Tracey Bell collapsed in pain while working out, not realising she had a 16cm tumour on her ovary
By April Glover|
If Tracey Bell never collapsed in utter agony while working out five years ago, she might not be alive today.
The former Queensland bodybuilder and mum-of-one had been training a client in 2017 when she felt excruciating pain in her abdomen.
"I was in so much pain that I was curled up in a ball on the floor, and my daughter managed to grab my phone so I could ring my husband," Tracey, now 43, tells 9Honey.
"Not since then have I felt the kind of pain that I was in."
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Tracey was rushed to hospital where she was given painkillers, which didn't seem to work.
Doctors ordered an ultrasound to find the source of her agony. Her obstetrician and gynaecologist then approached her with some earth-shattering news.
"He told me they had found something on my left ovary, it was a 16-centimetre mass," Tracey remembers.
"The pain that I was feeling was the tumour actually rupturing. It had wrapped around my left ovary, so that one was unsalvageable."
Thinking back, Tracey tried to recall if she had any symptoms of a huge tumour sitting dormant in her ovary. She had always been fit, a clean eater and strict exerciser, but had noticed a little bloating.
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"Because I had been so strict with my eating [preparing for a bodybuilding comp], and then eating whatever I liked, I thought it was just bloating," she explains.
After doctors found the tumour, she was scheduled for surgery to have the mass removed and tested for cancer cells.
"On that same day, I had my operation and my left ovary was removed," Tracey says.
"At that point, it meant I could still have more children. I was in a lot of pain and feeling sorry for myself, but that was a positive for me."
"I was in so much pain that I was curled up in a ball on the floor, and my daughter managed to grab my phone so I could ring my husband."
After a week's recovery, Tracey returned home to her husband and daughter, Bronte.
Then she received a phone call that ultimately dashed her hopes of ever falling pregnant again.
"My doctor rang me to tell me that they had found cancer in the mass," she remembers.
"So they gave me a bunch of other scans and biopsies, and then they found cancer in my right ovary, my endometrium and uterus."
It was stage four ovarian cancer.? Tracey's oncologist then delivered the most heartbreaking blow of all. If she wanted to fight the ovarian cancer, she'd need a full hysterectomy.?
"One of the hardest parts was having that control from me taken," she explains.?
"I really feel for women who have been diagnosed before having children and don't ever get the opportunity to have them. That would be so devastating. So I do feel so blessed that I have Bronte."
After her hysterectomy, Tracey had six rounds of chemotherapy. She did a cycle every three weeks, which ensured she could still be a mum while treating the cancer.
By November that same year, the mum finished her chemo and was officially declared cancer-free.
Looking back on her diagnosis, Tracey says the sinister nature of ovarian cancer was the sheer lack of symptoms.
Only a bit of unexplained bloating pointed to a 16-centimetre tumour lying dormant in her ovary.
"I was really lucky with the rupturing because it meant they could find the cancer quite early," Tracey says. "It was still early stage and my chemo doctor told me she rarely sees people who get diagnosed this early in the piece."
"Without the rupturing, my story would have been completely different."
Since her 2017 diagnosis. Tracey has reached the elusive five-year mark, which only 48 per cent of ovarian cancer patients reached.
To mark the occasion, she has committed to moving a total of 500 kilometres throughout the month of November as a nod to the five women who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every day in Australia, raising money for Ovarian Cancer Australia.
The Workout 4 Women challenge has committed to moving every day to raise awareness and money to help fund the critical work of Ovarian Cancer Australia.
"Ovarian cancer research doesn't have the funding it needs, that's why this fundraiser is so important," Tracey says proudly.
"A lot of the services that exist now for women didn't actually exist when I went through it. So that's why funding means the world to patients."
There is no official screening test for ovarian cancer like breast and cervical cancer, so symptom awareness and body intuition is incredibly important for women.
"The thing with ovarian cancer is, you have to be so hyper-aware of your body. There is no early detection" Tracey adds.
"The overarching thing for me is, stop assuming everything is normal with your body. If something feels wrong, get it checked out, because it could be something sinister."
Jane Hill, CEO of Ovarian Cancer Australia, ?says women should be vigilant of any symptoms which could point to cancer in the ovaries.
"As there is no early detection test for ovarian cancer, it is important to ensure that sign and symptoms are investigated thoroughly. Those experiencing symptoms may be encouraged to have a combination of tests such as a Ca125 blood test and transvaginal ultrasound to help rule out or aid in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer," Jane explains.
"Unfortunately, this alone is not enough to ensure that ovarian cancer is caught early as the cancer may already been in its advanced stages when symptoms present.
She adds: "Dedicated funding and priority investment is needed in order to address this and improve the outcomes for people with ovarian cancer now and into the future."
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