A mum claims doctors repeatedly 'fobbed off' her pregnant-looking belly as IBS - only to discover it was stage four ovarian cancer.Cydnie Malone said she first started experiencing symptoms including pain under her rib, bloating and nausea in July 2023. The 31-year-old recalled how her bloating was so severe that she 'looked pregnant' and her stomach would 'move around' on its own and 'gurgle and gargle' at her.Cydnie visited her doctor about her symptoms and was referred for further testing, before being diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Despite a blood test revealing that her CA-125 marker, a marker for ovarian cancer, was more than triple the normal level of under 35, Cydnie claims her symptoms were repeatedly brushed off.‌Over the next two years the aesthetics practitioner claims she visited Epsom Hospital and St Helier Hospital between 20 and 30 times but was repeatedly 'fobbed off' - even when her CA-125 levels sky-rocketed. In April 2025, Cydnie visited a different hospital after she returned from a holiday where her belly continued to get 'bigger and bigger' until she looked pregnant.She claimed doctors told her 'there's no baby' and said it was a fluid build-up, which they drained. But the following day, Cydnie received the devastating diagnosis of stage four ovarian cancer.In May 2025 she underwent surgery to remove 15 tumours found around her ovaries and underwent a hysterectomy. A year later, Cydnie received the news she was in remission after undergoing six gruelling rounds of chemotherapy.‌The mum-of-one believes her cancer wouldn't have spread if she had been diagnosed earlier - and is urging other women who experience any symptoms of ovarian cancer to visit their GP. Cydnie, from Banstead, Surrey, said: "The doctors said my bloating and pain was from IBS and polycystic ovaries."They kept fobbing me off and fobbing me off and fobbing me off. They did my CA-125 ovarian cancer marker and those levels are meant to be 30 and under."Anything over 30 and above they panic about. Mine were 97 and they did nothing about it. They kept telling me it was PCOS and IBS and that there was nothing wrong with me."‌Cydnie claimed she visited the doctors with her symptoms up to 30 times as they continued to worsen to the point that she 'looked pregnant'.Cydnie claimed: "I was at the doctors a good 20-30 times. I kept going back for appointments, my CA-125 kept rising and rising and they kept doing nothing about it. My CA-125 markers reached 497 and they still kept telling me there was nothing wrong with me."I kept going back for appointments trying to figure out what it was. My belly was so hard and round, I literally looked like I was pregnant.‌"It would gurgle and gargle and it would wake me up in the night with all of the fluid moving around - it was the weirdest thing in the world. It was so hard and so full I literally had a bump, it was mad. The bloating was painful, it was horrible."After returning from a trip to New York in April 2025, Cydnie visited a different hospital as her bloated belly continued to grow. Cydnie said: "My belly kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. I went to New York on holiday with my friend, come back from holiday and my belly had ballooned up."My partner took me to a different hospital and they said 'there's no baby, you're full of fluid'. If I didn't got to that hospital with a swollen belly then I wouldn't be here today. They admitted me and drained six-and-a-half litres of fluid out of me."‌Cydnie received the devastating diagnosis of stage four ovarian cancer and underwent surgery to have 15 tumours removed, as well as a full hysterectomy on May 13 2025. She said: "It was stage four when I was diagnosed, it had spread to all of my other organs. I felt distraught because I knew something was wrong with me."I was frustrated, I was angry, and I felt let down because it was right in front of them and I kept telling them something was wrong with me. I was distraught that I had to have a hysterectomy - me and my partner wanted a child together."That [the hysterectomy] has just broken me as well, it feels like your womanhood is taken away from you. You feel like your life has been taken out of your hands."‌The surgery successfully removed 96% of Cydnie's cancer and this was followed by six rounds of chemotherapy that she finished in October 2025. In May 2026, Cydnie received the news that she is in remission, but she believes the cancer wouldn't have spread if doctors had diagnosed her earlier.Cydnie said: "It felt surreal when I was told I was in remission. There's obviously a possibility that it could come back in other areas."But it could have been avoided and not spread if they'd just listened and opened their eyes to what is in front of them. If I didn't go to a different hospital and go with my gut instinct I wouldn't have made it. I'm glad I've come out of the other side."‌Now Cydnie is urging other people who experience symptoms to visit their GP and 'push' for answers. She said: "They call it the silent killer because there's no symptoms of it really."If you've got the bloating and pain, or if you know something is not right in your body, then you've got to push for it because it's your life and it's not a game."Don't be fobbed off if the medication they're giving you is not working then it's obviously something deep down. Sending someone for a CA-125 blood test could save their life."‌A spokesperson for Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust said: "We are very sorry to hear about Ms Malone's experience and recognise that her cancer diagnosis must have been an extremely difficult and distressing time for her."We’re grateful that this has been brought to our attention so we can carry out an investigation - we will also reach out to Ms Malone so we can listen to her concerns in full."WHAT IS OVARIAN CANCER? (Info from NHS)Ovarian cancer affects the ovaries, which are two small organs that store the eggs needed to make babies and produce female sex hormones. The symptoms of ovarian cancer, such as bloating, are not always obvious.Ovarian cancer is often diagnosed late, but early diagnosis can mean it is more treatable. Treatments for ovarian cancer include surgery and chemotherapy.