A woman who claims she was told by doctors she was 'too young' to get cancer was diagnosed with womb and ovarian cancer within three months of each other.
Gemma Coleman from Bolton originally went to her GP about changes in her period and backache. The 34-year-old said her double diagnosis left her 'absolutely devastated' and urged women to 'trust your gut' and to 'not be afraid to challenge doctors' if they think something isn't right.
Gemma, an executive complaint specialist at the Co-op, first noticed a change in her periods at the beginning of 2020. She says they began getting shorter than normal – but little did she know, this was a warning sign for womb and ovarian cancer.
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“I had a nagging pain on my left side, but it was Covid at the time, so I was working from home – I thought it was just from poor posture because I was sitting on the sofa with my laptop all day," she said.
“I didn’t really think much of it – there was nothing really that was screaming to me like this is cancer, but I was quite concerned about my periods.
Gemma, who lives with her husband of two years, Jack, 36, said her periods were like “clockwork” until that point.
She decided to call her GP straight away and was urgently referred for a scan where it was discovered that she had a three millimetre polyp in her womb.
In March 2021, she had a hysteroscopy to try to remove it, which failed, and another in June 2022 where it fell out. At that point, doctors told Gemma that they did not think it was cancer.
“They said I was too young for cancer, and it wasn’t a concern for them. But my periods hadn’t come back, and I was still worried that it could be cancer.”
After almost two years of scans and tests, she was diagnosed with womb cancer at the end of June 2022.
Gemma decided to freeze her eggs and it was while having her eggs retrieved - two weeks after her diagnosis - that her radiologist noticed something was not quite right with her ovaries.
“My radiologist said I cannot take eggs out of this ovary because she thought the cancer had spread further than my womb. There was a cyst that looked suspicious as it was bleeding,” she added.
After having a CA-125 blood test, in September 2022, just three months after her womb cancer diagnosis, it was confirmed that Gemma had both ovarian cancer and womb cancer.
“I was just devastated all over again, and completely shocked," she said.
“Jack, my husband, was at work at the time, and to be honest, he was absolutely floored by it because I’d been reassured so many times by the hospital that there was nothing wrong with me."
Since Gemma’s diagnosis, she has undergone two major surgeries removing her womb, fallopian tubes, cervix and ovaries and is currently receiving chemotherapy.
“I have since been receiving treatment at Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, and they have been absolutely amazing.
“I started chemo in January this year, and I’ve had really bad bruising, terrible headaches – I knew chemo wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. I can’t say it’s been easy.”
Gemma also has surgically induced menopause, explaining: “I can no longer have children – Jack and I are still getting used to the idea that we can’t.
“The other real challenge of the menopause has been the sheer brain fog – it can be so difficult to concentrate and focus.
“I would say that probably the worst thing about it is the hot flushes – you get boiling hot, as if someone has just turned a radiator on inside you, feelings of anxiety, rapid heartbeat.
“Sometimes it’s even hard to know what symptoms are caused by the menopause, and which are from chemotherapy.”
This Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, together with the charity Target Ovarian Cancer, Gemma is urging everyone to learn more about the warning signs of ovarian cancer.
“It’s just so important to educate yourself about the warning signs – I was so lucky that I went to the doctor immediately. Just trust your gut, and don’t be afraid to challenge doctors,” she said.
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