31-Year-Old Woman’s Severe Bloating Was Dismissed As IBS & PCOS Before Stage 4 Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis

She recalled getting checked by doctors “a good 20 to 30” times after her symptoms arose in July 2023. Throughout that period, her CA-125 blood marker—which can be elevated in people with ovarian cancer—continued to rise.

“My CA-125 kept rising and rising and they kept doing nothing about it,” Malone, who noted her abdomen became progressively more swollen as her symptoms worsened, explained to Kennedy News and Media.

She continued, “My belly was so hard and round, I literally looked like I was pregnant. It would gurgle and gargle and it would wake me up in the night with all of the fluid moving around. Tt was the weirdest thing in the world.

“It was so hard and so full I literally had a bump. The bloating was painful. It was horrible.”

It wasn’t until April 2025 that she went to the hospital, where doctors discovered her abdomen was filled with fluid. About 14 pounds of fluid were drained the next day, and she was then diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer that had already spread to other organs.

Malone, who had 15 tumors removed and a hysterectomy done on May 13, 2025, admitted, “If I didn’t go to that hospital with a swollen belly then I wouldn’t be here today.

“I felt distraught because I knew something was wrong with me. I was frustrated, I was angry, and I felt let down because it was right in front of them and I kept telling them something was wrong with me.”

It’s important to note that ovarian cancer is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, like in Malone’s case. In fact, it has been called “the sleeping lion,” Dr. Kimberly Resnick, gynecologic oncologist at MetroHealth in Cleveland, Ohio, previously told SurvivorNet. “It’s hard, because 75% of women who walk into our office with ovarian cancer, unfortunately, are going to walk in with advanced stage disease.”

RELATED: Ovarian Cancer Symptoms Can Be Hard to Spot

The diagnosis of ovarian cancer is often delayed because its symptoms can be subtle and nonspecific. In fact, many of the symptoms mimic those that women often experience in everyday life, and that can be attributed to any number of other conditions or health problems. That’s why it’s so important for women to be on the lookout for common symptoms like these:

• Bloating
• Abdominal pain
• Nausea
• Quickly feeling full when eating
• Other symptoms of advanced disease may include weight gain in just the abdomen and changes in bowel habits.

Malone underwent surgery that removed about 96% of her cancer, followed by six rounds of chemotherapy. She completed treatment in October 2025 and was told earlier this year that she is in remission.

Now she warns, “It could have been avoided and not spread if they’d just listened. … If you’ve got the bloating and pain, or if you know something is not right in your body, then you’ve got to push for it because it’s your life and it’s not a game.

“Don’t be [dismissed] if the medication they’re giving you is not working. Sending someone for a CA-125 blood test could save their life.”

Quickly feeling full after eating a meal, nausea, vomiting, and bloating are commonly reported by patients. “It’s not uncommon for me to ask a patient if her pants still fit her and she states that they’re not fitting; that she’s gone to an elastic waistband,” Dr. Resnick told SurvivorNet.

Women may also notice that they are gaining weight in their abdomen, like Malone, even though they are losing weight in their face and neck. And they may find that their legs are getting extremely swollen. Other common signs include pain, and possibly changes in bathroom habits.

These symptoms have all been reported by patients who come to the clinic and are subsequently diagnosed with advanced stage ovarian cancer, Dr. Resnick explained.

Screening For Ovarian Cancer?

Unlike some other types of cancer, such as breast cancer and colon cancer, there aren’t any routine screening tests for ovarian cancer. At the present time, there are no simple and reliable methods available that can screen for ovarian cancer in women who do not have any signs or symptoms. “We don’t have an inexpensive, easily reproducible test that we can use to prevent this disease,” says Dr. Resnick.

In fact, if a woman doesn’t have any symptoms and is not at high risk for a hereditary ovarian cancer syndrome, current recommendations say that she should not get screened. This is an across the board consensus from major medical groups and public health organizations such as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Cancer Society.

Screening of women who are at an average risk for the disease may do more harm than good, as it can lead to more testing or even unnecessary surgery. However, it is recommended that women who are at a high risk for ovarian cancer due to an inherited genetic syndrome consider getting screened.

There are tests that doctors use when they suspect a patient might have ovarian cancer, and for those who have a genetic predisposition to this cancer. These include the transvaginal ultrasound, which is an ultrasound of the female genital organs that is done internally, and a blood test called CA-125, which tests for a marker that is elevated in women with ovarian cancer. However, these are not true screening tests for ovarian cancer.

“These are tests we may use in a patient in whom we have a high suspicion of cancer, or in patients who have a genetic predisposition to the disease,” said Dr. Resnick. “But these are not screening tests to use in everyday women who walk into the office with abdominal cramps.”

Understanding Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer has been called the “cancer that whispers” because women often don’t experience symptoms until their cancer has already reached its late stages. The symptoms that do appear at first are hard to identify as cancer.

