Surviving cancer, five years on

By Lachlan Ellis

A local survivor of ovarian cancer has shared her story five years on from her diagnosis, with her life today a far cry from the ordeal.

Ashlee Hamm (nee Bartleman) grew up in Ballan, and her battle with ovarian cancer began in December 2016, with doctors initially suspecting a swollen stomach was the result of pregnancy, a parasite, or food intolerance.

“It all started in December when I got back from Morocco. I ended up with lot of fluid in my stomach, it started off as feeling bloated and not being able to eat, which got worse and worse,” she told the Moorabool News.

“I saw about seven doctors that kept turning me away, and just did pregnancy tests, not really listening to the story. When I did finally get diagnosed, I ended up having Stage 3 ovarian cancer…from there they drained the fluid, and I had 11 litres of fluid in my stomach.

“It pushed all my organs up…it took a long time to get diagnosed, but once I got diagnosed, it all happened very quickly, I had surgery on the 24th of January and started chemo in March.”

Six rounds of chemo and 18 rounds of Avastin – a treatment which prevents new blood vessels growing, including those which feed tumours – Ms Hamm had the cancer surgically removed and a long road to recovery began.

Today, Ms Hamm is cancer-free – despite a 95 per cent chance of her type of cancer re-occurring “within weeks, if not months”, it hasn’t come back – and thanks to her sister, she and husband Stephen have a beautiful baby boy, Paddy.

“He came from a donor egg from my sister…during surgery my ovaries were removed, so Sam donated her eggs to make embryos and that’s where Paddy came from,” she said.

“He was born last May. We did that through IVF in Ballarat…life five years from my diagnosis on is really good, having Paddy…I feel like you don’t take life for granted, you’re more resilient, you pick up on the good a lot more and not stress about the bad. You take every moment as it comes.”

Her new perspective on life includes a focus on health – she no longer drinks alcohol, eats a plant-based diet, and has done four triathlons following her recovery from ovarian cancer.

In her latest triathlon which took place in February, Ms Hamm even made a podium finish.

To read the full story – Simply click on the following link

https://issuu.com/themooraboolnews/docs/mn_2022-04-05/11

in the 5 April 2022 edition
OR
pick up a paper around your town.