Yoli Rios was used to bloating and stomach cramps. She’d always had painful periods and symptoms like this were common for her.
So when she experienced severe abdominal pain in October 2019, she thought little of it.
“I didn’t do much research - usually when you look up your symptoms you’re just told you’re going to die,” the 27-year-old joked to The Mirror.
But as the months passed, Yoli’s bloating didn’t go away. In time, it became noticeable in her physique.
“I looked like I had a belly but I wasn’t eating that much, so I thought maybe something I was eating was making me bloated,” she said.
“It caught my attention because the belly was round. It was the shape of a pregnant belly.”
So for the next few weeks Yoli cut out bread, flour and other wheat products, thinking she might need a gluten free diet.
But nothing changed. In fact, Yoli’s symptoms only got worse.
She said: “I was still very bloated and in a lot of abdominal pain. I couldn’t walk, sleep or even breathe without feeling pain.
“My friends encouraged me to go to the doctor and I was given antibiotics for an infection.”
But when the antibiotics didn’t help either, Yoli went back to the GP and insisted it was something more serious.
“I told them something was wrong, plus my left leg was very swollen and I couldn’t walk properly,” she recalled.
Yoli was sent for an ultrasound which revealed she had an enormous cyst on her ovaries.
“Usually, ovarian cysts are about 2cm long. Mine was about 30x12cm. The doctor told me to imagine I was five months pregnant and that was how big the cyst was.”
As if the cyst wasn’t terrifying enough, doctors told Yoli they were treating her as a cancer patient. After several tests including a biopsy, her diagnosis was confirmed. Yoli had ovarian cancer at just 25 years old.
“It was really scary. It all moved so fast because they wanted to do something before it got very bad,” Yoli recalled.
“A part of me just didn’t understand how it could be happening. Sometimes I’d be at peace with it, but other times I just thought I was kidding myself by being positive.”
Within weeks of being diagnosed, Yoli had an operation to remove the cyst. Six weeks later, she had a second operation to remove 72 lymph nodes.
Thankfully, the operations were a success and there were no signs of cancer inside Yoli’s body.
But although she was relieved to be cancer-free, Yoli still had some hurdles to overcome.
“Before the cancer I never had to go to the doctor for anything, so I wasn’t prepared for what was to come in terms of my mental health.
“It came with so much anxiety and fear and soon I started to have nightmares. I dreamt about women who had been on the ward with me screaming.
“I’d wake up super tense, so much so that my arms and hands would hurt.
“Another recurring nightmare I had was that someone was trying to put an injection in my belly while I tried to get away. The anxiety was something I never had to deal with before,” she said.
Yoli also described bursting into tears with no warning as the anxiety took over.
“I’d think, ‘why is my heart pounding so bad’?”
Yoli, who lives in a commune in north London, sought help from her community, friends and family, who helped her deal with the feelings of anxiety.
After following some Macmillan nurses on Instagram, Yoli also learned about an app called Alike, a platform for people who are living with or who have survived cancer.
“I thought it was really good to have a place where you can share your experiences and ask questions. It helps you relate to other people,” Yoli said.
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“Most people on the platform agree no one really prepares you for what you go through after you’ve had cancer.”
After spending time reading other people’s experiences and sharing her own from time to time, Yoli learned to understand the anxiety she was feeling and found solace in other people who had been through the same experiences.
A year on, Yoli’s making great progress. She now only needs to go for check ups once every four months and there are still no signs of cancer in her body.
She credits her doctors, loved ones and her faith with helping her recover mentally and physically.
“I’m so grateful for them. When the anxiety kicks in, I feel like I’ve grown enough to manage it.”
