Nadin Vernon

My Story...

When I was diagnosed with cancer, modern medicine saved my life. From breakthrough robotic surgery to chemotherapy, every part of my treatment was made possible by years of dedicated research. I’m taking part in Target Ovarian Cancer’s 10k event, to raise vital funds and awareness for this cruel disease.

They don’t call this one the silent killer for nothing. By the time you experience symptoms, it’s usually too late. My only symptom? My jeans felt a bit tight around the waist. Not something you rush to the doctor with right away. After a few weeks of watching the old macros and upping my exercise, it became clear that this wasn’t just a bit of extra bloating or fat. Thankfully, my GP didn’t fob me off. My ‘bump’ continued to grow and by the time I went into surgery to remove the tumour, it measured 35cm in diameter (the size of a large watermelon), went by ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ but was considered to be benign or borderline.

Recovery was tough and is ongoing - ever noticed how much of your day-to-day is controlled by your core? Not as tough as the post-pathology call I received, confirming a rare and aggressive type of cancer. What came next was exposure to a whole new world and a crash course in resilience: more major surgery, followed by six months of chemo. 

Success. 

I held on to my life, my sanity, and my hair - thanks to the magic of science, an outstanding surgeon & healthcare team, my wonderful support network of family, friends and work colleagues, plus hundreds of strangers on the internet with whom I connected over shared experiences and dark humour memes at 3am, when the steroids kept us up. Active treatment finished in Spring 2024, I’ve been in remission since.

Happy days, right? Yes! But the truth is, cancer isn’t just for Christmas. Once you have this diagnosis, you’re a cancer patient for life. It becomes part of your identity and things are simply never the same again. There is no ‘back to normal’, only a new normal. No matter how positive your outlook, you think about it every day. It colours every decision of your life and the next appointment is always looming. Scanxiety is real - the constant reminder that you’re living on the edge of borrowed time. Not necessarily a bad thing, you live louder, more intensely and more intentionally. 

You also quickly realise that cancer is everywhere. One in two of us will get cancer at some point in our lives – we just don’t expect it to happen to us yet, even though the chemo wards are filled with seemingly young, fit and healthy patients. What comforts me is that every day new research leads to clinical trials, providing new treatment options for a bigger pool of patients, helping us survive for longer. What worries me is the lack of awareness, as symptoms can be generic and hardly alarming, plus the following stats:

• Currently, one woman is diagnosed with ovarian cancer every hour in the UK – many at advanced stages and only after being rushed to A&E

• Only 45% of ovarian cancer patients survive beyond 5 years (first thing I read when I googled OC following my diagnosis)

• 4,142 women die of OC in the UK every year – that’s 11 per day

• There is no routine screening in the UK – no, a smear test doesn’t detect OC

Know your body. If anything feels off, get it checked. Don’t put it off – trust me, everything else can wait. The worst that can happen is a good thing: earlier detection, which saves lives. You can’t run away from cancer, you’ll just decrease your chances of survival.

I would love to exceed my fundraising goal and every donation, big or small, makes a huge difference.

Thank you for any support you can give,

Nadin ❤️‍🩹