A woman who struggled with her fertility has revealed her harrowing battle after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer and needing a hysterectomy to survive.
When Cheryl McFadyean and her husband, Gregg, 44, began trying for a baby, they were excited for the journey ahead – but after two years, they weren’t having any luck.
Feeling desperate, the 43-year-old turned to a fertility clinic and after going through tests on her ovaries and fallopian tubes, it was discovered that she had ovarian cancer.
Cheryl, who claims she had no prior symptoms, felt like life had been “turned upside down” after having no choice but to go through a hysterectomy and now, she’s sharing her harrowing battle to warn others before it’s too late.
“As the clinic told me I wasn’t going to be able to conceive naturally, I felt my heartbreak into a million pieces,” Cheryl, from Coventry, told NeedToKnow.co.uk.
“I’ve always wanted a child for as long as I could remember and I was so excited to finally start on this journey with my husband.
“But after two years of trying, and countless negative pregnancy tests, I felt so deflated.
“I saw all my friends and other people my age with their babies and it crushed me – I kept wondering what we were doing wrong.
“Then they told me that it was cancer and I was completely devastated.”
Cheryl had developed a cancerous 15 centimetre growth in and around her left ovary, which had spread across her bowel and was rushed to have emergency surgery to remove the mass.
She said: “I remember telling Gregg that we’d get through this, together.
“It was pain and so much agony, but I knew it was to make me better again.”
She then attended regular scans, where it was sadly revealed that the growth was back – and was growing faster than before – where her only choice of survival was a full hysterectomy.
Cheryl said: “I couldn’t believe it, as the one thing I had hoped and dreamed about for so long was being taken away for me.
“I had no choice – it was either accept I could never have kids or that was it for me – so I took it all in my stride.
“The procedure went fine until my bowel was nicked during the process, which needed more attention.
“But I remained hopeful that would be the end of it.”
In August 2021, Cheryl was declared cancer-free and while celebrating the news, she suffered another blow when her body entered into the early menopause aged only 40.
She suffered symptoms such as hot flushes, brain fog and insomnia, but the relief of her ordeal being over overshadowed any other bumps in the road.
Cheryl added: “I know I’ll never have kids, but if I can help someone realise the signs before it’s too late, then it’ll all be worth it.
“It can be silent, like in my case, but always trust your gut when something isn’t right.
“It’s so important to seek medical help in the first instance, even where fertility is concerned, as that turned out to be crucial step that saved my life.”
