A mum has sadly died from cancer after initially putting her symptoms down to the menopause, having bravely shared her difficult journey online in an attempt to raise awareness.
Leane Flynn, 55, outlived her five-year life expectancy after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in April 2017, having passed away on Tuesday (5 September) with husband Justin and their three daughters – Amelia, 26, Laura, 24 and Anabel, 19 – at her side.
“It’s with a heavy heart that we have to share our beautiful Leane passed away yesterday surrounded by Justin and the girls,” a statement on her Instagram account said.
“There are no words to express the loss and emotions we are feeling. Leane was a loving mother, wife, friend and ambassador for the OCRF. She fought an incredibly tough battle all the way to the end and she did it with pure resilience and positivity the whole way. Even through her hardest times she always continued to share her story and raise awareness for Ovarian Cancer.
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“We will be continuing this account on behalf of her so we can keep spreading awareness so no one else has to go through what she went through.
“We would like to say thank you to everyone for the years of love and support. Your positive messages and comments always brightened her day and we are very grateful for that.
“We will miss our Leane everyday and she’s everywhere with us.”
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In a previous interview with 7News, Leane explained how she was at the peak of her health when she started experiencing mild bloating at the age of 49 in November 2016.
“I sort of said, ‘Well, I’m probably getting menopause’ because everyone says you get bloated when you become menopausal,” she recalled.
“That didn’t worry me so much.”
She carried on with life as usual, but by February 2017 she started experiencing another symptom.
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“I actually noticed I was urinating all the time,” Leane recalled.
“I used to go for lots of runs and I had to stop to go to the toilet all the time, I just had the urgency all the time.”
After realising something was ‘not right’, she went to the doctor, who decided to send her for a blood test and scan ‘just to be sure’.
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She was eventually told she had ovarian cancer, with two Coke can-sized tumours discovered on her ovaries, along with a banana-sized tumour on her liver.
“It’s just so bizarre because when I got up that morning I went for a 10k run. I woke up thinking I was a healthy, happy middle-aged woman,” Leane continued.
“Then that night, I’m going to bed thinking I have a lethal cancer that is killing me. I had to come home and tell my husband Justin. They tell you not to Google anything, but I was Googling madly.
“We called (our three daughters) from work and school, and they all came home, and we had to sit them down and say I had cancer.”
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Last week, Leane posted a smiling photo with her ‘bestest and oldest’ friends, who she had spent the day with.
“I’m maxamizing every moment,” she wrote.
“Still haven’t received confirmation about the clinical trial so my future is really up in the air.
"One day at a time.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week
Jess Hardiman