A young woman who 'ignored' symptoms of cancer has shared a health update on her social media.
Graduate Chloe Etheridge, 24, had been experiencing symptoms for several months back in December 2021.
She'd been experiencing severe bloating, stomach pain and difficulty eating before she finally sought the attention of medics.
By this point, her symptoms had reached such a level that she was forced to visit A&E where she was given an immediate ultrasound, only to discover that she had tumours all over her ovaries.
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Her delayed decision to see a doctor, however, meant that she wasn't given an official diagnosis for ovarian cancer until seven months later, in July 2022.
"I ignored all of [the symptoms] - which wasn't the right thing to do," she said.
"In April, I had really bad stomach pain so I had to go to A&E and I found out I had tumours on my ovaries.
"One was 18cm long and one was 11cm long.
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"Between April and July, we knew there was something wrong with me, but we didn't know exactly what my diagnosis was which took three months."
Chloe said that treatment was immediate upon her diagnosis and she had to begin chemotherapy the very next day.
"I was relieved to finally get a diagnosis," she said. "The waiting was horrible and knowing all the time it is growing bigger I wanted to get started on the treatment.
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"I thought it would be a really cinematic moment where you go to the doctor with your mum and cry - but it was nothing like that.
"You go into action mode. I had to get on, it was a busy time, and I felt numb thinking, 'Right we need to get on with this'."
Chloe described her treatment as 'incredibly brutal' - with her chemotherapy having 'seven different chemical components'.
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"The doctor said it was one of the most aggressive forms of chemo they could prescribe and it is only available at two hospitals in the UK." she said.
Adding: "The side effects were horrendous, I had nausea, fatigue, hearing loss - I still can't hear some frequencies now."
Thankfully, however, with this treatment and surgery to remove the tumours, which went 'really well', she is officially on the mend.
And sharing a health update with her social media followers in September 2023, Chloe showed off her newly-grown pixie cut and bushy brows after losing her hair following chemotherapy.
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"MUCH much hairy," she wrote in the caption.
And Chloe's recent post has since gained her a huge congratulations from her thousands of followers.
"Looking gorg!!!" one fan gushed, as another penned, "I bet you missed those lashes [heart-eye emoji]".
A third dubbed her: "Fabulous!"
And a fourth said: "BEAUTIFUL."
Topics: Health
Rhianna Benson