Mother Renee Murnain was on the hospital waiting list to have a full hysterectomy and preventative double mastectomy when she was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer in 2015.
The then 44-year-old, from Newcastle, who has a four-year-old son, was devastated as only one year earlier doctors discovered that Renee’s mother had breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Both these cancers were primaries meaning that they are not related.
Following her mother’s diagnosis, Renee underwent genetic testing and learnt that like her mother she carried the BRCA1 gene, which increases a woman’s risk of cancer.
Renee (pictured with her family) was on the waiting list to have a full hysterectomy and preventative double mastectomy when she was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer in 2015.
Unfortunately while waiting more than a year for surgery, ovarian cancer found Renee first.
‘I experienced continuous abdominal pain for over two weeks, feeling tired and lethargic and needing to go to the toilet often,’ Renee told FEMAIL.
‘I was angry at myself for not picking up the signs and symptoms. I mean after all I of all people knew these better than anyone, but still I ignored those silent niggles,’ Renee said.
‘I experienced continuous abdominal pain for over two weeks, feeling tired and lethargic and needing to go to the toilet often,’ Renee told FEMAIL
‘I was angry that even after being pro-active it got me first, I was angry at the public system for making me wait for surgery, and lastly I was angry at my family for passing this down.
‘But I picked myself up and battered down the hatches and got ready for the fight of my life.’
Renee, now 46, had to undergo three rounds of chemotherapy, before the removal of her ovaries, uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and omentum.
‘I then underwent a further then rounds of Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (via a port into my abdominal cavity).’
Renee had to undergo three rounds of chemotherapy, before the removal of her ovaries, uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and omentum
‘There is something nice about living in the moment and taking each day as it comes. You certainly do realise what and who your priorities are,’ Renee said
Although she was given the all-clear, Renee suffered a recurrence a year later and is currently on a clinical trial involving IV immunotherapy every three weeks and medication.
‘I am having an excellent response to the trial drugs. My tumour load has more than halved and the remaining tumours I have, have shrunk in size,’ Renee said.
‘I still grieve the loss of the naivety of not knowing the future and being able to plan years ahead,’ she added.
Renee during her chemotherapy treatment. After suffering a recurrence she is currently on a clinical trial
‘However, there is something nice about living in the moment and taking each day as it comes. You certainly do realise what and who your priorities are.
‘That said I still consider myself a survivor. There is a line in my favourite movie Shawshank Redemption that reads ‘get busy living or get busy dying’. I make sure I am busy living.’
February is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. For more information, visit Ovarian Cancer Australia.