Orla shares her story of Ovarian Cancer

A TALLAGHT woman who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at aged 46 is sharing her story and raising awareness for the signs and symptoms to help others recognise them.

Orla Greaney, from Balrothery in Tallaght, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in September 2021 after suffering from symptoms.

“For about eighteen months I was suffering with bloating, and I couldn’t lose weight and when I was eating, I was getting really full even though I was still hungry,” Orla told The Echo.

“I was attending my GP and speaking to consultants about the bloating and I was told it was due to menopause.

“I joined the gym, and I was doing it three nights a week and still couldn’t lose any weight. One Monday night I had gone to the gym, and I woke up in the early hours of Tuesday morning with severe pains in my stomach and I just thought that I had pulled a muscle.”

Concerned by the pain, Orla went to the Emergency Department at Tallaght Hospital that night and had tests done and was kept in by doctors for a week when doctors discovered a tumour in the omentum and confirmed that she had ovarian cancer.

“I was traumatised – none of my family have had cancer, so this was something really new,” said Orla.

“Tallaght Hospital did act on it very quickly and then I was referred to James’ Hospital where I met all of the surgeons and I was operated on the following week.

Orla was transferred to the Beacon Hospital for surgery, and because the cancer had spread, she had to undergo major surgery which took seven hours – removing her pelvis, her womb, ovaries, fallopian tubes, appendix, omentum and part of her bowel as well as scraping around her liver.

“The cancer was everywhere, and everything was removed,” she said. “I ended up in ICU for three days. I had post traumatic stress after the surgery, and it had a huge effect on me. I think a lot of it was because of Covid, because nobody was allowed to come in to visit me at the time.

After the surgery, Orla began chemotherapy in November 2021 and had six rounds, finishing in March this year.

Because of her diagnosis of ovarian cancer, Orla’s doctors recommended a test for the BRCA gene, which can give someone a much higher risk of developing breast cancer or ovarian cancer compared with someone who doesn’t have the mutation.

Orla received her results in January this year, which showed that she had the BCRA-1 gene, which meant that she always had a 40% chance of getting ovarian cancer and an 85% chance of getting breast cancer.

Because of her diagnosis with the BCRA-gene, all of Orla’s family were tested for the gene, with two family members receiving a positive result. They will now be screened for both ovarian and breast cancer.

“In Ireland, there is an eighteen month wait for family members to be tested for BCRA and there is a four-year waiting list for preventative surgeries,” said Orla.

“We had to go through America for genetic testing. If my family hadn’t gone through that route, it would have been almost two years before they would have gotten a blood test here – it’s shocking.”

In addition to raising awareness for the symptoms for ovarian cancer, Orla says that she wants to advocate for cancer patients to receive a medical card.

“I would have gotten my chemo on a Thursday, and the next day I have an €80 bill for it,” she explained. “When I am strong enough and better, I will hopefully be campaigning for it.

“I was totally traumatised from the surgery and had PTSD and couldn’t think about paying bills and these things need to be highlighted and changed.”

Since finishing chemotherapy, Orla says she is “a lot better” and has started on PARP inhibitor drug for two years to keep the ovarian cancer from reoccurring.