Young mum Shannon Lamb preparing to undergo fourth life-saving surgery for ovarian cancer

A young mother is preparing for her fourth life-saving surgery after being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

The disease has now spread to other parts of Shannon Lamb’s body.

The 29-year-old from Broughty Ferry hopes that by sharing her story she can raise awareness of the cancer, and help others.

Shannon is a busy mum and and is currently planning her wedding. But she’s also undergoing treatment for a mixed germ cell tumour – a rare form of ovarian cancer.

She told STV News: “Never in my life had I heard of this cancer, I had no idea what it was. I only found out throughout my diagnosis how aggressive this cancer could be.

“It went to all locations, it grew fast and rapid.”

Shannon was first diagnosed with the disease in October 2020 and had surgery to remove her ovary.

But it had spread and she had to have a further operation to take out part of her right lung – all this while she was pregnant.

Shannon had to start her second round of chemotherapy just four days after she gave birth.

Now, she’s preparing for her fourth operation:

“I could be in remission right now…I’m hoping so,” she said.

“I can’t leave my son behind, so that’s not an option. I didn’t come this far just to give up. So next month I will go and have my spinal surgery at Charing Cross hospital in London, where they’re going to remove a whole vertebrae of my spine.”

Mixed germ cell tumours are a rare form of cancer, making up only 2-5% of ovarian cancer types.

Most ovarian germ cell tumours occur in teenagers or young women, although in women in their 60s can also be affected.

The symptoms include abdomen pain, bloating and irregular periods.

Caroline Geraghty from Cancer Research UK said: “It is a cancer that is treatable and they know quite a lot about it.

“Because it’s part of ovarian cancer there is a lot that we know about this rare type of tumour. So the main treatment is surgery, as it is with all types of ovarian cancer and you might need chemotherapy.”

Shannon is hoping this operation will be her last.

She is looking forward to watching her son grow up, as well as walking down the aisle to marry her partner before starting the next chapter of her life cancer free.