A mother has credited her contraceptive coil with saving her life after pains she blamed on the device led to a cancer diagnosis. Caroline Bailey, 54, was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer in June 2023 after suffering severe stabbing pains in her stomach.
The former childminder, from North Wales, initially thought the coil was to blame and repeatedly went to doctors asking for it to be removed. She said: “I was going to the doctor, saying, ‘This coil is stabbing me’, and I just hate how long it took for me to be taken seriously.
“I wish it was easier for women to get diagnosed.”
Shock diagnosis after scans
But scans revealed a 13cm tumour pressing against the device. A biopsy later confirmed the cancer had spread to her omentum, a layer of fatty tissue in the abdomen. The shock diagnosis came shortly after her daughter had received the “all clear” for thyroid cancer. Reading survival statistics left Caroline fearing she might have only a couple of years to live.
Caroline said: “I couldn’t believe the size of it. I actually thought, ‘I won’t live for another two years’.”
The pain had started in March 2023. With no family history of ovarian cancer, Caroline believed it was down to the coil and asked for it to be removed. She said she was referred to a sexual health clinic because no appointments were available, but staff there could not remove it.
Over the following weeks, the pain became increasingly difficult to bear. By May, she was struggling to get through the doors of her GP surgery. She added: “I crawled into the doctors on my hands and knees… and I said, ‘I need to get this coil out’.
“I wanted to rip it out myself, but you can’t. I thought it was killing me.”
Treatment and recovery
Caroline was given a form for a CA125 blood test, which can help doctors investigate possible ovarian cancer, and told to take it to A&E. She feared she would pass out from the pain on her way home. One of her daughter’s friends took her to hospital, where she said she was initially told her blood results were fine.
After following up with her GP surgery, she received another call explaining her CA125 level was raised. She was referred for urgent investigations before being told on June 9 that doctors had found the tumour. Caroline told PA Real Life: “I absolutely think that the coil saved my life, which is mad.”
By the time chemotherapy began, she said the tumour had grown to 16cm. Four rounds at The Christie in Manchester reduced it to 8cm, but she suffered severe side effects, including constipation she compared to labour pains.
On October 26, 2023, she underwent a six-hour operation, including a total hysterectomy and removal of her omentum and appendix. Caroline said: “When I came round, there were machines everywhere… and the scar was crazy.”
Gene mutations and new outlook
She underwent two further rounds of chemotherapy in January 2024, along with follow-up CT scans. Caroline now has no evidence of disease, although she said doctors warned her the cancer could return. Having lost friends to ovarian cancer, she described mixed feelings about her own news.
Testing also revealed she carried BRCA1 and RAD51D gene mutations. She is having consultations about a double mastectomy, while family members undergo genetic testing. She said: “I’m the first person in my family to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer. But the best thing about this, about having ovarian cancer, is my girls know what they’re dealing with and they can have preventative surgery.”
During treatment, Caroline also went through a divorce, lost her job and moved several times, even living out of her car for periods. She has since fulfilled wishes on her “tick list”, including travelling to Italy and moving to a cottage in Wales with a sea view and a bath.
Caroline said: “I’ve definitely had to change my life because I had cancer. My motto is: ‘Be healthy, be happy, be kind’.
“I can’t believe I’m still here.”
