"They have without doubt saved my life"

I was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer in July 2022 and was deemed suitable for surgery following four rounds of chemotherapy in October. A TAH and BSO was booked in for November with Dr Kent.

Unfortunately when they started to operate they realised that the disease was more extensive that the scans had shown and involved both the pelvis and the upper abdominal area, with the result being that they could not operate at that time and instead required a multi-team approach. 

While I was very upset about this, I was quickly reassured that they would look to operate again when the required surgeons were all available.  After this I had another two rounds of chemotherapy and received a new date for surgery in February 2023. 

I went to see Dr Lindsay at Stobhill for my pre-surgery consultation to go over the more advanced surgical procedure that was potentially now required and re-sign consent forms, etc.  She was very reassuring and went over all the potential surgical interventions and risks involved.

Fast forward to the end of February and upon entering the Glasgow Royal Infirmary for my surgery I was made to feel completely at ease by the professionalism of all the staff involved - from admission to being taken to theatre. I also got to meet Mr Jamieson who was the HPB surgeon.  Like Dr Lindsay he was very reassuring, but also very direct and straightforward, ensuring that I was totally aware about the risks involved, however to me the risks were worth taking.

I was in surgery for around 12 hours and had a distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy, cholecystectomy, en bloc TAH and BSO, anterior resection and formation of end colostomy.

When I was diagnosed I was told the cancer was stage 3C, but I now know that I had widespread stage 4B high grade serous tubo-ovarian cancer with extensive metastases to the whole peritoneal cavity and metastases to the pancreas, the spleen and the colon. Thankfully the surgery was a complete success with complete macroscopic resection.

Following surgery I was admitted to the high dependency unit where I stayed for two weeks.  Unfortunately, I had to go back into surgery after the first week to resite my stoma as it was not working properly but following a second, much shorter, surgery this was resolved.

The only real post surgery complication that I encountered was that due to the nature of the pancreas I had to have a pancreatic drain inserted and at the time of writing this some five months post surgery it is still in due to leakage of pancreatic fluid.  During this five month period I have regularly been attending Mr Jamieson's pancreatic clinic at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and while on occassion I have been upset and frustrated about the drain being in, Mr Jamieson has always been very open about the risks of early removal and has always taken the time to reassure me that it will be removed in time.

It is fair to say that if I had not had the surgery and Dr Lindsay (Gynaecology Oncology Consultant), Mr Jamieson (Consultant HPB Surgeon) and Professor Roxburgh (Professor of Colorectal Surgical Oncology) had not joined forces to operate on me that the tumour deposits would have grown bigger, invaded other organs and made me sicker, showing the clear benefits of different specialities joining forces for Ovarian Cancer surgery.

I can never thank them enough for what they and all that staff at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary from admissions staff to the nurses on the HDU, have done.  They have without doubt saved my life and are an inspiration. I am in awe of them all.