LORRAINE McKitterick knew something wasn't right when she was struggling to lose weight despite not being able to eat much.

The 60-year-old had hoped to shed a few pounds as a New Year's resolution back in 2019 so she stuck to a strict diet and tried to curb her appetite.

As it turns out, it was an easy task as the mum-of-one struggled to finish her meals, was met with constant bloating and indigestion as well as bowel trouble which made eating the last thing on her mind.

Yet, she put on eight pounds.

"I knew something wasn't right. I had been going back and forth to the GP who eventually said it was gallstones," Lorraine told the Glasgow Times.

"When I eventually saw the surgeon, they said 'we know it's gallstones but we see something else so you'll need a biopsy'.

Glasgow Times:

Lorraine with husband John and granddaughter Sienna

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"I went in the next week for the biopsy and when I woke up from it they said 'I'm so sorry, you've got high-grade serous ovarian cancer, stage three' and you'll need surgery next week."

Lorraine, who hails from the Gallowgate, had just moved to Cambridge with her husband John and quickly began her treatment at Addenbrooke Hospital.

The grandmother of eight had already had hysterectomy in her early 30s, however, now she was faced with even more surgery to remove her ovaries, fallopian tubes, part of her peritoneum, gallbladder, omentum and appendix.

Medics then scraped all visible signs of the disease from her other organs.

From there, she was accepted onto a clinical trial which Lorraine felt was a way of "guaranteeing" two more years of life.

Despite this, the cancer was still too advanced for a cure and the prognosis was "not good".

Glasgow Times:

Lorraine during her Christmas chemo treatment

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She said: "I was just in denial for about 18 months. It never really clicked for me, even when I saw the oncologist I was still in disbelief.

"I just kept thinking 'I'll be fine' and today I'm living with cancer, not dying from it.

"I'm scanned every three months which is, of course, really scary but the rest of the time I try not to think of it."

Lorraine has credited her positivity with getting her through and has set herself goals, such as reaching her milestone 60th birthday which she celebrated last year.

Next up, she's keen to ring in her 10th anniversary with husband John in January and join in with her son Colin's 40th birthday celebrations soon after.

March marks Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month which has inspired Lorraine to share her story in the hopes it will encourage other women to visit their GP if they experience symptoms.

She has been working with Target Ovarian Cancer as part of its campaign to raise awareness of the disease.

Glasgow Times:

Lorraine with son Colin

Annwen Jones OBE, chief executive of Target Ovarian Cancer, said: “Target Ovarian Cancer won’t accept that 11 women die every day from ovarian cancer in the UK. Not when survival rates in other countries are so much higher. And not when we can do something about it right now.

“We know that early diagnosis increases the chances of survival and knowing the symptoms is vital to achieving this. This is why we continue to demand that the UK governments invest in awareness campaigns so that everyone knows the potential significance of persistent bloating – alongside abdominal pain, feeling full quickly and needing to wee more often – and seeks the appropriate medical advice.”