Hello my name is Mel, I am 38 years old, single, work in mental health.
in oct 2023 I hadnt found my person, i always wanted children and for about 2 years had been working to get a house, stable job and car secretly to try and get ready. In Nov 2023 I talked to my mum about IVF as a single lady and them spoke with my dad in Jan 2024, we were so excited, talking about baby names and I looked at prams and got excited.
i thought id better get a smear test in jan, it came back inclusive and had to wait 3 months to get a new smear- i thought no problem I contacted an ivf clinic, had an internal scan x2, blood work all came back fine.
in March 2024 I had my second smear it was really uncomfortable i thought its because I dont have regular sex and it really hurt.
In June i looked on my nhs app and freaked out id been referred to colscopy. I rang in sick at work and was off, worried.it said HPV positive - i hadnt had sex in about 10 years. I had been having some discharge for a month but thought it was due to my pelvic floor being bad
i went to stay with my little brother and his partner the weekend before my colscopy.
my colscopy was on a monday morning at 9am, they essentially try and do a smear but you are in stirrups- well I tell you I was in pain and the nurse said i can do some biopsies and then finish- at the time for me it was uncomfortable- went went back into a consultation room and she told me she was 90% sure it was cancer- i was upset and my mum was called in- it was really tough as i wanted ivf.
i was then referred for an mri at my local hospital (small hospital) it was a long or felt long wait it was only 3 weeks i had an mri and was told over the phone Inhad 2a2 cervical cancer- the caller did not give me massives of information but i found cervical cancer uk and facebook.
fyi mri is ok its a long tube they give you head phones it can give you the feeling of being trapped ankey tip i used was angling my head so i could look at the end closest to me.
i was referred to a bigger cancer specialist hospital luckily an hour away. End of july i met with my oncologist, had an internal examine, and she talked about the plan of my treatment which was 25 external radiation, 5 rounds of cisplatin and 3 internal radiation called bracy therapy. I felt terrified, i hate needles. Was told thos was the gold standard of treatment and I couldnt have a hysterectomy or every have children. I had been to my ivf dr who said i had very low egg count 6 and he wouldnt want to preserve the eggs due to the cancer. I chose not to persue saving my eggs. I had talked to my family about fostering and adoption before and felt even though i couldnt have biological children i might be able to adopt or foster.
i had a pet scan at a different hospital I had an injection of Radiation (its very small amount) they inject you and then treat you like you have an infectious disease. So you have to then get in the pet scan this lasts about 20mins its much more open than the mri its a smaller polo. Best advice dont look wt the needle get the worker to talk about themselves to distract you. You can take your phone it takes about 45 mins b4 you get the scan.you are alone for this.
my first day of radiation i had a blood test and saw my oncologist who confirmed diagnosis and informed me if it had spread to lymph nodes- luckily in my case it hadnt.
I have to say between the smear, colscopy and diagnosis was the worst part in terms of emotionally I was scared, no knowledge, all my personal experience was people die if they have cancer my uncle and papa.
i tried to stay strong for my family, mum, dad, brothers, brothers partners, uncle and aunties and friends- i am a trained counsellor and work in mh heath.
I will say its hard emotionally and physically but this is my experience so many ladies have different version some are not in pain during any of fhe above.
my journey continued…
