Published Apr 24, 2024

23-Year-Old Woman Thought Bloating & Frequent Trips To The Bathroom Was From IBS – But It Was Stage 3 Ovarian Cancer & Now She’s Raising Awareness For The Disease

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Battling Ovarian Cancer

Emma Colledge, a 23-year-old living in Durham, England, was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer after initially dismissing her symptoms of bloating, frequent trips to the bathroom as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Now, she’s 25 years old, “cancer-free,” and spreading awareness for ovarian cancer, a disease which is often harder to catch in its early stages because of its subtle symptoms, such as bloating, weight gain, and abdominal pain that can mimic regular menstrual cycle fluctuations.
After ovarian cancer patients complete initial treatment, maintenance therapy may be recommended to try and delay possible recurrence.
SurvivorNet offers a comprehensive guide to ovarian cancer features advice from some of the nation’s top gynecologic oncologists, to guide you through every stage of the diagnosis and treatment process. Check out SN Local, featuring 20 cities across the U.S., to explore expertise and community near you.

At just 23 years old, Emma Colledge, of Durham, England, was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer after dismissing her symptoms of bloating, frequent trips to the bathroom as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

Now, aged 25, as Colledge is “cancer-free” after undergoing lengthy surgeries, chemotherapy, and living with a temporary stoma, she’s sharing her story to inspire others to be their own advocates and get checked when something feels unusual. She hopes others will understand that cancer can happen at any age, when you least expect it, so it’s important to know the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer.

During a recent interview, according to the Independent, Colledge recounted how she received her cancer diagnosis in September 2022 following scans that revealed a 30-centimeter ovarian cysts.

She said her symptoms arose in March 2022 when she started a new job and noticed during a physical training that she felt like she was “lying on a watermelon,” as she was lying on the floor.

Colledge explained, “I then started going to the toilet more. I was thinking that maybe it’s not IBS but something else, like eating lots of salty food. I went to the doctors in the May and they told me I was pregnant. I knew I wasn’t and the test confirmed that.”

She continued, looking back how in August her symptoms worsened, saying, “It got to the point where I’d eat two mouthfuls of food and I was full, nearly being sick.”

It wasn’t until her doctor’s appointment in September that she was urged to go to the hospital as she had severe pain, a visit which ultimately led to doctors discovering her cyst during an ultrasound.

“At first, they thought it was just a cyst but then the doctors asked my mam to come in because there had been some complications on the scan. When the doctors did the CT scan, they saw all of the cancer,” she said, as per the Independent.

“It had spread to my stomach and the stomach lining. The cyst was so big that they couldn’t see anything else because it had started crushing my kidneys.”

She explained further, “I thought I was too young to get ovarian cancer. It’s not common. But it was.”

Despite fearing how long she had left to live, Colledge moved forward with treatment and had a five-and-a-half-hour procedure to surgically remove the large cyst and ovary attached. That was followed by another lengthy surgery, which was a full hysterectomy, as well as removal of her appendix and spleen, a swell as some of her bowel.

She also had some laser treatment as well and a temporary stoma.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, “a stoma is a surgical connection between an internal organ and the skin on the outside of your body.”

The pouch that collects body waste is removable and can be temporary or permanent.

She later underwent six rounds of chemotherapy at a Teenage Cancer Trust unit and was declared to have no evidence of cancer after having her final chemo treatment in April of last year.

By December 2023, Colledge concluded the year with an uplifting Facebook post, writing, “Another year over and done, another year of raising awareness for ovarian cancer. Thank you to everyone who continues to follow my journey although it’s near the end I will forever raise awareness for ovarian cancer!!

“Keep an eye out for some new things happening in the new year for raising awareness, I can’t wait to work alongside The Robin Cancer Trust!! This year I finished my chemo, lost all my hair.. but also got so much confidence, had my stoma reversed and the biggest, got the all clear against cancer.”

“Here’s to a happy healthy 2024!! Let’s raise as much awareness as possible for this disease,” she concluded.

As per a January 2024 post, Colledge’s hair appears to be growing back and another followup post in February revealed she’s healing well.

She captioned her February update post, “Seen my consultant today who done my surgery! She’s really happy with everything still and how my scars have healed. She wants to keep me on her books but won’t be regular appointments she will do telephone calls.

