Jenna Sirkiä landed on her stomach when she fell off an e-scooter – but what doctors revealed when she went to check out her symptoms was much worse than she expected
A young woman who suffered from permanent bloating was given a life-threatening diagnosis by doctors after she fell off an e-scooter.
Jenna Sirkiä had noticed that her stomach appeared a bit more swollen than normal but just assumed the change in her body was down to her diet. But when the 25-year-old woman was taken to hospital, the real cause was much worse.
Jenna had landed on her stomach and soon after began experiencing extreme cramping and fainted. Her sister, who was with her at the time, rushed her to the doctor where she received an ultrasound. Jenna said: “The ultrasound showed that there was a tumour in my ovary that had caused a cyst. [When I fell], it burst. They took five litres of fluid out of my stomach with a tube.
“At first, doctors said that the tumour was neither benign nor malignant. But two months later, I got a call [telling me] that malignant cancer was appearing in my abdominal cavity in the form of mucus. The tumour in my ovary was about 14cm in diameter, which is quite large. [Doctors believed] it had been inside me for a while considering it was that big already.”
Jenna, from Finland, immediately began a course of cytostatic treatment to tackle the cancer and also had an operation that involved removing the tumour and one of her ovaries. She said it was a gruelling process, made all the worse by her having an allergic reaction to the medication and having to switch drugs.”
Jenna was particularly devastated about losing her red hair. She said: “My hair fell out and my friend cut the rest off. It was a tough place [to be in] and [it] felt like the end of the world [at the time] but I’m happy with how well the treatments went.” Jenna finished her treatment on New Year’s Eve 2024.
But her treatment isn’t over. Doctors also took a scan of her lungs, which revealed another tumour and she is set to have surgery to remove the mass. Jenna, who has worked as a kitchen assistant in a nursing home for almost four years, is particularly keen to hopefully return to work at the end of February after having been off for six months.
She said: “It’s been quite a journey but I survived. I’m proud of myself. I got over the fact that I don’t have any hair and luckily it will start growing back soon. I never thought at any point that I was sick, I lived a normal life and was completely symptom-free the whole time. Everything came as a surprise.
“Of course, I regret not going to the doctor earlier about the swelling in my stomach. It’s lucky that I fell in the accident, otherwise this [might not] have been found and it [could] have been too late. I hope life smiles at me this year and there won’t be any more bad news.”
