Paramjit Hunjan, a long-standing Tooting business owner, is raising awareness of ovarian cancer after losing his wife to the disease in 2017. Here, he tells his story.

My wife Ravinder was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer in 2007. She was treated with chemotherapy, followed by surgery. After the treatment, regular checks-ups indicated that she was in remission, which was of course the best possible out come we could have had.

However, after 18 months we discovered that the cancer had come back. Subsequently, she went through several cycles of chemotherapy, but unfortunately the treatment was not working. The cancer progressed and we eventually lost her in May 2017.

This loss devastated me and my daughters. At this point I decided that I had to do something. I knew that I could not change what has happened, but I could help other families from encountering this horrible disease.

Therefore, I’ve started an awareness campaign to make people more aware about ovarian cancer. Unfortunately, it’s one of the most difficult cancers to detect, especially early on –  70% of cases are diagnosed at stage 3 or 4, when the cancer has already spread. At present, there is no screening tool either in the entire globe for early detection.

The four main symptoms to watch out for are:

• persistent stomach pain
• persistent bloating
• difficulty eating/feeling full more quickly
• needing to urinate more frequently

The only way to detect the cancer early is by knowing the symptoms. I am hoping that my campaign will be able to make the general public more aware of the symptoms and therefore help save lives. 

If you’d like more information, please visit https://ovarian.org.uk.

Paramjit regularly attends community events to raise awareness. If you’d like to find out more, email him at pshunjan@hotmail.co.uk.