Ovarian cancer patient hails treatment as a ‘lifeline’

Also known as bevacizumab, the drug is a targeted treatment that stops the cancer from growing blood vessels, preventing it from getting bigger.

In 2021, the 58-year-old was experiencing the symptoms of ovarian cancer: bloating, tiredness, loss of appetite.

But the condition went undiagnosed for five months because she said she could not get a face-to-face GP appointment.

Christine was diagnosed as an emergency patient after a red-flagged gynae consultation, which she said “basically saved my life”.

“It took me a long time to change my mindset and go: ‘This is my new normal, this is how my life is going to be going forward.’ And I could choose what I wanted to do with that,” she said.

When Christine was told her cancer was terminal, she said it was as if “somebody slammed me into a wall and all the life, and the breath was knocked out of me”.

“I felt the world was unfair,” she said.

“I’m a mother, I’m a daughter, I’m a sister, I’m a niece, I’m an aunt, I’m Christine. I’m not just cancer.”