Leaving a gift in your will, large or small, can make a huge difference to the lives of women living with ovarian cancer – women like Sarah. After undergoing successful treatment for ovarian cancer, Sarah decided to use Target Ovarian Cancer’s free wills service to leave a gift in her will. Here she talks about her decision, and why she believes her gift will have a lasting impact…
When I was making my will I decided I wanted to leave a gift to Target Ovarian Cancer – it was something that I could do now to help.
Surreal
I’d decided to make an appointment with my GP initially because I thought I might have a slight prolapse or possibly IBS. I never dreamed there was more to it than that. In fact, I was so convinced that my symptoms weren’t serious that I even apologised to my doctor for wasting his time!
During my internal examination I was in a lot of pain – which my GP said was unusual – and I was quickly scheduled for a CA125 test. At the time I had no idea what the blood test was for.
He phoned me the next day to tell me I was being referred for an urgent hospital appointment. I had a scan and it all seemed surreal, like it wasn’t even happening. After the scan I spoke with the consultant and was told I was being referred to oncology. I remember thinking ‘I haven’t got cancer, what are they talking about?’
Mixed bag
After a CT scan and another blood test, the oncology surgeon booked me in for a full hysterectomy – they said only then would we know for sure if it was cancer. It was all starting to become more real.
After the operation the surgeon came to see me and said it was a mixed bag of news: I had a very aggressive form of ovarian cancer but fortunately we’d caught it early. He told me he thought he had removed all of the disease but that I would still need to have chemo. I was in for a week after my operation and then I had six sessions of chemo over four months. At the end I was given the all clear. Now I have my six-monthly checks and regular blood tests, but I’m doing really well.
Helping future women
I know cancer can be such a scary word but I’m honestly glad I’ve had this experience. When I had my diagnosis it actually kind of took the fear away.
During one of my first check-ups I asked ‘what would have happened if I didn’t go to the GP when I did, or if I hadn’t been referred straightaway?’ The doctors told me that if that had been the case, it might have been a very different story.
I first found out about Target Ovarian Cancer when I was going to make my will, having just retired. My friend suggested finding a free will service with a charity that was special to me, so I searched and found Target Ovarian Cancer’s free will service.
It couldn’t have been easier – from start to finish, everything went smoothly for me and my husband and we signed our final copies this week. I’m just so grateful for the work that Target Ovarian Cancer does. I was lucky, I saw the right people at the right time, but I know other women might not be as fortunate. I hope that my gift will help future women to have the same experience that I did.
Make a difference
Explore how you can make a difference like Sarah did and find out more about our free will service.
If you’ve been affected by this story and would like to speak to a specialist nurse, you can call our dedicated support line on 020 7923 5475 or contact us: [email protected]. We're open from 9am until 5.30pm, Monday to Friday.
