, Catton started on her cancer treatment.
“My wonderful oncologist wanted to hit me hard and fast with chemo,” she said.
Catton is doing well as she goes through four rounds of week-long chemotherapy, but she misses her family back in England during the grueling process.
“It was an extremely hard conversation to have with my parents over the phone, to tell them I didn’t know if I was going to die,” she told BBC News. “It’s a lonely time anyway because of COVID and it’s extremely hard having all your family on the other side of the world, and knowing you can’t get home.”
But as shegoes through treatment, Catton is sharing her story in the hopes that it can help others who had their pain dismissed.
Catton’s friends are raising money for her as she goes through treatment, and for her hopes in spreading awareness of ovarian cancer,on GoFundMe.
source: people.com
