Waterlooville grandmother with football-sized tumour says research has given her 'bonus time' with family

Ness Hillary from Waterlooville started to notice she was putting on weight and getting stomach pains in 2013 but put it down to a combination of quitting smoking six years earlier and the menopause.

But after several trips to the doctors, she was given the devastating news that she had ovarian cancer.

The 60-year-old, who lives with 72-year-old husband Mike, said: ‘Being told I had Stage 3 ovarian cancer is a moment that will never leave me. They had found four tumours including one on my ovary which weighed 5.2kg and was the size of a football.

‘Two more were on my colon and a fourth was on my liver.

‘It was devastating and such a shock. I felt like my world had fallen apart and I felt lost and alone. I had so many questions; why me, what now, was I going to die?’

Ness has since undergone six courses of chemotherapy, had major surgery, been in remission twice and, in 2017, took part in a clinical trial of drug Niraparib, which aimed to see if the drug helped prolong survival for people with advanced ovarian and prostate cancer.

She is backing now a joint fundraising campaign by Cancer Research UK and Stand Up To Cancer to fund further vital research and drug trials, which she says gave her ‘bonus time’ with her loved ones.

Ness, a former compliance manager, said: ‘My oncologist told me the hope was surviving five years – but added that only one in ten people make that.

‘But now we are six and a half years on. I may have lost my hair more times than I can remember, but it’s only thanks to cancer research that I am here today.

‘Thanks to research I have been given bonus time to spend with my children and grandchildren, including seeing the youngest arrive. I am desperate for them to remember me and so now it’s not about doom and gloom, it’s doing lots of fun things and making lots of memories.’

The drug has since stopped working and Ness – mum to Kevin, 36, David, 34 and stepmom to Matthew, 32, and 33-year-old Marianne - returned for chemotherapy treatment at Queen Alexandra Hospital during the height of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Ness said: ‘It’s been a particularly awful round of treatment because this time nobody could be with me to sit and chat or hold my hand.

‘It made me feel so alone. It’s my family and friends who have got me through this with all their support but to do it alone and then come home and still not be able to see or hug your children and grandchildren was tough.’

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After fundraising more than £56,000 for Cancer Research UK with her pals from Portsmouth Rock Choir, Ness wants people to join in with a special Sunday Brunch fundraiser for Stand Up To Cancer and host a dinner at home with family or housemates and donate the bill to help fund research.

Jenny Makin, Cancer Research UK spokeswoman for Hampshire, added: ‘We’re grateful to Ness’s family for helping us to continue our mission. Cancer doesn’t stop in the face of a pandemic. It can affect anyone’s life, at any time so we only have one option: accelerate life-saving research.

‘Thanks to the extra time spent at home lately, many of us now know our way around the kitchen much better than before. So why not put these new-found culinary skills to use while inspiring guests to dish up the dosh for a great cause.’

Get a free fundraising kit at su2c.org.uk/brunch.