"Stage 3 ovarian cancer diagnosis"

Since my diagnosis early in January 2010 the more I read and learn about ovarian cancer particularly stage 3, the more I understand that I fit into the classic 50 + female patient for this disease. My concern is that it took 3 months with a young female GP to reach this diagnosis, having wasted what I felt was valuable time investigating indigestion and looking for a gastric ulcer. I would like to see more training for GP's to recognise this disease and education of the disease itself. I would furthermore like all ladies of 40 + to learn about this disease which is called on the Cancer Research site "the silent killer" in that 60% of patients are not diagnosed until the disease has advanced and become metastatic. The treatment is chemotherapy followed by major surgery not just on female reproductive tissues, followed by more chemotherapy and a 42% chance of surviving beyond 5 years with constant surveillance. I think lady's would do well to report to their GP on so much as a burp insist on a tumour marker blood test for CA125. I am sure this would be a cheaper investigation in the long run for GP surgeries.

In my case, having attended A & E one evening after collapsing on the pavement, and attended the GP for follow up the next week, and subsequent returns "I still feel unwell" to the GP, I felt all I needed was for someone to make an inspired guess. It is hard to learn and accept the role of patient victim, and that being positive is the key to coming to terms with this diagnosis (having never smoked or taken drugs, therefore not asked for lung or throat cancer). I don't feel I deserve ovarian stage 3 cancer, and I certainly don't deserve to hear political questions and comments made about funding the NHS in its treatment and care of cancer (non deserving) patients. If the tax payer thinks there are to be savings on these issues, then I think we should look to which cancers deserve treatments and which should simply be offered palliative medications especially as people are continually being urged to live healthily i.e. no smoking or drugs or alcohol abuse.