A Scots mum has been given the all clear from a rare cancer just months after being told it was incurable. Paula Devaney’s life turned upside down in March when she was told she may have as little as 18 months to live.
"They found a mass that was roughly 20cm by 8cm on the left side of my pelvis. I ended up rushing to hospital in pain where they done an MRI and realised I had two masses on my ovaries. I had to go for an emergency hysterectomy. After an initial course of chemo, doctors put Paula forward for CRS Hipec. The operation is used to treat the most advanced forms of cancer and is believed to increase survival rate from 10 per cent to between 50 and 90 per cent.
"I went for the surgery at Basingstoke. I had my surgery nine weeks ago and it was really tough. I was so poorly afterwards and the recovery was hard. It wasn't until after I was told it wasn't colon cancer but appendix cancer. They removed my appendix, the right side of my bowel, my rectum and scraped out almost four pounds of cancer from my peritoneum.
"They've pushed me through but have also been my achilles heel. The thought of leaving them destroyed me. My heart was broken. It was the first thing I've ever been through. It has made me realise what is important in my life and I now appreciate every single day I wake up.