‘I thought I had IBS – now an ovarian tumour may cost me my dream of having children’
A woman who thought she had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) but was diagnosed with an ovarian tumour and told she may not be able to have children as a result now feels like a “sitting duck” waiting for the growth to return.
Lucy Rudd, 29, a biomedical scientist, who lives in Cumbria with her fiance John Atkinson, 34, began experiencing pain during sex, irregular bleeding, and IBS-like symptoms in January 2023.
By April of the same year, she developed a lump on her abdomen, so visited the doctors.
Post surgery, she was diagnosed with a mucinous borderline tumour which, according to Cancer Research UK, is when abnormal cells form in the tissue covering the ovary – a tumour which is not made of cancer cells but generally does hold a low risk of becoming cancerous or returning. For Lucy, the chances of recurrence are 25%
