Christine, 41 years

Adenocarcinoma of the cervix at 27 years of age… Like many others, my story is a roller coaster of tangled events and extreme emotions involving inadequate diagnosis before finding my way to the thorough and specialised care of a Gynaecologist-Oncologist. My emotions are (mostly) in check now, so when people ask "When did you get sick"? I no longer respond testily that I wasn't sick - since I didn't have any symptoms. In fact, I had visited the GP to get a referral to an obstetrician because my husband and I wished to begin a family. I thought I was in fine shape. Whilst being examined and having a Pap Smear taken by the GP, I was shocked to learn that my cervix bled and that I had what appeared to be a polyp protruding from my cervix.

There were lots of people caught up in my emotional roller-coaster - my specialist who spent three hours on the day of my colposcopy talking about my (lack of) treatment options, helping me come to terms with the loss of my childbearing capacity, reviewing the pathology, searching for glimmers of hope, talking more - and copping my outbursts along the way. My husband, who stood by me despite my best attempts to test his commitment.

It is many years since my diagnosis and I am completely cured of this disease. However, while my body may be rid of the disease, a cancer diagnosis is a life-changing event that never really leaves you. This is not all bad because it means I have learned to listen carefully to my body, in case it's trying to let me down again. At first (for a few years) this was a kind of paranoia, now it's more of a lifestyle approach that ensures I don't let life get too out of control - and that I keep in mind who and what are really important to my well-being. It also means I regularly check my body for anything unusual and recently detected, and had successfully removed, a small skin cancer that otherwise might easily have been overlooked.

My diagnosis of cervical cancer involved visits to several specialists, a colposcopy and a cone biopsy before it was really clear that I would need a radical hysterectomy and lympadenectomy (removal of lymph nodes). This period of diagnosis was horrific. My life was out of control and I couldn't regain control until I knew what I was fighting. My specialist was fantastic, responding not only to my physical needs but also to my emotional distress. A few days before my surgery he introduced me to another of his patients recovering from the surgery I needed. While this scared the hell out of me, it gave me inspiration and motivation. I was determined not to let myself get that sick, but more importantly it gave me a soul mate while I was in hospital. Here was someone who understood my fears for the future, my worries about the way my body was dealing with the surgery (especially my bladder!) and since her recovery was almost ten days ahead of mine, it reassured me that I would in fact look and feel better.

Apart from the staying power of my parents and husband, one of the key things that helped me through this was to eventually swallow my pride (I don't need support!) enough to ring the Cervical Cancer Support Group. I was invited to join members for drinks and once again it was meeting women who had survived similar experiences that gave me hope. Of course my specialist was convinced I was cured but until you see someone, as I did this night, seven years down the track, looking like a normal, attractive young woman - it's hard to believe that you really can be a survivor.

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