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Mum's plea after teen's 'baby bump' led to terminal cancer diagnosis


Giovanna Ienco was just 14 years old.

Her biggest worries in life were playing netball and whether or not boys would be allowed at her birthday party.

But that all changed when what was originally believed to be a baby bump turned out to be something much more sinister.

Giovanna had been conscious about her weight like any teenage girl, mother Angela Ienco told Yahoo7 News.

Giovanna was just 14-years-old when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Source: Supplied/Angela Ienco
Giovanna was just 14-years-old when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Source: Supplied/Angela Ienco

So that is why she was not alarmed when her daughter started to eat healthier and smaller portions.

But that was just one of a few symptoms of Giovanna’s ovarian cancer.

It is a hidden killer, one that cannot be detected early, Ms Ienco said.

The teenager’s ‘baby bump’

In around April 2012 Giovanna was at netball training when Ms Ienco was alarmed by a woman’s question.

“She asked me if Giovanna was pregnant,” she told Yahoo7 News.

“That’s where it all started and of course, I was horrified somebody would say that. She was only 14.”

Ms Ienco said she then started to notice her daughter’s growing belly and it was “hard as a rock”.

She took her to the doctor the next day and she was booked in for an ultrasound where a cyst the size of a football was discovered on her ovaries.

Giovanna’s growing belly alerted her mum something may be wrong. Source: Supplied/Angela Ienco
Giovanna’s growing belly alerted her mum something may be wrong. Source: Supplied/Angela Ienco

Giovanna and her mother did not worry too much as it was not uncommon for teenage girls to have cysts on their ovaries, but a blood sample later determined the cyst was cancerous.

The next week Giovanna travelled to Melbourne from their home in Mildura, in Victoria’s northwest, for surgery.

Following her operation the surgeon told the family a 10kg tumour had been removed from her ovary.

They then tested the tumour but believed they had got it all.

A family’s nightmare

Giovanna had been recovering from the surgery in hospital for five days before she was allowed home.

But on May 8 Ms Ienco received a call that would be any parent’s worst nightmare.

The family had to fly back down to Melbourne where Giovanna was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Ms Ienco said Giovanna was meant to have “six rounds of chemo once every six weeks and after that she’d be back playing netball”.

“I told her, ‘It’s okay darling, we can do this, it’ll be easy’,” the mum recalled.

“Giovanna wasn’t worried about the cancer, she was more worried about her hair falling out.”

Giovanna (centre) with father Fred, brother Nando and mother Angela during her treatment. Source: Angela Ienco/Supplied
Giovanna (centre) with father Fred, brother Nando and mother Angela during her treatment. Source: Angela Ienco/Supplied

The 14-year-old was booked in for her first round of chemo on June 2, the same day as her 15th birthday.

“Leading up to the chemo she was very tired and very skinny,” Ms Ienco said.

“She had her first round of chemo on her birthday and she did quite well and after a couple of days in hospital she could go home.”

Giovanna’s tough fight

The teenager was in agony following chemo but Ms Ienco said she was told she could only have Panadol to relieve the pain.

One night the pain was so extreme she had to be taken to hospital in Mildura where she was given Endone.

“It’s the only good night she had,” Ms Ienco said.

“She would be screaming in pain, that went on for two weeks.”

The doctors said the pain was caused by constipation and Panadol would be strong enough to relieve the pain.

Two weeks after her first round of chemo, Ms Ienco threw her daughter a 15th birthday party.

“She was so looking forward to her party. About 15 friends from school, we took her out to a restaurant, even boys were allowed there,” she said.

Ms Ienco choked back tears as she recalled her daughter saying it was the best night of her life.

After that, Giovanna’s health took a tragic turn.

‘She has days to live’

By the end of June Giovanna was still experiencing pain in her stomach and her mother received a phone call from the oncologist who was alarmed it was so extreme.

They flew down to Melbourne the next day where she underwent tests for about five days, trying to determine why Giovanna was in agony.

“She was a skinny little thing in so much pain, bent over like an old person,” Ms Ienco said.

The Royal Children’s Hospital could not explain why Giovanna was in so much pain but the teen’s belly had started growing the “baby bump” again.

Giovanna (centre) in hospital with her father Fred and mother Angela. Source: Angela Ienco/Supplied
Giovanna (centre) in hospital with her father Fred and mother Angela. Source: Angela Ienco/Supplied

She was then transferred to the Royal Women’s Hospital and Ms Ienco was told by an oncologist Giovanna’s survival relied on trying other drastic chemo treatments for different cancers.

“We were in shock – being told it’s constipation and then hearing the words ‘for your survival’,” Ms Ienco said.

“Giovanna was then going to trial two different chemos for two other cancers.

“We did one lot of the two chemos and she got through that, but by that time her belly was probably like a four-month pregnancy, growing every night.”

Giovanna was in the Royal Women’s Hospital for 10 days before doctors called a meeting with her parents.

“They sat us down and they said ‘Giovanna’s organs are shutting down, chemo hasn’t worked’,” she said.

“The first lot for her ovarian cancer, instead of stopping the cancer and slowing it down, it actually made it grow rapidly which was why her belly was growing.

Angela Ienco sits by Giovanna’s bedside. Source: Angela Ienco/Supplied
Angela Ienco sits by Giovanna’s bedside. Source: Angela Ienco/Supplied

“The cancer was all around the bottom of the belly, snaked around the organs – the bowel, the bladder.

“They said we’re not talking months or weeks to live, we’re saying days.”

Ms Ienco said she did not want her daughter to know she was dying and she prayed to God to take her quickly so she did not suffer.

Giovanna died just three days later on July 11, 2012.

“We only had three days to know it wasn’t working and she was going to die when all along she was told she was going to get back to netball,” she said.

‘There were signs we never knew about’

Ms Ienco is sharing her daughter’s story for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in the hope others can seek treatment as soon as they notice something wrong and to push for early detection tests in Australia.

“Signs were there we never knew about and we didn’t know young people got it, I thought it was an older woman thing,” she said.

“These last six years of my life have been a living hell just to live and breathe. The death of a child is just horrible.”

The Cancer Council estimates 1500 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year.

More than 1000 will die from the disease. There is less than a 50 per cent chance of surviving at least five years.

“Because ovarian cancer doesn’t have an early detection test – pap smears don’t pick it up, the cervical cancer vaccine doesn’t help. The main thing is people need to know the signs because by the time it’s usually picked up it’s too late,” Ms Ienco said.

“It was too late for us – if we had’ve picked up those signs earlier maybe things could have been different.”

For more information about ovarian cancer and Giovanna’s journey visit Giovanna’s Gift Facebook page and website.

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