When Kate Wylie noticed a shooting pain in her left leg she wasn’t too worried, but her decision to visit the doctor “just in case” saved her life.
The 33-year-old, from Perth, visited her GP in October 2023 for sciatica-related pain but was still sent for scans as a precaution. They detected a large, unrelated mass growing in her pelvis.
A few weeks later, Kate received news she never expected to hear. She had stage three ovarian cancer that had spread to the omentum (a tissue structure in the abdomen), lymph nodes, and intestine.
Tumors were also growing in both ovaries; one measured 10 cm and the other 8.5 cm.
The devastating news came at the worst time when Kate and her partner Daniel were preparing to start a family. Since doctors advised a complete hysterectomy to save Kate’s life and the cancer was “choking” her eggs, she can no longer have children.
Kate Wylie, 33, always wanted to be a mother, but her dreams of being a mother were taken away from her after she was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer (pictured before diagnosis).
‘I’m heartbroken. I feel like I have lost the meaning of my life, not being able to experience pregnancy and have a child of my own,” Kate told FEMAIL.
Since the pain in her leg was not related to her cancer, the only symptom Kate experienced was swelling. She also has no family history of cancer.
Kate has suffered from sciatica for years – pain that travels along the sciatic nerve to the legs – because I am a hairdresser and am on my feet all day.
Fortunately, when she visited the doctor this time, they sent her for scans instead of prescribing painkillers.
In October 2023, Kate noticed pain in her leg, but didn’t think anything of it because she suffers from sciatica. She went to her doctor and had scans done which found a mass growing in her pelvis (Kate pictured with her partner Daniel)
It turns out she had tumors growing undetected in both ovaries and needed a complete hysterectomy. The cancer has spread to the omentum, lymph nodes and intestine (pictured during treatment).
After two weeks, his world was turned upside down.
“The doctor mentioned that there was a possible tumor in my pelvic area,” Kate recalled. “If I didn’t have the pain in my leg, I never would have known.”
She was later told she had stage three low-grade cancer that had spread, so she was referred to a doctor specializing in gynecology and oncology to schedule a surgical biopsy.
Ovarian cancer is known as a “silent killer” because it often has no obvious signs or symptoms. Pap tests also do not detect ovarian cancer and there is no routine test.
“At first I didn’t believe it because I didn’t feel bad; I thought they were wrong.” “It’s a real mind game,” Kate said.
‘I’m heartbroken. “I feel like I’ve lost the meaning of my life, not being able to experience pregnancy and have a child of my own,” Kate told FEMAIL.
‘Sometimes it doesn’t seem like real life. “I was totally fine (I thought so) at one point and then I found out I had ovarian cancer,” she said.
Her cancer was also described as a low-grade serous carcinoma, meaning it is It doesn’t respond as well to chemotherapy but it grows slowly.
“I cried thinking, ‘How come I have cancer? “This can’t be real,” Kate said.
“I sat in my car in the parking lot with my mother not knowing what to do. My partner was already at work for the day and told me to call him regardless of the news.
On December 1, Kate underwent a major five-hour operation to remove tumors from her ovaries and reconstruct her bowel, leaving her with an ileostomy stoma bag (left). Chemotherapy has also caused her hair to fall out (right)
“I couldn’t tell him I had cancer over the phone or by text, so I just explained that I needed surgery, but I didn’t say the c-word until I was home with him that night.”
Kate’s tumors had “smothered” her ovaries and eggs, making it “impossible” for fertility clinics to collect eggs before surgery.
‘I feel like I was also faced with the worst scenarios. The cancer had spread and invaded my intestine and I lost the ability to collect eggs or have children.’
Being told she needed a full hysterectomy was the worst news she could have received, as Kate always wanted to be a mother. After meeting the man of her dreams, she was excited for what was to come.
‘This is something I have longed for all my life. “Not only have I lost the ability to have a child, but also the ability to use my own eggs and create a special human being,” he said.
‘Our dream is to be parents and this is something we will study once the chemotherapy is over. It will be a difficult process, but I am sure that I was born on this earth to be a mother. But of course I have to focus on recovering first.’
Right now, Kate feels like she is “grieving” as she will never know what it’s like to have a child of her own.
Now all you can do is wait and hope that the treatment goes well. She hopes sharing her story will encourage other women to get regular checkups.
On December 1, Kate had a major five-hour operation to remove tumors from her ovaries and reconstruct her bowel, leaving her with an ileostomy stoma bag.
He had a month to recover and began chemotherapy on January 5th which will end on April 16th.
As a result, she experienced drastic “shaking” hair loss, migraines, and fatigue. Since her ovaries were removed, she also entered early menopause.
When asked what she would like other women to know, Kate warned that it is a “silent killer” that is often not discovered until its final “mortal” stages.
‘Have regular checkups with your doctor. If your doctor doesn’t test you thoroughly or asks a lot of questions, find another doctor,” she said.
‘Ask your doctor to do a scan or blood test. Don’t ignore the signs if you are bloated and tired and collect your eggs if you can. “If I had known this was going to be my life, I would have done it when I was 20.”