“Ovarian cancer does not have any specific symptoms,” Dr. Beth Karlan, a gynecologic oncologist at UCLA Medical Center, previously told SurvivorNet.

The standard of care for ovarian cancer patients is chemotherapy, which helps many patients reach remission.

WATCH: How your ovarian cancer responds to certain types of chemotherapies guides your future treatments.

With recurrence a strong possibility for this disease, especially in the later stages of ovarian cancer, certain drug treatments to deal with it are giving many women hope.

Maintenance therapy is continued treatment after the patient finishes their initial treatment. After an ovarian cancer patient completes a round of treatments — such as surgery and chemotherapy — her doctor may recommend some form of maintenance therapy to try and delay possible recurrence. Maintenance therapy can involve taking an oral pill called a PARP inhibitor every day after chemotherapy and can keep cancer in remission longer.

Genetic testing helps doctors determine the best maintenance therapy.

Genetic testing—analyzing a patient’s DNA or biopsy tissue—can reveal critical insights about cancer: how it forms, how it behaves, and how best to treat it.

“There are certain cancer-causing genes that can be passed down from generation to generation,” said Dr. Derrick Haslem, the director of medical oncology at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City, in an earlier interview with SurvivorNet.

As researchers uncover more about these inherited mutations, they’re not only pinpointing who might be most at risk—they’re also refining how cancers are detected and treated.

When it comes to ovarian cancer, this information is especially vital.

WATCH: What genetic testing reveals about your cancer?

“There are a lot of mutations that put people at a higher risk for ovarian cancer,” says Dr. Haslem. That’s why your medical team asks about your family history—because genetic red flags can run in families. “If you have a family history of ovarian cancer or breast cancer, that’s a really important thing to bring up with your healthcare provider.”

Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are among the most common genetic links to ovarian cancer. Another factor, homologous recombination deficiency (HRD), can occur in women with BRCA mutations and further disrupts the cells’ ability to repair their DNA.

If you do have a strong family history, your doctor may recommend testing for BRCA mutations or other inherited syndromes like Lynch syndrome, which can also increase risk for ovarian, colorectal, and breast cancers.

Sometimes, testing positive for a high-risk mutation may lead to conversations about preventive steps. “If you were tested and you had that gene, then somebody might talk to you about prophylactic surgery to remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes,” says Dr. Haslem. This kind of preventive surgery can significantly reduce future cancer risk in those genetically predisposed.

Beyond risk assessment, genetic findings also guide treatment. “Certain chemotherapies and targeted therapies are much more effective in those types of cases,” Dr. Haslem adds. For example, PARP inhibitors—designed to block DNA repair in cancer cells—have shown strong results in patients with BRCA mutations and HRD.

Ultimately, genetic testing isn’t just about knowing your risk—it’s a tool that helps tailor treatment and potentially saves lives.

WATCH: Clinical trials can be life-saving.

Why Self-Advocacy in Healthcare Can Be Life-Saving

When patients actively advocate for their health, it can lead to earlier diagnoses, broader treatment options, and ultimately better outcomes—especially when initial symptoms are overlooked or dismissed.

Part of this advocacy means not settling for a single medical opinion. Persistence matters: revisiting your doctor, pushing for answers, and seeking additional perspectives from other healthcare providers can be crucial steps in the journey.

WATCH: The value of getting a second opinion

Getting another opinion may also help you avoid doctor biases. For example, some surgeons own radiation treatment centers. “So there may be a conflict of interest if you present to a surgeon who is recommending radiation because there is some ownership of that type of facility,” Dr. Jim Hu, director of robotic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical Center, tells SurvivorNet.

Other reasons to get a second opinion include:

• To see a doctor who has more experience treating your type of cancer
• You have a rare type of cancer
• There are several ways to treat your cancer
• You feel like your doctor isn’t listening to you, or isn’t giving you sound advice
• You have trouble understanding your doctor
• You don’t like the treatment your doctor is recommending, or you’re worried about its possible side effects
• Your insurance company wants you to get another medical opinion
• Your cancer isn’t improving on your current treatment

WATCH: The Importance Of Getting A Second Opinion: Tara Lessard Shares Her Cancer Story.

Questions for Your Doctor

If you’ve been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and are looking for ways to better understand your disease and treatment options, here are some key questions to bring to your doctor.

You can also turn to SurvivorNet’s proprietary AI tool, “My Health Questions,” which helps patients and caregivers navigate a new diagnosis and prepare thoughtful, personalized questions for their care team.

• What type of ovarian cancer do I have?
• What stage is my cancer in?
• Do you recommend I get genetic testing for any gene mutations, such as the BRCA gene mutation?
• What initial treatment options do you recommend?
• What are the possible side effects of the recommended treatment, and how can they be coped with?
• Will insurance help cover my recommended treatment?

WATCH: A New Wave of Cancer Patients Using SurvivorNet’s My Health AI Tools For Support

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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