Science student, 21, says stomach pain that left her ‘crawling on the floor’ was dismissed by doctors as a urinary tract infection – in reality it was a melon-sized ovarian cancer that was causing hair and teeth to grow
A college student claims her “melon-sized” cancerous tumor was dismissed by doctors as a urinary tract infection. She says the tumor stayed there so long it grew hair and teeth out.
Mia Robins was in her first year of college when she found herself crawling on the bathroom floor in pain.
The 21-year-old from Liverpool also noticed other symptoms including fatigue, weight loss and hair loss.
However, the biomedical sciences student said doctors dismissed the conditions and there were a number of diagnoses, including alopecia, anemia and a urinary tract infection.
But Mrs. Robbins’ health continued to decline and a ultrasound in June 2022 confirmed that the student had an ovarian abnormality cancer.
Mia Robins was finishing up her first year of college when she found herself crawling across her bathroom floor in pain
The biomedical sciences student said doctors dismissed the ailments with a number of diagnoses, including alopecia, anemia and a urinary tract infection
Mrs. Robins, then 19, underwent emergency surgery to remove the growing tumor, which doctors said was the size of a honeydew melon and was full of hair and teeth.
Ovarian cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the UK.
The disease kills an average of 11 women a day in Britain, or 4,000 a year.
Figures show the disease kills three times as many women each year in the US.
Often the diagnosis is made late because the symptoms are vague. Examples include indigestion, pelvic or abdominal pain, loss of appetite, constipation and increased urination.
Ovarian cancer is a rare form of the disease that develops in the ovaries, the female organs that produce eggs. It is often called a “silent killer” because symptoms only appear in the late stages of the disease.
Mia Robins underwent emergency surgery to remove the growing tumor, which doctors said was the size of a honeydew melon and was filled with hair and teeth (left). She also noticed symptoms including fatigue, weight loss and hair loss (right)
About 93 percent of women diagnosed at the earliest possible stage live for five years or longer when diagnosed. Only 13 percent of women are diagnosed at stage four.
Stage three means that the cancer has spread outside the pelvis to the abdominal cavity or to the lymph nodes.
About one-fifth of women with ovarian cancer are also diagnosed in the emergency department, often when it is too late for treatment.
Ms Robins said the pain started after her appendix was removed in December 2021.
“I woke up with pain like I had to go to the toilet right away. I felt a lot of pressure and wanted to go to the toilet, but it went away as soon as I went to the toilet,” she said.
She added: ‘I was also sleeping about 12 or 13 hours a day and sleeping in for work. I wasn’t really eating either. I lost about 30 pounds and a dress size. Then my hair started falling out. I noticed there was a bald spot on the back of my head about the size of my palm.’
‘I had a huge lump in my stomach, I looked like I was four or five months pregnant.’
Ms. Robins returned to the ER in June 2022, where further tests revealed the student had stage one ovarian cancer
Mrs. Robns went to the Emergency Room several times and continued to visit her family doctor because her symptoms persisted
She went to the emergency room twice in three weeks and says she has been to the doctor five times in six months because of her symptoms.
She said, “I was told all sorts of things, like I could have celiac disease, anemia, alopecia, and a urinary tract infection. I told them in the ER that I was crawling to the bathroom in pain and they gave me antibiotics for a urinary tract infection, but I knew it wasn’t that.
‘I took the antibiotics and it didn’t help at all. I remember thinking I had cancer and my boyfriend said, “Don’t be silly.”‘
Ms Robins returned to the emergency room in June 2022, where further tests revealed the student had stage one ovarian cancer.
The medical staff told her the tumor was the size of a cantaloupe and that she needed immediate emergency surgery.
Medical staff told her the tumor was the size of a cantaloupe and that she needed immediate emergency surgery.
Mrs Robins said: ‘They caught it early but it was absolutely massive. I had to have emergency surgery because it was the size of a honeydew melon – it was huge and growing. I was in so much pain because it was right on top of my bladder, causing me pain.
‘The fact that they told me it was the earliest stage and that no other organs were affected was a relief, but of course I was also upset. It all felt very overwhelming.
“I was a bit angry that my symptoms had been ignored. I think if there had been an ultrasound earlier it would have been picked up. It took six months to get the diagnosis.
‘I was reassured that everything would be okay and I persisted in resuming my normal routine.
‘The surgery was successful, but they had to remove my right ovary, my fallopian tube, part of my abdomen and some lymph nodes.
“They told me that the tumor itself had teeth and hair in it, which is apparently normal for a fairly large tumor. The blood supply was so good that teeth and hair could grow.”
In August she was given the all-clear and will have to undergo regular scans to make sure the cancer doesn’t return.
Despite the tumor being removed, the cancer returned in February 2023 and she underwent three months of chemotherapy.
In August she received the good news that she was cured and she now has to undergo regular scans to make sure the cancer does not return.
She said: ‘It was nice to know that I was done with it and could go back to my normal life. This is the first summer that I have not been in hospital for two years. I know that I will be dealing with it for the rest of my life.
‘I felt a little bit ignored that my symptoms were ignored. I was in a lot of pain and I knew it wasn’t a UTI. I didn’t feel believed. I felt ignored for six months.
“I tell other people, always challenge the medical staff if you feel like something is wrong. I could have died if I hadn’t kept going to the ER. My tumor would have kept growing and I could have died.”
WHY OVARIAN CANCER IS CALLED A ‘SILENT KILLER’
About 80 percent of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage of the disease.
By the time of diagnosis, 60 percent of ovarian cancers have already spread to other parts of the body, reducing the five-year survival rate from 90 percent in the earliest stages to 30 percent.
According to Dr. Ronny Drapkin, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania who has been studying the disease for more than two decades, the reason the condition is diagnosed so late is because it is located in the pelvis.
‘The pelvis is like a bowl, so a tumour can grow quite large there before it is actually noticed,’ Dr Drapkin told MailOnline.
The first symptoms of ovarian cancer are gastrointestinal complaints, because the tumors can expand upwards.
When a patient complains of gastrointestinal symptoms, doctors are more likely to focus on dietary changes and other causes rather than suggesting screening for ovarian cancer.
According to Dr. Drapkin, cancer is usually not diagnosed until a patient has persistent gastrointestinal symptoms.
“It is often said that ovarian cancer is a silent killer because it does not have early symptoms. In reality, symptoms are present, but they are very general and can be caused by other things,” he said.
“One of the things I tell women is that no one knows your body better than you do. If you feel like something is off, something is probably off.”