// BBC HEALTH NEWS — SALUTE
'A tumour the size of a football saved my life'
Lisa Carroll was only 41 was she was diagnosed with the rare form of ovarian cancer
A mum-of-three who was diagnosed with a rare cancer has urged other women not to dismiss their symptoms.
When Lisa Carroll, 47, from Coventry, returned from a family holiday in August 2021, she thought she was suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a kidney infection or something minor.
Instead, she was told it was mucinous ovarian cancer (MOC), one of the rarest forms of ovarian cancer in the UK.
"I thought I had possibly a bit of IBS or a kidney problem or something like that. I was in quite a lot of pain," she said.
Next year, Carroll and her husband are looking forward to celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary
After calling NHS 111, Carroll was sent to hospital in Coventry where medics discovered a 12cm cyst on her right ovary.
She was told it did not appear particularly sinister and was placed on a waiting list for surgery.
"Within a month, a cyst the size of a fist had grown to the point that I could feel it like a football in my stomach. Pain and discomfort got worse and I felt shattered emotionally and physically", she said.
By December, scans revealed the tumour had grown to 20cm and was beginning to rupture, so three days later she underwent an emergency procedure to remove the tumour, a fallopian tube, her appendix and surrounding tissue.