Abi's Race for Life 2020

Cancer is happening right now, which is why I'm taking part in a Race for Life 5k to raise money and save lives. PLEASE read my story... My Story is one that some won't believe, but sadly happens to innocent people like me. I started with stomach pains in December 2017, the hospital did a scan and they told me it was a BENIGN cyst in Feb 2018. 4 months later and still waiting for an operation my pains got a lot worse over that time, which lead me going to A&E who sent me straight to Addenbrooke's for an emergency op. The result from this lead to me being diagnosed with Germ cell ovarian CANCER. I was treated at Cambridge for 4 cycles, lasting from August to October 2018. This had to be the hardest period of time as I was feeling sick a lot, stomach pains and I lost all my hair. Fortunately for me, this cancer was curable and on the 22nd October 2018 I got given the all clear!! BUT the main angering fact is that none of this should of happened if I had been diagnosed earlier when I had a scan in Feb, and not simply left until what I had turned into a situation much worse! The doctor at Cambridge directly said to us "If you had the operation sooner in February then it WOULDN'T have left you with cancer". Also because I had a RARE cancer, I have to go for check-ups for the rest of my life to see if it has come back at all. This is what angered my family and I most as this other hospital (not Cambridge) was directly at fault for misdiagnosing me in the first place as they took me off the cancer pathway after my scan in February as they thought it was benign. I was a lucky one but can you imagine if they did this to someone else that had a more advanced or different type of cancer to me that simply didn't get the diagnosis or treatment they need. However, we have contacted the hospital explaining the situation and they had lead an investigation and now they have a different system in place as a result of this direct incident. They state that "Any patient with a cyst is now reviewed by the Cancer team and if necessary referred to the LMDT". " All non-simple cysts will stay on the cancer pathway until they have surgery and a diagnosis following all tests". This is a relief and I know that because of my situation, this hospital has changed procedure in this unit and that makes me OK knowing hopefully they don't make the mistake to someone else. I am now in my final year of University and Looking forward to the future because of my treatment and amazing nurses. I hope I can help beat ovarian cancer in particular to those less fortunate than me. 1 in 2 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Every single pound you donate makes a difference to Cancer Research UK’s groundbreaking work, so please sponsor me now.