Ovarian cancer patient says medics dismissed her symptoms

A woman who waited 18 months to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer after doctors dismissed her symptoms has urged medics to listen to their patients.

Natasha Reynolds, 23, first visited her GP in January 2023 after suffering with bloating and indigestion for nearly four months.

She said she had been told it was either irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or her existing endometriosis diagnosis and it was not until she went to A&E in March 2024 that doctors discovered a tumour weighing 4.4lbs (2kg).

According to NHS data, Ms Reynolds is among 40% of patients who are only diagnosed with ovarian cancer once they reach emergency care.

Ms Reynolds, from Sheffield, said she had visited her GP in Leicester, where she was studying, almost monthly to discuss her symptoms.

She said she had suffered from abdominal pains, needing to urinate more often and quickly felt full when eating – key symptoms of ovarian cancer.

At times she said she had looked pregnant as a result of the bloating, but her condition was never properly examined.

“At the time of my diagnosis if a professional had ever felt my stomach they would have felt the tumour, but nobody ever did,” she said.

She said it had only been when she was taken to A&E at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital that the tumour on her right ovary was found.

By June 2024, when she had surgery to remove the growth, it had grown to 8in (20cm).

Now cancer free, Ms Reynolds has urged women to “listen to their bodies and advocate for themselves” and for medical professionals to “listen to what people are saying”.

“If someone presents the first time you may think maybe it is related to a pre-existing condition or it is just a generic bloating or digestive issue,” she said.

“But, if the same person keeps coming back time and time again with the same symptoms something is clearly wrong and investigations need to take place.”

Ms Reynolds shared her story as a new NHS initiative, dubbed Jess’s rule, was introduced urging GPs to “think again” if they see a sick patient three times and cannot pin down a diagnosis.

It was named after Jessica Brady who contacted her GP on more than 20 occasions before being diagnosed with cancer.

Ms Reynold’s partner, Tom Holden, 23, said he was furious about the way she had been treated.

“There was no physical examination of Natasha ever by a doctor, which I think is just the most disgusting failure of their profession, but also their compassion, they didn’t have any,” he said. “They brushed it off and ignored it.”

According to the National Ovarian Cancer Audit’s State of the Nation Report 2025, of the 5,713 women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in England in 2022, 40.1% were diagnosed only after attending A&E.

Joanne Stanford, from Ovarian Cancer Action, said: “Women are being dismissed; their pain is dismissed and they’re being misdiagnosed along the way.

“Too many women are being told it’s IBS, they have menopausal symptoms, or stress, or constipation and being sent away and being told to change their diet.

“They end up going back and forward so many times before further tests are even being done.”

In a statement, the Department of Health and Social Care said: “All women deserve to be listened to and treated with respect.

“It should never be the case that their symptoms are dismissed or diagnosed too late.”

They said the government was prioritising cancer care, with with 92,000 more people having cancer diagnosed or ruled out within 28 days between July 2024 and August 2025, compared to the same period the previous year.