One Woman's Story

It was Saturday lunchtime in the middle of January.  I went to the toilet before getting into the shower, where I noticed I was bleeding.  I knew it wasn't my period as it was the middle of my cycle.  I phoned the NHS Direct who told me to go to the local community hospital where a doctor would see me.  I saw the doctor who after asking me questions and feeling my tummy suggested that due to my age (37) that these things can start to happen.  I went home but was not convinced so called to make an appointment with my doctor.  As I couldn't wait for an appointment, I saw the nurse instead.  She once again asked me similar questions to the doctor I saw at the hospital i.e. smear up to date, any previous abnormal ones etc and I came out of there none the wiser.

The bleeding continued but wasn't too bad, but on the following Friday I had a gush of blood which really frightened me as it just didn't seem right.  I called NHS Direct again and they told me to go to A&E at my local hospital.  A gynaecologist would not see me until I had some blood tests, which I did and as they came back normal I was sent home with a letter to arrange to have an ultrasound scan.

The next day I went back to the doctors for the scan to be arranged.  I told him about the bleeding and he seemed to think it was a hormone imbalance.  I had the scan 12 days later and everything looked ok, apart from a 8mm fibroid but I was told it would not cause the bleeding.  I went back to my doctors a week later to discuss the scan report.  As no abnormalities were found it was suggested that I try tablets for heavy periods.

Eventually after seeing 5 doctors and 2 nurses and being told that I should have a Mirena coil fitted as it would help reduce the bleeding, I decided to see a gynaecologist privately as I would be happier for him to tell me that.

By now it was April and all I got from doctors was that as the blood tests and scan were fine, I had a hormone imbalance.  I'll never forget the nurse’s words to me "by Christmas you will be sorted out".

The gynaecologist examined me and said I had a lot of bleeding and advised me to have a laparoscopy and that he would fit the Mirena coil at the same time, as he said I had a severe case of heavy periods.

The procedure was carried out at the end of April and the gynaecologist said all went well.  He took a biopsy but was sure all would come back normal and made me an appointment to see him 6 weeks later.  Eight days later I got a call from his secretary to say he wanted to see me the following day.  Straight away I knew something was wrong.

My husband and I met him and he told us cancerous cells had showed up in my cervix.  It felt like my world had fallen apart but I knew I had to be strong for our 2 children.

I was referred to University College Hospital in London where I saw a fantastic gynaecologist.  I had to have a MRI scan, CT scan and keyhole surgery to find out where the cancer was.  The cancer had just started to spread to the walls of the cervix so instead of having a radical hysterectomy I had to have the alternative, which was 6 sessions of chemotherapy, 31 radiotherapy treatments and 2 internal radiotherapy treatments at the end with an overnight stay in hospital.

During the 6 weeks of my treatment my life revolved around going to the hospital Monday to Friday and trying to keep life at home as normal as possible.  Mondays were always a long day, as I had to have chemotherapy in the morning and radiotherapy in the afternoon.  Tuesday to Friday was radiotherapy only and my appointments were made for me late morning so I was still able to take my children to school.  My parents collected my daughter from nursery at lunchtime but I was back in time to pick my son up from school.

At the end of the treatment I was told I had responded well to the treatment.  I had a MRI scan 12 weeks later and a few weeks ago I went back to clinic to get my results.  The scan showed there was no signs of cancer.  I cried with joy!

I have a further appointment in 3 months time and will be followed up for the next 5 years.  At the end of the day I count my lucky stars that I did what I did and saw a gynaecologist because if I carried on going back and forth to my doctors, who knows what stage I would be at now!

Follow us / Join us: