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I was terrified I was pregnant with my fourth child at 35 - then my doctor did an ultrasound and the reality was much worse
Liv Curtis' initial fear when her tummy began expanding was an unplanned pregnancy and she stressed about how the family was going to afford it.
The 35-year-old mum-of-three got an IUD after her third child with husband Kevin, and also thought that the abdominal pain she was experiencing might be related to that.
The constant tiredness, loss of appetite, and bloated belly made her seek advice, and the diagnosis rocked her to the core.
A 3kg cancerous tumour was discovered, and so began a cycle of surgeries and therapy that few could withstand.
Speaking to Femail, Liv said she brushed off other symptoms including pain during sex, frequent urination, and exhaustion to simply being a busy mum.
'I had typical uterine pains, kind of just like a bad period. I had my third child in 2016 and had an IUD inserted. So when I started feeling off three years later, I assumed the niggling pains had to do with that.
'I thought maybe it had moved or embedded itself somewhere it shouldn't have - but I went to a doctor, had a pap smear, and everything appeared fine.'
The worrying symptoms persisted and she began to get increasingly tired, so she had an ultrasound which found a small cyst on one of her ovaries - which was normal for her age.
Liv Curtis watched as her stomach grew over several months. She was terrified she was pregnant, but a trip to the doctor's office revealed she actually had cancer
Liv's symptoms continued on into the COVID lockdowns, and her exhaustion increased
Her GP suggested speaking to a gastroenterologist or getting an endoscopy, but she felt they were options rather than requirements.
'He never told me he really thought I should do it, so I put it off. I was a working mum with three kids and commuting - I thought that was just it. I didn't need all these extra scans and tests for a tiny cyst,' Liv said.
'I thought my GP was being over the top, but I wish he'd had a conversation with me and said: "Look, maybe it's nothing serious, but it could be. Let's rule out some nasty things".
'I never had a real understanding of why I was being given these referrals.'
Liv's symptoms continued into the 2020 COVID lockdowns, and her levels of exhaustion worsened.
'I was falling asleep on the lounge at like six o'clock at night. All I was doing was working from home and maybe taking the kids to the park.
'I got to the point where I couldn't eat anything at all. I just felt full all the time.
'One day, my husband Kevin touched my tummy and he said he could feel something hard in there.'
Despite the IUD, Liv thought she could be pregnant.
'My first fear was that I was pregnant again,' Liv said.
'I touched my own stomach and it felt quite big. We couldn't afford a fourth pregnancy, it would've been crazy. I was so stressed. I thought it was going to be the worst thing in the world.'
The subsequent scan revealed not a baby but a 3kg mass in her pelvis and abdomen.
Speaking to FEMAIL, the mum-of-three revealed how she brushed off symptoms like bloating, pain during sex, frequent urination, and exhaustion to being a busy mum
'I didn't even know what it was,' Liv recalled.
'I had all my pap smears and my injections at 12-years-old. I thought I was covered for women's cancers.'
She travelled down from the Central Coast to Sydney to see the gynaecologist who helped her deliver her children.
'After another ultrasound, they took me to the quiet room which is every patient's worst nightmare. That's where they tell you something is wrong.'
When the words came - ovarian cancer - Liv's world began to collapse around her.
'I felt like I was falling off a cliff,' Liv said.
'I felt like everything just became white noise. My husband and I just sat there holding hands and sobbing. I may have even fallen to the floor.'
She added, 'When something like that happens, you don't think of yourself. Your only thought is about your kids. What will happen to them?
'It's really about being afraid of dying. It's about being afraid of not doing your job, of not being a mum anymore.'
The sheer size of the tumour lowered the prospects of a successful surgery, but Liv consulted a gynaecological surgeon who said words that ultimately saved her life: 'I've got some mates, and I think we can take [the tumour] out.'
The cancer was low-grade and had been growing inside Liv for 18 months.
Liv said she sat with her husband and sobbed after the preliminary diagnosis
She went into surgery at the end of June 2020 and had a radical hysterectomy and also parts of her bowel removed.
'I was kept asleep overnight and intubated because the doctors said it was one of the biggest surgeries they ever did, and very few surgeons were even willing to do the surgery.
'I was incredibly fortunate that I came across this group of surgeons, because not all women get this treatment. A lot of of women are told they're inoperable.'
The surgeons got most but not all of the tumour out but she still needed chemotherapy for the remainder.
She had six rounds of intensive chemo every 21 days and finished in November 2020.
'Before the big surgery, I told my children I had a monster inside me,' the mum recalled.
'I said we needed to get it out, and we made it into a bit of a joke that it was just not wanted, not needed, and we were kicking it out. We had a laugh about it.
'When I recovered sufficiently from the surgery, we were at the dinner table a week before I started chemo. I had to tell them about my hair falling out, and that it was because I was trying to ensure the monster doesn't come back.'
Liv had six rounds of intensive chemo every 21 days and finished in November 2020
Liv was exhausted after each round of chemo and had to stay in bed for up to 10 days afterwards.
Her husband Kevin took seven months off work to care for her, and Liv's parents also temporarily moved in and helped run the house.
The mum experienced two relapses after initially being cancer-free post-chemo.
'I had a recurrence a few months later and I had to get another surgery. The surgeons took all the cancer out and a bit more of my bowel. They were happy that there was nothing left, but my cancer markers started going up about six to 10 months later.'
Further scans revealed there was part of tumour behind Liv's belly button, and a third operation would be required.
'They weren't able to get everything out during the third surgery. They had to leave a small amount because if they kept going, they wouldn't have been able to stitch me back up.'
Liv said that her friends were her 'village' during her diagnosis and treatment
When Liv was first told she had cancer, she chose to involve all her friends and family rather than fight it alone, and discovered just how much people cared..
'I told everybody. I sent out messages and said I was either going to get better and I need their help getting there.
'Or, I said I wasn't going to get better and that I'd need them to look after my babies and Kevin.'
Then began the avalanche of flowers, hampers, chocolate, donuts, and more.
'We were in lockdown so they couldn't come visit, but they did things to life my spirits all the time. A friend of mine just arrived with three pizzas for our family at dinner time once.
'I felt incredibly well supported. People were showing up to pick my kids up and them to their sports trainings and to school, and dropping off groceries for us. The whole community got together for us.'
Liv was using her experience to help other women with ovarian cancer, particularly in pushing for the best possible treatment rather than accepting what seemed inevitable.
'The Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF) doesn't have the prominence of the Pink Ribbon, so I just want women to look out for their symptoms, and I want them to advocate for themselves. There is not the same level of care everywhere you go.
'If you're told you're inoperable, get a second or third opinion. If you feel like you're not being taken seriously, you need to get tougher and advocate for yourself.
'I was very lucky with every stage of my care, but I've spoken to many, many women who haven't had the same experience.'
