Victoria Turner opens up on cancer diagnosis amid Ovarian Cancer Awareness Week

A Northern Rivers nursing lecturer was “shocked” after being handed a bleak ovarian cancer diagnosis — Australia’s deadliest female cancer. Then her mother was hit by a diagnosis too.

The faces of National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month this February in Australia.

Losing her hair at 59 — a stark, visible sign of her struggle with ovarian cancer – was a “distressing” time for Victoria Turner.

Ms Turner, from Ballina in the Northern Rivers, grappled with the physical and emotional toll after the bleak diagnosis in 2020 with Australia’s deadliest cancer for women.

“I was shocked at the diagnosis then I was shocked when I went for the surgery as they couldn’t remove the tumour because it had spread to my kidneys and liver,” Ms Turner told this publication.

“They told me I only had a 33 per cent chance of being alive in five years and an 80 per cent chance of the cancer coming back.

“So it was just shock after shock and then distress and frustration that it took so long to diagnose.

Ballina cancer survivor 63-year-old Victoria Turner leads February’s Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in a national campaign.

“I had felt there was something really wrong, it was so persistent and I’d never felt that way before.”

The diagnosis came after eight months of going back and forth to her doctor after experiencing some of the typically vague symptoms associated with ovarian cancer — a change in bowel and bladder habits, fatigue and lower back pain.

Ballina nursing lecturer Victoria Turner and her mother Barbara LeQuesne both had ovarian cancer.

Just two years after her surgery and chemotherapy treatment, Ms Turner’s own mother Barbara started experiencing similar symptoms and sure enough – was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 87.

Now the pair, who are both in remission, are leading a national campaign raising awareness for other women in Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month this February by Black Pepper and Ovarian Cancer Australia.

From bottom left: Mary Doumany, Christine Crupi, Victoria Turner and Jo Yates feature in the campaign for ovarian cancer awareness.

“If you feel something’s not right with your body then get it checked out.

“Don’t hesitate to speak up and advocate for yourself — that’s really important,” Ms Turner said.

According to the Australian Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, the average five-year survival rate for ovarian cancer patients is 49 per cent, compared with 92 per cent for breast cancer, 84 per cent for uterine cancer, and 74 per cent for cervical cancer.

Over the next decade, it is estimated that 10,000 Australian women and girls will lose their lives to ovarian cancer, the foundation say.

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Originally published as Victoria Turner opens up on cancer diagnosis amid Ovarian Cancer Awareness Week