At 27, Nadia Le Tiec was in the prime of her life, full of energy and ambition. She had excellent grades and a thriving career. She would wake up at 6 a.m. every morning and stick to an enviable fitness routine. Her friends affectionately called her the “health guru.” Nadia poured her heart and soul into everything she did, and her work and active lifestyle kept her fully engaged.
However, in the spring of 2022, she began to notice some subtle changes. Nadia noticed that her hair was becoming thinner and falling out. Concerned, she visited her general practitioner, who immediately arranged for blood tests. The results came back. The doctor’s diagnosis was shocking: “Your blood markers are so good it’s sickening. I have no concerns for you,” he said casually.Despite this reassurance, Nadia still felt that something was wrong with her body.
Soon after, she began to feel pain in her lower ribs. Like many people, she initially dismissed the pain, thinking it might be muscle soreness from exercise or related to her recent diet. To be on the safe side, she returned to the clinic. This time, the examination included a physical examination and an ultrasound scan, but these tests still failed to explain her symptoms.
Despite the lack of a clear medical explanation, Nadia did not give up and began exploring alternative therapies. She consulted a nutritionist and tried adjusting her diet for a period of time, hoping that dietary changes would alleviate the persistent, unexplained discomfort she was experiencing daily. However, neither traditional medicine nor dietary adjustments provided immediate answers. She could only continue living as best as she could, coping with these ongoing but intermittent symptoms.
In November of that year, Nadia decided it was time to make a major change in her career. She finally submitted her resignation letter to the company. After making this decision, she traveled to Barbados with her parents to embark on a long-planned family vacation.The island held a special place in Nadia’s heart. Having visited every year for years, it had become her “second home.” It was where she felt most relaxed, deeply connected to cherished family traditions, including her parents’ honeymoon there years ago.
During her time in Barbados, free from the daily pressures of work, Nadia began to pay closer attention to her body’s signals. Despite trying to adjust her diet, her persistent bloating persisted. The symptoms had become more pronounced and were harder to ignore in the relaxed environment of her vacation. Then, she discovered a more concerning abnormality—a hard lump in her pelvic area.
The appearance of the lump, combined with the persistent abdominal bloating, left Nadia feeling uneasy. On the flight home, her anxiety intensified. She spent the entire journey frantically searching online for information about her symptoms. This vague discomfort and new bodily signals clearly pointed to an issue she could no longer ignore. Despite having received some reassurances previously.
Just a few days later, on November 29, 2022, Nadia visited another clinic to seek a second opinion from a different doctor. This visit unexpectedly changed her life. The doctor discovered a lump on her ovary, which was “the size of a grapefruit.” That day, Nadia received the devastating news of ovarian cancer. The world she had once filled with hope and vitality collapsed in an instant.
The shock was so profound. Nadia recalled being completely speechless at the time, unable to immediately accept the news. The reality of the diagnosis did not immediately bring her to tears, which was surprising. “I didn’t even start crying until five minutes later,” she shared about that moment. After the shock subsided, she immediately felt an existential fear: “My first thought was, ‘How long do I have left?’ You start really thinking about death.”However, the fear was so intense that she couldn’t bring herself to ask about the prognosis. “I didn’t ask; I really didn’t want to hear what they had to say. I was too scared to even form the questions.”
Twenty days after her diagnosis, Nadia underwent an 11-hour complex surgery at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea. The surgery reflected the severity of the disease that had been silently progressing in her body. Looking back on the period before her diagnosis, Nadia reflected on her tendency to initially ignore the subtle signals her body was sending.
“I probably didn’t pay as much attention to these signs as I should have,” she admitted frankly. However, she acknowledged the inherent difficulty of detecting this specific type of cancer in its early stages. “But then again, ovarian cancer is indeed very difficult to detect in its early stages,” she later added. The symptoms she experienced were indeed the typical vague signs associated with the disease. “The symptoms were very vague: things like acid reflux, bloating, and feeling full very quickly.”
When these symptoms first appeared, they did not seem serious. “At the time, I didn’t think much of it,” Nadia explained. She attributed the symptoms to common, minor health issues. “I thought maybe I had eaten too much greasy food or eaten too quickly.” It was only after receiving her diagnosis that she realized the true significance of these symptoms.“But looking back, I realize I did have symptoms. I just didn’t think they would be related to such a serious diagnosis, especially at the age of 27.”
Achieving a better prognosis is significantly more difficult when symptoms are not obvious. These symptoms are often mistaken for milder illnesses or ignored altogether. Common symptoms such as abdominal bloating or persistent abdominal distension are particularly challenging for women.As Nadia recently pointed out, these symptoms are “quite common in women” and are often attributed to diet, menstruation, or natural bodily fluctuations. Other symptoms include pelvic pain or tenderness, loss of appetite, feeling full quickly after eating small amounts, and frequent or urgent urination. These symptoms are often subtle and nonspecific, unfortunately making timely diagnosis extremely difficult.
Diagnosis itself also faces significant obstacles. Part of the challenge lies in the lack of clear indicators in the symptoms patients describe. Additionally, the anatomical location of the ovaries poses a challenge. The ovaries are deeply embedded within the abdominal cavity, making them difficult to palpate during routine physical examinations. This means that by the time a tumor can be felt, the disease has often progressed to an advanced stage.
Most ovarian cancers, approximately 90%, actually originate from the epithelial cells visible on the outer surface of the ovaries. This single layer of cells is known as the ovarian surface epithelium and primarily serves a protective function. However, when these cells undergo abnormal changes, they may lead to the formation of tumors, which can be benign, borderline, or malignant. Distinguishing between these types and different malignant subtypes is crucial for developing effective treatment plans.
Unfortunately, currently available diagnostic tools also have limitations. There is currently no national ovarian cancer screening program similar to cervical cancer screening. Patients like Nadia have openly expressed serious concerns about this. Diagnosis currently relies primarily on ultrasound examinations, transvaginal scans, and abdominal scans when symptoms arise and further testing is required. Nadia emphasized, “I believe there should definitely be an early screening test to detect the disease in its early stages.”
“There is currently no tool like cervical cancer screening that can detect ovarian cancer in its early stages,” she sadly noted. The absence of such tools means that diagnoses are often made only after the cancer has significantly progressed. “If it could be detected earlier, it would definitely save lives. It’s precisely because it’s discovered too late that treatment becomes much more challenging.” For Nadia, this reality was particularly harsh at the time: “Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer at the time of my surgery.”
It is the “pattern” and “persistence” of symptoms that should immediately raise concern, not isolated individual symptoms. Dr. Ratner succinctly explains this critical distinction. While many people occasionally experience symptoms such as bloating or a feeling of fullness, women who are later diagnosed with cancer typically experience multiple symptoms simultaneously.
This is not just about experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms multiple times at night, clothes no longer fitting properly, loss of appetite, or feeling that the bladder is abnormal every day—it is about all these symptoms occurring simultaneously. The clustering and persistence of these symptoms are clear warning signs that require thorough investigation, even if they initially seem harmless.
Although ovarian cancer is more common in women of middle age and older, Dr. Ratner confirms that it can indeed affect younger women. Certain types are unfortunately more likely to occur at a younger age. This is particularly true for women with a genetic predisposition or a family history of certain cancers. This further emphasizes that while age is a risk factor, being young does not mean immunity. Therefore, raising awareness across all age groups is crucial for everyone.
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