A woman who put her stomach ache down to the “anxiety” of her breakup has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
Storm Reveley, 22, had just split up with her ex-partner when she suddenly started experiencing stomach pains.
At first she put the pain and loss of appetite down to “separation anxiety” before trying to cut out dairy in case she was lactose intolerant.
But when Storm started feeling bloated, light-headed, experiencing bladder pain and abnormal bowel movements, she went to see her doctor.
They initially thought she might have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but told her to come back if her pain continued.
When her symptoms persisted, she went to Nottingham City Hospital – where they felt a mass in her stomach – which they thought was a twisted ovarian cyst.
Storm went in for emergency surgery to remove it, but they found a tumor the size of “an 18-week-old fetus.”
She was diagnosed with germ cell ovarian cancer after a biopsy and had four rounds of chemotherapy – and is now cancer free.
Storm, a beauty therapist, from Nottingham, said: “I was going through a breakup at the time and thought it was general anxiety.
“It started all of a sudden and I was diagnosed not long after.
“I struggled with my old grief. Your body image changes – I lost my hair and had to wear a wig. It’s the little things you don’t expect.”
The storm suddenly began to show symptoms in March 2021.
She said: “I started to feel a bit sick to my stomach. I thought I was lactose intolerant.”
But despite stopping dairy, Storm continued to have stomach aches, as well as feeling sick and losing her appetite.
She said: “I couldn’t eat anything. I would have one bite and be full. It’s not like me.”
Storm also noticed that she was losing weight, bloated a lot and feeling lightheaded.
She said: “It was like I was walking on water the whole time. Takes your breath away. I started waking up in the middle of the night with a painful bladder. It is accompanied by abnormal bowel movements.”
Storm went to see a doctor who initially thought it was IBS and was told to “see how you go”.
But when a friend saw Stormi in pain at college, she took her to the hospital.
Storm said: “They felt my stomach and said they could feel a mass. The lady on 111 felt my belly – she said at the hospital she could feel the size of an 18 week fetus.
“I went back in the morning for an ultrasound. They couldn’t see my ovary at all.”
Storm was admitted for a CT scan, but when he began to deteriorate and show signs of infection, doctors decided to take him into surgery in May 2021.
She said: “They said they think it’s a twisted ovarian cyst. They prepared me for keyhole surgery, but when they operated they realized it was going to be a major operation.
“It was a tumor and not a cyst.”
After a six-hour operation, Storm removed the tumor and then awaited the results of her biopsy.
She said: “I was in so much pain that I was so glad I had the operation and the pain would go away. I felt relieved. Maybe I didn’t fully understand.”
She was diagnosed with ovarian germ cell cancer in June 2021.
Storm said: “When I got the diagnosis, my immediate reaction was to burst into tears because it was my parents. But at the time they didn’t say it was cancer. They said it was a germ cell tumor and I had to say ‘is this cancer?’
Storm then began chemotherapy later that month to get rid of the cancer completely and rang the bell in September 2021.
She had remained positive throughout treatment, but struggled afterward.
Storm said: “I didn’t allow myself to feel any anger, frustration or sadness. It has an impact on you when you finish treatment. It doesn’t end when the bell rings.”
Storm says she now mourns the “old me” and her cancer treatment may have affected her fertility.
She said: “They don’t know for sure. My egg count is lower than the average person my age, but I’m still fertile to an extent. You think about the future – how will I feel when my friends have children if I can’t.”
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