A Buckinghamshire teacher has issued a stark warning to women who suffer exhaustion — after the problem turned out to be a telltale sign of ‘silent killer’, ovarian cancer.
Rachael Misfud, 38, first began suffering extreme fatigue in 2023, but assumed it was a result of her hectic job alongside parenting four children.
‘I felt like I was 70 years old,’ she said. ‘I had to sleep when I got home from work just to get through the evening.’
But when she was hit with a bout of bloating, she decided to visit her GP for help.
The doctor sent her for an ultrasound which revealed a mass on her ovary — but medics assured her it was likely to be a non-cancerous cyst.
‘I just got put on a waiting list for it to be removed,’ said Ms Misfud, who is mother to Paige, 18, Lexie, 15, Medina, nine, and AJ, eight.
However, during her operation, which took place nine months later, surgeons noticed the growth was in fact cancerous.
She was then delivered the devastating diagnosis of mucinous ovarian cancer — a rare disease diagnosed in around 200 people a year in Britain.
Rachael Misfud was told the growth on her ovary was more than likely a cyst, and waited nine months to have it removed – but it turned out to be deadly cancer.
Around two to three per cent of all ovarian cancers are what’s called mucinous — which means that the tumour cells are coated in mucus.
‘I shut down. I was in complete shock,’ Ms Misfud said of the moment she told the news.
‘You just never think it’s going to be you. But then I had to focus on next steps. The consultant said to me, ‘you’re young. You’re a mum. We want to give you the best chance. We’re going to act quickly.’
Ms Misfud was told it was likely that the cyst mutated while she was on the waiting list for surgery.
‘Maybe we need to be doing more scans while people are on waiting lists,’ she said. ‘Especially as catching it early is the key for survival.
‘The assumption was I had a cyst. Maybe the assumption should be cancer until we’re sure it’s not.’
Ms Misfud was quickly referred for a second surgery in order for doctors to remove the disease, followed by chemotherapy to kill remaining cancer cells.
In 2024 she underwent an operation to remove the cancer, as well as all of her reproductive organs — ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes and cervix — to ensure no traces of disease remained.
Her gruelling surgery involved removing all of her reproductive organs, including the cervix.
Ms Misfud said losing her hair was the hardest part of chemotherapy. Her youngest son ‘took a while’ to feel comfortable looking at his mother without hair.
Luckily, the cancer had not spread to surrounding organs, giving her the best chance of long-term survival.
‘I keep thinking what would have happened if there had been any more delays,’ she said.
Ms Misfud is currently undergoing chemotherapy and said the treatment ‘isn’t as scary as you think’.
‘The nurses are lovely and make it the best they can for you. You get tea, coffee, biscuits, bananas.
‘But I’ve lost all my hair now. And I’m not going to lie, as a woman, it’s awful. It’s such a big part of you so it’s really hard to accept.
‘My youngest took it the hardest. I think that was the moment he realised I really had cancer.
‘It took him a while to be able to look at me. That did break my heart.’
Ovarian cancer is often referred to as a ‘silent killer’ because it often doesn’t cause any symptoms in its early stages.
As a result, three quarters of patients are diagnosed at later stages of the disease when only a third will survive more than three years.
Sometimes signs are present, but they are mistaken for less serious problems like irritable bowel syndrome or urinary tract infections.
These symptoms include bloating, pain or tenderness in the abdomen or pelvis, a lack of appetite, needing to use the toilet more often and exhaustion.
Other signs are indigestion, back pain and losing weight without meaning to.
