When I was 19, I was diagnosed with IBS over the phone, without any blood tests or scans. The doctor prescribed Mebeverine, and for years I managed my symptoms, assuming it really was “just IBS.”
Fast forward to October 2025, I fell pregnant and in August 2026, I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy via emergency C-section. During surgery, my doctor found some deposits and asked if I had endometriosis – I said no, at least not that I knew of. They took biopsies to check.
Five weeks later, I was called in to discuss the results where I was told I had low-grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC) – at just 26 years old, with a 5-week-old baby at home. Hearing the word “cancer” broke me. My first thought was that I was going to die and leave my baby behind.
A few weeks later, I had a laparoscopy to determine the stage — it was Stage 3B. Shortly after, I underwent a 10-hour debulking surgery to remove as much cancer as possible. During that surgery, I was restaged to Stage 3C, as the disease had spread further than initially thought.
The surgery was successful, all visible disease was removed, but I lost 9 organs, including a full hysterectomy. That means I can no longer have more children. My ovaries were cancerous, so I couldn’t even freeze my eggs. I was thrown into surgical menopause at 26.
I’m now on Letrozole and thankfully managing well with minimal side effects. I have regular blood tests and scans to monitor things, and right now there’s no evidence of disease.
What hurts most is knowing that my symptoms might have been misdiagnosed for 7 years. Since my surgery, I’ve had no IBS symptoms at all — meaning it was likely my cancer all along.
If proper testing and awareness had been there when I was 19, my cancer might have been caught earlier. Maybe I wouldn’t have lost my fertility. Maybe my journey would have been different.
I’m sharing this because LGSOC is rare, but real — and it often hides behind diagnoses like IBS or endometriosis. Please listen to your body, ask for tests, and push for answers.
We are grateful to Sabrina for sharing her experience with low-grade serous ovarian cancer and for helping us raise awareness. If you would like to share your story too, find out more here.
