And the Sister and a doctor sat down on my bedside, closed the bedroom door and said awfully sorry, it’s very bad news, you’ve got a massive ovarian cancer. And I was saying hang on, I came in with a chest complaint. You know, I’ve got no symptoms, no bleeding, nothing. And they said, well, I’m sorry, you have. And I said, oh fine, I’ll have a hysterectomy, then. And they said no, it’s gone way beyond that, surgery will be completely out of the question, it’s too far advanced for that.

And we asked what happened now and they just said, well, it’s very far gone. So I said I wanted to see a gynaecologist immediately.

And he just said there’s nothing at all. I said will I see you again? and he said no, I don’t think so. He called my husband outside and said you realise she’s very, very poorly, she certainly won’t see Christmas, or if she did it would be a miracle. [My husband] said, what sort of time do you think? and he said 2 to 3 weeks.

And I asked for chemotherapy and I was told that, really no. I was way beyond help, you know, was too far gone, and chemotherapy was so unpleasant. But I demanded chemotherapy. We even said we’d pay for it if, because I didn’t feel as ill as what they were telling me I was. I know I looked it and my weight just dropped off me with these chest drains.

Anyway, I got chemotherapy. I put a big brave effort on when I went to see the oncologist, I was in a wheelchair but I walked from the ward door to see him and he agreed I could have it.