Liv Curtis’ initial fear when her belly began to expand was that she might have an unplanned pregnancy and became stressed about how her family would cope.
The 35-year-old mother of three had an IUD fitted after her third child with husband Kevin and also thought the abdominal pain she was experiencing could be related to that.
Constant fatigue, loss of appetite and a swollen belly prompted her to seek medical help, and the diagnosis shook her deeply.
A 3kg cancerous tumour was discovered and so began a cycle of surgeries and therapies that few could endure.
Speaking to Femail, Liv said she downplayed other symptoms such as pain during sex, frequent urination and exhaustion, putting them down to simply being a busy mum.
“I had typical uterine pains, like I was having a bad period. I had my third child in 2016 and had an IUD inserted. So when I started feeling unwell three years later, I assumed the persistent pains had something to do with that.
“I thought maybe it had moved or gotten stuck somewhere it shouldn’t have, but I went to the doctor, got a Pap smear, and everything seemed fine.”
The worrying symptoms persisted and she began to get more and more tired, so she had an ultrasound that They found a small cyst on one of her ovaries, which was normal for her age.
Liv Curtis watched her stomach grow over the course of several months. She was terrified she was pregnant, but a visit to the doctor revealed she actually had cancer.
Liv’s symptoms continued during COVID lockdowns and her exhaustion increased.
Her GP suggested talking to a gastroenterologist or getting an endoscopy, but she considered these options rather than requirements.
“He never really told me he thought I should do it, so I put it off. I was a working mum with three kids and had to commute to work every day, so I thought that was it. I didn’t need all those extra scans and tests for a tiny cyst,” Liv said.
‘I thought my GP was overreacting, but I wish he’d talked to me and said, “Look, it might not be anything serious, but it could be. Let’s rule out any unpleasantness.”
“I never really understood why they were giving me these references.”
Liv’s symptoms continued during the COVID lockdowns of 2020 and her levels of exhaustion worsened.
‘I fell asleep in the living room at about six o’clock at night. All I was doing was working from home and maybe taking the kids to the park.
‘I got to the point where I couldn’t eat anything at all. I felt full all the time.
‘One day, my husband Kevin touched my belly and said he could feel something hard there.’
Despite the IUD, Liv thought she might be pregnant.
“My first fear was being pregnant again,” Liv said.
“I touched my belly and it felt very big. We couldn’t afford a fourth pregnancy, it would have been crazy. I was very stressed. I thought it was going to be the worst thing in the world.”
Further examination revealed that it was not a baby, but a 3kg mass in the pelvis and abdomen.
Speaking to FEMAIL, the mother of three revealed how she downplayed symptoms such as bloating, pain during sex, frequent urination and exhaustion from being a busy mother.
“I didn’t even know what it was,” Liv recalled.
“I had all the pap tests and got the shots at age 12. I thought I was covered against female cancer.”
He traveled from the Central Coast to Sydney to see the gynecologist who helped her give birth to her children.
‘After another scan, I was taken to the silent room, which is every patient’s worst nightmare. That’s where they tell you something is wrong.’
When the words came—ovarian cancer—Liv’s world began to crumble around her..
“I felt like I was falling off a cliff,” Liv said.
“I felt like everything had turned into white noise. My husband and I just sat there, holding hands, sobbing. I may have even fallen to the floor.”
And he added: “When something like this happens, you don’t think about yourself. All you think about is your children. What will happen to them?
“It’s really about being afraid of dying. It’s about being afraid of not doing your job, of not being a mother anymore.”
The large size of the tumor reduced the prospects of a successful surgery, but Liv consulted a gynecologic surgeon who said some words that ultimately saved her life: “I have some friends and I think we can get it[the tumor]out.”
The cancer was low grade and had been growing inside Liv for 18 months.
Liv said she sat with her husband and cried after the preliminary diagnosis.
She underwent surgery at the end of June 2020 and underwent a radical hysterectomy and also had parts of her intestine removed.
‘I was kept asleep overnight and intubated because the doctors said it was one of the biggest surgeries they had ever done and very few surgeons were willing to do it.
“I was very lucky to meet this group of surgeons, because not all women receive this treatment. Many women are told that they are not operable.”
Surgeons were able to remove most of the tumor, but not all, but she still needed chemotherapy for the rest.
She received six rounds of intensive chemotherapy every 21 days and finished in November 2020.
“Before the big surgery, I told my children that I had a monster inside me,” the mother recalled.
“I said we had to get it out and we joked a little bit about how we didn’t want it or need it and we threw it in the trash. We had a good laugh about it.
“When I had recovered enough from the operation, we sat down to dinner a week before I started chemo. I had to tell them that my hair was falling out and it was because I was trying to make sure the monster didn’t come back.”
Liv received six rounds of intensive chemotherapy every 21 days and finished in November 2020.
Liv was exhausted after each round of chemotherapy and had to stay in bed for up to 10 days afterwards.
Her husband, Kevin, took seven months off work to care for her, and Liv’s parents also moved in temporarily and helped run the house.
The mother experienced two relapses after initially being cancer-free following chemotherapy.
“A few months later I had a recurrence and had to have another surgery. The surgeons removed all the cancer and a bit more of my intestine. They were happy that there was nothing left, but my cancer markers started to rise about six to ten months later.”
Further scans revealed there was part of a tumour behind Liv’s navel and a third operation would be necessary.
‘In the third operation they couldn’t get it all out. They had to leave me with a small amount because if they kept doing it they wouldn’t have been able to sew me up again.’
Liv said her friends were her “village” during her diagnosis and treatment.
When Liv was told she had cancer, she decided to involve all her friends and family instead of fighting it alone, and discovered how much people cared.
“I told everyone. I sent messages and told them I was going to get better and I needed their help to do that.
‘Or I said I wasn’t going to get better and I would need my babies and Kevin to be taken care of.’
Then the avalanche of flowers, baskets, chocolates, donuts and more began.
“We were in quarantine so they couldn’t come visit us, but they did things to cheer me up all the time. One time, a friend of mine came over with three pizzas for our family at dinner time.
“I felt incredibly supported. People came to pick up my kids and take them to sports practice and school, and drop off groceries. The whole community came together to help us.”
Liv was using her experience to help other women with ovarian cancer, particularly by pushing for the best possible treatment rather than accepting what seemed inevitable.
‘The Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (OCRF) doesn’t have the prominence of the Pink Ribbon, so I just want women to be aware of their symptoms and to stand up for themselves. There’s not the same level of care everywhere.
‘If you are told you cannot have surgery, seek a second or third opinion. If you feel you are not being taken seriously, you should be more assertive and stand up for your rights.
“I have been very lucky at every stage of my care, but I have spoken to many, many women who have not had the same experience.”