This is the everyday health ‘niggle’ that led to my devastating ovarian cancer diagnosis at 33
When Kate Wylie noticed a gnawing pain in her left leg, she wasn’t too concerned, but her decision to visit the doctor “just in case” saved her life.
The 33-year-old from Perth visited her GP in October 2023 for sciatica-related pain, but was still sent for a scan as a precaution. They discovered that a large and unrelated mass was growing in her pelvis.
A few weeks later, Kate received news she never expected to hear. She had stage three ovarian cancer that had spread to her omentum (a tissue structure in the abdomen), lymph nodes and intestines.
Tumors also grew on both of her ovaries; one was 10cm and the other was 8.5cm.
The devastating news came at the worst time as Kate and her partner Daniel prepared to start a family. Because doctors recommended a full hysterectomy to save Kate’s life and the cancer ‘choked’ her eggs, she can no longer have children.
Kate Wylie, 33, has always wanted to be a mother, but her dreams of parenthood were taken away after she was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer (before diagnosis photo)
‘My heart is broken. I feel like I have lost the meaning of my life because I can no longer experience pregnancy and have a child of my own,” Kate told FEMAIL.
Because the leg pain was not related to her cancer, the only symptom Kate experienced was bloating. She also has no family history of cancer.
Kate suffered from it years of sciatica – a pain that runs along the sciatic nerve down the legs – because you are a hairdresser and have to stand all day.
Luckily, when she went to the doctor this time, they sent her for scans instead of prescribing her pain medication.
In October 2023, Kate noticed pain in her leg, but thought nothing of it because she suffers from sciatica. She went to the doctor and had scans which showed a mass growing in her pelvis (Kate pictured with her partner Daniel)
It turned out that she had tumors growing unnoticed on both of her ovaries and needed a complete hysterectomy. The cancer has spread to her omentum, lymph nodes and intestines (photo during treatment)
After two weeks, her world turned upside down.
“The doctor said there might be a tumor in my pelvic area,” Kate recalled. ‘If I hadn’t had pain in my legs, I would never have known.’
She was later told she had stage three low-grade cancer that had spread, so she was referred to a doctor who specializes in both gynecology and oncology to arrange a surgical biopsy.
Ovarian cancer has been called a ‘silent killer’ because there are often no obvious signs or symptoms. Pap smears also cannot detect ovarian cancer and there is no routine test.
‘I didn’t believe it at first because I didn’t feel sick. I thought they were wrong. It’s a real mind game,” Kate said.
‘My heart is broken. I feel like I have lost the meaning of my life because I can no longer experience pregnancy and have a child of my own,” Kate told FEMAIL
‘Sometimes it doesn’t feel like real life. One minute I was doing absolutely fine (I thought), and then I found out I had ovarian cancer,” she said.
Her cancer was also described as a low-grade serous carcinoma, which means it is does not respond well to chemotherapy, but grows slowly.
“I was crying and thinking, ‘How can I have cancer? This can’t be real,'” Kate said.
‘I was sitting in my car in the parking lot with my mother and I didn’t know what to do. My partner was already at work that day and told me to call him regardless of the news.
On December 1, Kate underwent a major five-hour operation to remove the tumors from her ovaries and reconstruct the intestines, leaving her with an ileostomy bag (left). Chemotherapy also caused her hair to fall out (right)
‘I couldn’t tell him over the phone or via text that I had cancer, so I just explained that I needed surgery but didn’t say the c-word until I was at his house that evening.’
Kate’s tumors had ‘choked’ her ovaries and eggs, making it ‘impossible’ for fertility clinics to harvest eggs before surgery.
‘I feel like I have also been presented with the worst scenarios. The cancer had spread and invaded my intestines and I lost the ability to harvest eggs or ever have children.”
When she was told she needed a full hysterectomy, it was the worst news she could have received, as Kate always wanted to be a mother. After meeting the man of her dreams, she was excited about what was to come.
‘This is something I’ve wanted my whole life. “I have not only lost the ability to bear a child, but also the ability to use my own eggs and create a special human being on my own,” she said.
‘Our dream is to become parents, and this is something we will look into once chemo is over. It will be a difficult process, but I know for sure that I was put on this earth to be a mother. But of course I have to concentrate on getting better first.’
Right now, Kate feels like she’s ‘mourning’ because she will never know what it’s like to have a child of her own.
All she can do now is wait and hope that the treatment goes well. She hopes sharing her story will encourage other women to get regular checkups
On December 1, Kate underwent a major five-hour operation to remove the tumors from her ovaries and reconstruct the intestines, leaving her with an ileostomy pouch.
She had a month to recover and started chemotherapy on January 5, which will end on April 16.
As a result, she suffered from drastic hair loss that “disturbed” her, migraines and fatigue. Now that her ovaries have been removed, she has also entered early menopause.
When asked what she would like other women to know, Kate warned that this is a ‘silent killer’ that is often only discovered in the later ‘lethal’ stages.
‘Have regular check-ups with your doctor. “If your doctor doesn’t test thoroughly or asks you a lot of questions, find another doctor,” she said.
‘Ask your doctor for a scan or blood test. Don’t ignore the signs when you’re bloated and tired and pick your eggs when you can. If I knew this was going to be my life, I would have done it in my twenties.”