“With it being low grade cancer it’s not as aggressive as high grade so if I was to have a reoccurrence it won’t be till a few years if I do.”

Colledge added, “She said it’s all in my hands now, if I feel like I need to see her then to ring her and she will get me straight in rather than taking me off and having to start the process again. She said she wants to keep me under her name as I was a very complex case so she doesn’t want to get rid of me just yet. All my bloods are fine and they are keeping an eye on my bones too.”

WATCH: Ovarian Cancer Warning Signs Can be Subtle

Learning About Ovarian Cancer

Emma Colledge was very young to develop ovarian cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, it is rare in people younger than 40, as it usually occurs in people after menopause. Half of all ovarian cancers diagnosed are in people older then 63.

With ovarian cancer, chemotherapy is usually the first stage of treatment, but staging the cancer is a little more difficult to tell until your doctor performs a surgery.

For ovarian cancer, gynecologic oncologists recommend a staging procedure after a diagnosis when they have evidence that the cancer may be early or limited, which has to do with the location of the tumor. Based on where the cancer is found, it will be assigned a stage.

In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, Dr. Amanda Fader explained staging ovarian cancer through surgery.

“If it’s remained in the ovary where it was initially found or developed, then the cancer is Stage 1,” says Dr. Amanda Fader, vice chair of gynecologic surgical operations at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, tells SurvivorNet.

How Do I Know The Stage of My Ovarian Cancer? Staging Surgery Determines Spread

“But if the cancer has started to spread to other organs or through the lymph nodes to other parts of the body, then it would be identified as Stage 2, 3, or 4,” Dr. Fader adds.

The Stages of Ovarian Cancer

Stage 1: The cancer is confined to the ovaries or fallopian tubes
Stage 2: The tumor involves one or both ovaries with extension to other pelvic tissues (or is a primary peritoneal cancer)
Stage 3: The cancer has spread outside of the pelvic peritoneum including to the outside of the bowel, liver and spleen and/or it involves the lymph nodes
Stage 4: There are distant metastases (outside of the pelvis and abdomen) or metastases to the inside of the spleen or liver

When doctors have evidence before the surgery, such as from imaging tests, that the tumor may be limited to the ovary, they will usually recommend a staging procedure. During that operation, doctors remove all or part of the ovary with the tumor and send itwhile the patient is still asleep on the operating table to a pathologist who will examine the tissue and identify the type of tumor so doctors can decide how best to treat it.

The Anatomy of Ovarian Cancer

If the tumor is determined to be benign, the surgery can end. Otherwise, more extensive surgery is usually performed.

Prior to the surgery the patient and her doctor would have discussed the various possible findings, so that depending on the result of the ovarian biopsy, the surgeon knows what the patient’s wishes are and how to proceed. “We would have made these decisions ahead of time through our preoperative counseling,” explained Dr. Fader.

Understanding Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer

There is no screening test for ovarian cancer, but doctors say it is important for women to be aware of symptoms which can indicate something is wrong.

The signs of ovarian cancer can include feeling bloated or full, pain in the pelvis or abdomen, nausea, vomiting, or changes in bowel habits. As we all know, many of these can be similar to symptoms many women experience monthly with their menstrual cycle.

“We don’t have a good screening method, but if you have symptoms, it’s very important that you go to your physician because there might be an opportunity that we can detect it when it’s still early stage,” says Dr. Jose Alejandro Rauh-Hain, a gynecologic oncologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

“It’s very important that patients are not afraid to ask questions to their physicians. Because the sooner we can diagnose the cancer, the better that prognosis.”

Ovarian Cancer: What Are The Symptoms And Warning Signs?

Questions for Your Doctor

If you have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and are interested in learning what treatments are available for you, ask your doctor a few questions.

What stage is my ovarian cancer in and what type do I have?
Will genetic testing help determine what treatment may be best for me?
Are there other tests, like for the folate receptor alpha protein, that I can take?
What are my treatment options based on my results?
What side effects should I expect from the available treatments?
If my ovarian cancer is platinum-resistant, what treatment options can I explore?
Will insurance cover new cancer drugs?