20/09/2026
💙ZOE’S STORY💙
I am writing this to put awareness out there from my experience leading to my diagnosis.
2025: at the start of 2025 I started experiencing lower abdominal pain, at first it seemed that it was a bit of gas, after that it wasn’t to bad but my gut health didn’t feel good, I went to my doctor as my mum passed from bowel cancer as many of you know so I got all the necessary testing to make sure everything was ok, I have severe health anxiety since mum passed so I have been hyper aware of any sort of change in my body. The testing all came back normal no bowel cancer nothing, my doctor thought it was IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) so I started supplements and everything to help it and that was it I didn’t think of anything else until this year.
2026: still on the supplements at the start of this year, I decided to stop them as my body felt like it was regulating properly again, except I noticed my stomach was constantly swollen and bloated looking like I was pregnant all the time again didn’t think about it as the symptoms from ibs and also weight gain from being on the depo provera needle for 5 years prior to. Around end of July early August I started having this dull ache in my left side pelvic area, wasn’t sure if it was due to my c-section scar tissue or something else, either way it felt a little off I ignored it for a bit but it didn’t go away, so I decided the only way to know for sure is to go to my doctor and request an ultrasound so we could see inside my body, I listened to my gut and I forever will.
26th August I went in and had my ultrasound, the tech thought it could be a cyst wasn’t 100%. Two days later 28th August I got a call from my doctors asking me to go in now to discuss results I knew then that it didn’t look good from past experiences anyway. Dr Fatemeh Ebadi is my doctor I seen and she was absolutely amazing she sat us down and said it is a large mass and they need to see if it is benign or malignant obviously I started balling as everything with my mum came flooding back (I was there from her diagnosis to her death) she said I want you to go for a CT scan so we can see which it is. I went for the CT that day luckily. I had to see a different doctor on the Saturday to get results as I didn’t want to wait to find out. I got my report and it said it’s consistent with an ovarian malignancy but it’s been caught very early which I am soooo lucky because ovarian cancer is usually found when it’s already at stage 4, counting my lucky stars that’s for sure!
On that Sunday Dr Fatemeh rang me on her day off and said she read my file and is sending me for blood tests so we can test cancer markers. I went in on the Monday and got the test done, seen doctor Fatemeh again on Wednesday 2nd September to get blood results everything came back normal except for one marker the CA-125 with me that’s consistent with the mass they found but that marker can go up with any inflammation in your body so again lucky. Then having to wait another week to see the gynaecologist which for me at the moment is gut wrenching because I just want this out of me.
9th September I seen the gynaecologist he was lovely along with the nurse and student in the room. He confirmed that yes it is ovarian cancer early stages again luckily! I will have to have a full hysterectomy which includes exploring of the abdomen aswell to make sure everything else is fine, about 9-10 weeks after surgery I will undergo 6 rounds of chemotherapy to make sure any remaining cells are killed.
Being diagnosed at the age of 33 I never imagined, but in a way I was waiting after mum got diagnosed I thought this is it I’m going to end up with it next because I was closest to her she was my bestfriend, luckily I have her as my guardian angel through this.
Now I want to take a minute to talk about Dr Fatemeh Ebadi, she won’t see this, I told her at my last appointment anyways but she is beyond amazing, she has pushed for me, she sent me for everything I asked for no questions asked and she continues to push, I know that’s her job but you donot get many doctors like her that actually listen to you and advocate for you so I am forever grateful for her, I wouldn’t have got here without her .
So what I thought was IBS turned out to be Ovarian Cancer, ovarian cancer can mimic symptoms of IBS, I was none the wiser but I listened to my body and recognised that something was different and not right. All the symptoms I was having are symptoms of the cancer.
So please listen to your body, if you feel something isn’t right get it checked doesn’t matter if you think it’s silly or nothing get it checked to be 100% sure, if I didn’t go in and ask for the ultrasound when I did, I have no idea when I would have found this cancer.
It pays off being hyper aware of your body and health even though it can drive you crazy at times but it’s worth it.
To many people I love have been lost to cancer it’s not talked about enough, testing is not done enough.
We thank Zoe for sharing her story with us, so we can continue our mission to raise awareness and help those women closest to us.
We continue to support local woman diagnosed with gynaecological cancers and you can help us help them by donating too.
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www.linseyslegacy.au/donate
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