Sophie Pugh, 27, found out she has stage-four ovarian cancer in February – she underwent chemo then doctors found a second cancer
A 28-year-old disability support worker has been forced to choose between death or experimental chemotherapy months after doctors dismissed her as a hypochondriac with bad period pain.
Sophie Pugh, from Perth, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in February and quickly threw herself into hardcore chemotherapy in a bid to eradicate it.
But doctors missed a second, much more sinister cancer growing at the same time – and now it’s going to kill her.
Speaking to FEMAIL the young woman revealed she has chosen palliative care over aggressive treatment this time around.
‘I’m completely devastated. I really struggled with chemo last time and I am not keen on feeling like that again for it to probably not cure me,’ she said.
The newly-found cancer is a myxoid spindle cell sarcoma, and ‘it’s everywhere’.
It is also very rare, hard to treat and aggressive.
‘The first cancer they found has been cured but they didn’t find the second one until a few weeks ago when they did a laparoscopy,’ she said.
Sophie is pictured here after having to shave of her hair during her first round of chemotherapy
The palliative chemo option involves one round every three weeks, to try to extend Sophie’s life without smashing its quality.
‘Then I will get more scans done in January, see what the growth rate is and reassess,’ she said.
Sophie previously told FEMAIL her story hoping it would give other people the confidence to push doctors for answers.
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She said: ‘All the signs were there’.
She had crippling period pain, a sore lower back, a sore upper leg and later severe abdominal pain, bloating and then difficulties going to the toilet.
‘They were so bad that I would drop to the ground, and super heavy, I went to get them checked twice and was told I had polycystic ovaries.
‘The second time when they found the growth instead of scarring I was told they didn’t act on them until they were over four centimetres.
‘They didn’t think it was important.’
She was determined to fight the cancer even after it had spread to her lungs but is now struggling to remain positive
Before this diagnosis she had been sent home from the ER with ‘food poisoning’ when she experienced excruciating abdominal pain and diarrhoea.
Two months later when her lower back started to hurt, six months before she was diagnosed, she assumed she had ‘pulled something’ after completing a 100kg dead lift at the gym.
‘It would start aching when I was in the car for any longer than 20 minutes,’ she explained.
She wants other people to listen to their gut feelings – after she let doctors send her home
WHAT SYMPTOMS DID SOPHIE EXPERIENCE?
1 – Excruciating period pain
2 – Lower back pain when sitting
3 – Pain in her upper legs
4 – Extreme bloating
5- Pain in her lower abdomen
6- Discomfort using the toilet
7- ‘Stop-go’ urination
8- Heavy periods
9- Diarrhoea
10- Breathlessness
But she still assumed it was nothing, as there was no history of cancer in her family and doctors had previously pointed polycystic ovaries as the cause of her pain.
Three months before her diagnosis she went back to the doctor when she experienced pain in her left quad, the same side as the growth on her ovary.
‘He told me I wasn’t stretching after the gym properly, which I knew I was because I stretch for 20 minutes before and after each session, we now know it was a symptom of the cancer,’ she said.
She put it to the back of her mind and decided not to head to the doctors when the pain escalated.
‘I was trying to do some incline crunches at the gym and it felt like hot knives were being pushed into my lower abs,’ she said.
Sophie said she was left devastated after being given the option of palliative care and a treatment that probably wouldn’t work
‘Then I was lying in bed and my cat jumped on my stomach and I just cried in pain and my partner told me I had to go to the doctor.’
That same day she noticed she had pain when she used the bathroom and ‘stop-go’ patterns when she tried to pee.
She was rushed from her GP’s to the hospital’s ER with ‘suspected appendicitis’ and left four days later with her cancer diagnosis.
The cancer has grown rapidly, from the time she was diagnosed to the time doctors cut it out it had gone from ten to 15 centimetres and spread to her lungs.
This means the cancer is ‘stage-four’ which is typically terminal, but this is where Sophie says she is ‘one of the lucky ones’ because her cancer reacts well to chemo.
‘It is very unlikely for me to have this cancer because it is typically found in children,’ she said.
‘But it also has a much higher cure rate, if I had been diagnosed with normal ovarian cancer I would be a complete mess because it would likely mean I would be terminal,’ she said.
THE OFFICIAL SYMPTOMS OF OVARIAN CANCER:
Abdominal bloating
Difficulty eating or feeling full quickly
Frequent or urgent urination
Back, abdominal or pelvic pain
Constipation or diarrhoea
Menstrual irregularities
Tiredness
Indigestion
Pain during intercourse
Unexplained weight loss or gain
Source: Cancer Council
She revealed her scar after the operation to remove the 15centimetre tumour from her left ovary and says the disease caused bloating and pain
Sophie took a special treatment designed to ‘put the right ovary to sleep’ before she started chemo.
‘Some doctors question whether it will work but if I don’t try and then I can’t have kids later I will kick myself,’ she said.
She also had to ask for help on Go Fund Me.
‘At the moment my boyfriend is paying for all my bills but his own house will be finished soon and I don’t want him to be paying his mortgage on top of mine,’ she said.