Jenny Ramage, 32, had her entire upper body cut open and chunks of her organs cut out after contracting the rare disease that killed Hollywood icon Audrey Hepburn.
She had repeatedly consulted medics over her tummy cramps but they were dismissed as everything from period pains and bloating to appendicitis and irritable bowel.
But after months of consultations a doctor finally noticed a tumour on her appendix which burst and covered her internal organs with a cancerous jelly.
Surgeons had to carry out a complex operation to remove her right colon, spleen, appendix, gall bladder, umbilicus, ovaries and fallopian tubes.
Parts of her liver, diaphragm, kidney were also chopped out - leaving Jenny with a 14-inch scar down the centre of her body .
She spent three weeks in hospital but has now made a full recovery and is campaigning to raise awareness of the condition, pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP).
Jenny, of Bishopston, Bristol, said: "The scar doesn't really bother me - I see it as a survival t"I have been very lucky, I have made a full recovery. There's nothing I can't do, nothing I can't eat or drink.
"Obviously my fertility was compromised, but I still hope to have children someday with the eggs that were frozen just in time."
Jenny's ordeal began in the autumn of 2011 when she began suffering from stomach pains, strange periods and bloating.
She went to the doctor several times but was given a range of different diagnosis - including trapped wind and bad digestion - and nothing helped ease her suffering.
"I kept on being fobbed off and told it was IBS, they didn't really know what was wrong with me," she said.
"One day I took myself to A&E, who thought it could be appendicitis. I just felt silly, as if I was a hypochondriac."
The cancer was finally discovered after a doctor noticed dozens of abnormal white spots covering her insides during a routine CT scan.
She explained: "Then doctors thought my pains were caused by ovarian cysts, so I had scans which showed I did have cysts on my ovaries.
"But it turns out that's part and parcel of the disease trophy."Then they inserted cameras into either side of my tummy to see what's in there.
"When I turned around after the scan, I saw little white spots on the pictures, all over my bladder, ovaries and kidneys. They were everywhere in my body.
"But after that, I didn't hear anything, so I thought it had just been the ovarian cysts which were removed.
"I was still feeling funny and not well, but I thought it must be nothing. "I went to the follow up appointment months later and the doctor said it was nothing, but about 30 minutes later I got a frantic call from him.
"He said nurses had been chasing me down the corridor to catch me before I left.
"He had spotted the photographs and noticed the white spots, luckily he'd seen them before and was seriously concerned.
"For noticing them, I owe him my life really. "It all happened very quickly after that."
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