A woman who repeatedly faced questions about whether she was pregnant due to her bloating was actually carrying a cancerous tumour that ruptured while she was bathing. Sally-Anne Hawkins, 39, from Portsmouth, had spent months struggling to button her jeans and fielding awkward inquiries about a possible pregnancy. Initially dismissing the changes as weight gain, her discomfort soon escalated into pelvic pain and a desperate need to use the toilet every 15 minutes.
Misdiagnosis and a Medical Emergency
After being incorrectly told she had food poisoning and an overactive bladder, Sally-Anne's ordeal reached a terrifying climax in April 2024. While sinking into a warm bath seeking comfort from her pelvic pain and bloating, a grapefruit-sized cancerous mass ruptured inside her. She recalled: "I staggered downstairs screaming for help. I was in agony and vomiting whenever I moved." Rushed to the hospital, a CT scan revealed that her right ovary had twisted and a mass was detected. She was stunned to learn the growth was ovarian cancer. "I could barely take it in. It was a moment of total shock," she said. "I never thought it could be that but looking back I had all four main symptoms, though never put it down to this."
Surgery and Difficult Decisions
One week later, surgeons removed Sally-Anne's right ovary and washed out her womb to clear any matter left by the ruptured tumour. Given a sobering 75 per cent chance of the cancer returning, she made the difficult decision to have her other ovary removed—a choice that later proved correct when another tumour was found. Sally-Anne, who now undergoes follow-up scans every six months, explained: "I refused to go through it all again. My partner, Andy, and I didn't want kids, so I made the decision to have my remaining ovary removed. When they found another tumour, I knew I had made the right choice."
Raising Awareness
Looking to the future, Sally-Anne is sharing her story to raise awareness of the symptoms, urging others to remember the acronym BEAT: bloating, eating difficulties, abdominal pain, and toilet changes. She said: "Life is good now. I have a new outlook on life and read a saying which I live by: 'People say you only live once, but you actually live every day and only die once.' Looking back, I wish I listened more to my body. Keep pushing – you know your body."
