WHEN Carol Stefanicki was diagnosed with ovarian cancer her world fell apart.

“I didn’t see how I could be in such a dark place and come out the other side,” she said. “I felt numb.”

Carol, 64, had begun to feel really unwell with a persistent pain in her side, feeling full after eating only half a meal, being constipated and so exhausted she could hardly pick up the vacuum.

She knew something was wrong and made numerous visits to the doctor over the next 18 months, where her pain was put down to irritable bowel syndrome, which she had suffered from in the past.

Then one day Carol’s best friend said that she was worried about her. That she looked dreadful – her eyes looked dead, her hair lifeless and her skin grey. She begged her to see her doctor again.

Carol went back to the GP thinking maybe she had anaemia or was having a prolonged attack of fibromyalgia. Her doctor did a blood test and the next morning she got a call to say that her CA125 protein levels were extremely high and that she may have cancer.

On December 23, 2011, after more tests and scans, Carol, from Ower, was diagnosed with stage 3b ovarian cancer – known as the most deadly gynaecological cancer, killing 12 women a day in the UK. It had also spread to her stomach and lymph glands.

“The diagnosis was a huge shock to me,” said Carol, who is married to Noah and has three children, two step-children and eight grandchildren. “Cancer had never crossed my mind and it all felt |very surreal.

“My first thoughts were how am I going to tell my children? I hadn’t even told them I was having tests. It hit me really hard, but I had to pick myself up and carry on. I had no choice but to be strong for my family, who were amazing. I’m not sure how we got through Christmas that year, it was horrible.

“But, I decided then that I wasn’t going to just lie down and accept it, I was going to do everything in my power to fight it.”

Carol began chemotherapy in January, 2012, but was extremely ill due to an allergic reaction to it. She collapsed and was in intensive care. After this |she was put back on chemotherapy, but it was administered slower than usual, over seven hours instead of four, so it was a bit less of an extreme hit on her body, which helped.

“I found the chemo very painful because I was allergic to it,” she said. “But thank God I had that pain, as the chemo was working!”

A CT scan showed her tumour had shrunk, from around 14cm to 2cm. She then had surgery to remove it.

And although Carol is still having regular check-ups, she is hoping that by telling her story she can raise awareness of ovarian cancer, which affects 7,000 women every year.

“I had a hysterectomy when I turned 30 due to abnormal cells which could have turned to cancer if they were not removed,” she explained.

“But my ovaries were left behind.

“There has to be more awareness of cancer that kills – so many people do not realise that smear tests are nothing to do with ovarian cancer and there is not enough research for it at the moment. That needs to change.

“I didn’t think I would survive when I was diagnosed, but I am still here, still telling my story and hoping I can make a difference!”