Mum urges young women to check for ovarian cancer

A young mum who was diagnosed with incurable ovarian cancer has urged other women to be aware of the disease and its symptoms, regardless of their age.

Alex Littlewood, 25, from Huddersfield, was told she had the illness in June this year, just months after she gave birth to her daughter, Tilly.

According to the NHS, ovarian cancer mostly affects women over the age of 50, but Alex - who is now undergoing intensive chemotherapy - said her experience showed younger women were also at risk.

She said anyone who suspected there was something wrong should "push to go to the doctors, push for the tests you deserve and get an answer".

Alex said her initial symptoms were back and abdominal pain, which she first detected while she was pregnant with seven-month-old Tilly.

"Throughout pregnancy, I was told that's normal - a lot of women have back and abdominal pain during pregnancy," she explained.

"But after having Tilly, I found it was just persistent and just carried on.

"So the back pain and abdominal pain were two of my biggest symptoms and how I knew something wasn't right."

Alex had an ovarian cyst removed four years ago and believed at that point she was cancer-free.

But she said her diagnosis earlier this summer left her feeling "numb".

"It was awful because I'd spent all these years wondering if I'd ever have children, to then finding out I might only have years with her," she said.

"I've got a good support system around me. I've just got to keep going, keep taking every day as it comes, and I have my little girl to fight for."

The BEAT public awareness campaign has aimed to draw attention to the symptoms of ovarian cancer, which are:

• Bloating that does not go away
• Eating difficulties, such as feeling full quickly or persistent indigestion
• Abdominal pain
• Toilet habit changes, such as needing to go more frequently and urgently

Liz Waters, from the charity Ovacome, which supports women in the UK living with the disease, said many people were getting diagnosed at either stage three or stage four, when the cancer was advanced.

She added that it was "very important" that any woman who recognised such symptoms saw a health professional "as soon as possible".

Alex said: "Ovarian cancer isn't just for women who are 40 years-plus. It can get anyone.

"I'm 25 years old. If you have the symptoms or you know something's not right, push to go to the doctors, push for the tests you deserve and get an answer."

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