“My belly was increasingly swollen, the doctor did not take it seriously”

“In 2021, I noticed that my belly was increasingly swollen, but I did not worry. I put it on the back of the telework. Since I was more sedentary, it was possible that I took one or two kilos. To lose them, I therefore resumed walking and I signed up for aerobic lessons. In parallel, I also changed my diet, more precisely delete the products. Worse still, my belly ended more over the weeks “, recalls Morgane, now 40 years old. At the time, the biologist, who did 10 years of cancer research, then thought of a denial of pregnancy and did a test, which turned out to be negative. Increasingly concerned, she asked for the advice of her sisters and a friend, all nurses, who reassured her.

The doctor “took me for a turkey, especially when I mentioned my weight gain”

“The more time passed, the more my belly became heavy. In addition, I had trouble sitting more than two or three hours, I was exhausted even after a good night’s sleep, I had a hangover. I also suffered from a loss of appetite, I could only eat a few bites”, details the Nantes who was 37 years old at that time. Faced with these symptoms, she decides to make an appointment with a general practitioner whom she had already consulted once. “When I told him about my symptoms, he did not take them seriously. He clearly took me for a turkey, especially when I mentioned my weight gain. He took me for an anxious and hypochondriac woman who did not assume to have taken pounds. He made me understand, with a disdainful look, that when approaching his quarantine, it was necessary to pay attention to his way. Palper my swollen belly, the doctor, convinced that I had nothing serious, prescribed me a blood test for diabetes, cholesterol and an endopelvian ultrasound because of my slight transit problems, and Basta!

Angry and above all worried, the researcher then makes an appointment to make an endopelvic ultrasound. Problem: the time to perform the exam was one month. “I could not wait, my symptoms worsened. Under the advice of my aunt, I went to see an osteopath. From the start of the consultation, I asked him not to neglect my symptoms and not to put everything in my weight gain. Very professional, he examined me, but quickly, he made me understand that something was wrong, because I had a lot of ascites, an abdomen. He couldn’t even feel my fabrics and massage me correctly. “

Cancer at a stadium 3: “not very beautiful” ovaries and “big lesions”

Neither one nor two, the thirty -something then went to the emergency room, near her mother, after consultation with the osteopath. Due to a waiting period of 5:30 am, she had to return home and return the next day at 8 am … “On the spot, the intern, initially, let the doubt hover by also prescribing an ultrasound, but it was the same scenario for the waiting period. I insisted by telling him that it was necessary to find an answer. Thus, I was made to make a scanner. After having analyzed the results, the intern has announced to me that my ovaries were not very beautiful and that I had big lesions. Morgane was then transferred to an ambulance to Quimper’s emergency room to make additional exams. “I remember having my mother on the phone, because she could not accompany me during the health crisis and the confinements. I told her that I was probably cancer. She didn’t believe it!”

Arriving at the hospital center, she is admitted in the surgery and gynecology department. “I did an endopelvic and lower abdomen ultrasound, a blood test to identify biomarkers. Here, this is a tumor antigen 125 (CA 125), a protein observed on most of the cancer cells in the ovary. In general, the value is below 35. In my case, the rate was more than 1,000. Rate, the appendix, the peritoneum, the uterus and the ovaries, which were very sick. “ Clearly, the biologist had ovary cancer. This pathology remains silent at early stages, which is why it was diagnosed at a stage 3.

“Not possible to have children”

“At that time, I was neither surprised nor frightened. It was as if I expected all my life. And I knew there were history of cancer in my family. My grandmother had breast cancer and died at 40. According to doctors, I have a transfer from the BRCA genes linked to my grandmother’s cancer, but nothing is sure.” This is why the patient, who guilty about her lifestyle, in particular smoking and alcohol consumption, is currently doing genetic tests in Nantes. “Quickly, I was also made to understand that it was not possible for me to have children, because my very sick ovaries cannot be preserved. Moreover, my uterus had to be removed. But, as I never wanted to have children, the question did not arise.”

Hair loss: “I felt like I was losing my identity!”

A few days after the diagnosis, Morgane made an explorating laparoscopy to see the extent of the disease and a biopsy. And, for better care, she decides to be followed in an expert center in Nantes. “I was explained to me that I was going to make ascitis punctures every week, which I was then going to benefit from chemotherapy sessions, surgery and then still chemotherapy sessions and finish with maintenance treatment for several years, because the risks of recurrence are high.” In March 2022, she began care, undergoing first suffering a laparotomy. “I was opened with my belly, from the pubis to the sternum to remove all traces of the disease.” Then it follows three cycles of chemotherapy, which partially worked. “During the treatment, I lost weight, I had a metallic taste in my mouth, the dry skin, my mouth pastry and I was very tired, especially the first week after the session. But the most dramatic for me, it was the loss of my hair, which was long. I had the impression of losing my identity!”

In parallel, the Nantesseise is resilient and makes the decision to continue working. “I needed to keep my financial autonomy and always use my intellectual capacities. Social life, I went out much less, but after the first week of chemotherapy, I continued to go out with my friends in the restaurant and at the concert. Cancer did not stop me from living, it was rather the sad look of others, seeing my headband on my head, which brought me back to my illness”, Confides the thirties whose pathology was recognized by the departmental house for people with disabilities.

Ovary cancer: “I test conjugated antibodies”

For a year and a half, Morgane took, as part of a maintenance program, the “Olaparib”. In December 2023, cancer cells were again detected in its nodes. “I had to redo chemotherapy from January to June. Then, I went on a vaccine against ovary cancer as part of a clinical trial, but I presented a recurrence again. Today, I test the conjugated antibodies (antibody-drug conjugates/ADC), which coupled chemotherapy molecules to an antibody. slow down the progress of the disease. Exclaims the volunteer and referent for the Grand West of the Imagyn association.