The next day when her symptoms continued, she went to after hours, where the doctor sent her to the emergency department.
“I was doubled over, I was lying down on the sort of waiting room chairs, like I just felt awful.”
Nearly half of ovarian cancer diagnoses are through emergency presentation according to the latest State of Ovarian Cancer Aotearoa Report.
After scans and blood tests Compton was told she had fibroids – non-cancerous tumours in the uterus – and to wait six months for an ultrasound.
But one of the tests showed her CA125 level, a cancer marker, was elevated.
Compton couldn’t let that go.
She made an appointment straight away with her GP who then sent her to a specialist and had more scans. Compton said she was grateful for private health insurance.
Four weeks after the initial after-hours visit, Compton was told she had late-stage ovarian cancer, which after surgery was later diagnosed as two, stage one tumours.
“My first question was what’s the survival rate? I think that is a very common question to ask.”
But then it was “what’s the plan”.
In New Zealand, one woman is diagnosed with ovarian cancer every day, and one woman dies every two days.
Wellington has no gynaecological surgeon after the last resigned due to burnout in late 2024.
Compton had to fly to Christchurch, one of only two teams in New Zealand, for her surgery. She said there was a struggle to get her health records between the hospitals, due to what she called the broken patient information infrastructure.
Her symptoms worsened between the diagnosis and surgery. Compton said she looked eight months pregnant from bloating, yet she was dropping weight at the same time.
She thought she was going to die from the pain.
“I had two, what I would describe as like flare ups, where just this intense pain all up through like your whole midsection.
“It was just literally the pain of the tumour radiating through the body.”
Compton said the symptoms could have been misinterpreted as something else like irritable bowel syndrome and encouraged others to get checked if their body felt off.
In her major surgery, two tumours were discovered – an “enormous” one on her ovary and another smaller one on her uterus. The pathology said it was stage one cancer, but her oncologist was cautious so treated Compton as though she had stage two.
She then underwent six rounds of chemotherapy, while continuing her job as a Wellington City Councillor.
In the six weeks before chemo began Compton felt the healthiest she had in a long time, driving her to push through with her work.
“I genuinely believe it’s because this disease was out of me.
“I honestly felt a million bucks.”
Through the chemo treatment and subsequent fatigue, Compton kept working.
She worked from home frequently due to her immunocompromised health.
“Whilst I couldn’t go to the constituent meetings and the residents’ associations and other things, I had to contribute in other ways, which is why I’ve done things like the project boards and found savings in the Hub2 program.
“But where I’ve been able to do community stuff, that’s been through phone calls and engagement in that way.”
Compton had the option to take a leave of absence but said she personally would’ve felt guilty.
“I chose and I felt still able to continue to contribute to the community.”
At the end of her six treatments, she struggled with low energy but is now raring to go with council after being told she’s in remission.
“I just want the best. This isn’t political for me, this is bringing experience to help them to do things better.”
Compton didn’t need to ask her fellow councillors to not share her diagnosis with the media. She labelled it “a cone of respect” around council, and although they don’t all agree on everything all the time, there is “no hate there”.
“I do wonder if in some ways weirdly it’s kind of brought us together a little bit because we’ve had to be kind of like this cone of silence over us.
“And I have respected that and they have respected me and it’s been great.”
The first councillor Compton told was her Northern Ward colleague and friend Tony Randle.
Randle passed away unexpectedly in August. Compton said they were very close and he constantly checked in on her.
“It was always how are you doing, even while he was abroad. We were emailing about the Harbour Quays and he would be like, how’s the treatment going?
“He was always asking how I was doing, same with Councillor Tiefenbacher.”
Councillor Nicola Young attended a wig fitting with Compton, and she said she told Mayor Andrew Little very early on.
During Thursday’s council meeting, Compton was dressed up in a sequined black dress for ‘Frocktober’ – an initiative to raise funds for ovarian cancer research. She publicly shared the news she was in remission.
“I’d had the good result the week before that I was NED, no evidence of disease, that’s a really great milestone.
“And so it just felt like it was the right time to raise awareness and if you have to do that through wearing a sparkly dress, well so be it.”
She said the reaction from her community has been amazing.
“It’s been very overwhelming but quite humbling at the same time.”
Compton’s also had to step away from her beloved netball team of 13 years. She’s itching to get back on the court, saying her position as a “one-handed” goal shoot is “quite a skill”.
She’s also looking forward to spending more time with her daughter.
Compton wanted to thank her family, friends, council members and staff for their respect and support during her treatment.
Proudly wearing her teal ribbon, representing the warriors of ovarian cancer, Compton called for women to listen to their bodies.
She highlighted Amelie Cakebread, an 18-year-old who fought for two years for her diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
“Please listen to your bodies, if something doesn’t feel right, just keep pushing,” said Compton.
“We need more communication and more listening, there’s no screening for ovarian cancer, the best you can get is a pelvic ultrasound and a CA125 blood test.
“In my view, I am not an expert in this field, I think a CA125 should be done at the same time as a smear test.”
She urged women to advocate for themselves.
“Don’t ignore the symptoms, don’t just think it’s IBS, don’t just think you’re a little bit tired. Just keep pushing.
“Women, please, please listen to your bodies.”
Grace Symmans is Wellington-based reporter who covers news in the capital. Grace joined NZME in 2025 as a producer for Wellington Mornings on Newstalk ZB. She can be emailed at grace.symmans@nzme.co.nz.