A mum-of-two who survived cervical cancer is urging others to attend their cervical screenings, because it may save their lives.
Esther Stevens, then aged 40, had the “biggest shock of her life” after a routine smear check in January 2020 led to a analysis of the illness.
Specifically the check detected HPV and high-grade CIN3 cells in her cervix, resulting in a referral for a colposcopy - a check that takes a better take a look at the cervix.
During this medics carried out a loop electrical excision process (LLETZ), which is a standard therapy to extract irregular cells within the cervix.
Over the subsequent 18 months Esther, from the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, underwent surgical procedure to take away two ovarian cysts and her fallopian tubes, in addition to two extra LLETZ procedures.
READ MORE: Four of the 'most common' symptoms of cervical cancer - 'See your doctor'
Esther Stevens along with her husband Wayne and their two sons (Image: Esther Stevens)
Having beforehand simply completed a level, began a brand new job and moved into a brand new dwelling, Esther’s life was wanting “perfect”.
But in August 2021 Esther attended what she thought was a routine session in her group hospital.
She informed The Mirror: "My world was perfect, then the universe decided to punish me.
"As pretty as summertime is, I now affiliate it with the worst news ever."
She continued: "I assumed it was simply a part of the aftercare and I wasn't frightened about something.
“I told the consultant that I was waiting for the results from my latest procedure.
Esther kept her morale up by speaking to women online who had survived cervical cancer (Image: Esther Stevens)
"I remember her face vividly and I will never forget her words. She said, 'I'm really sorry to say this, but you've got cervical cancer'. It was a very surreal experience."
Esther immediately rang her husband Wayne to tell him the news and that afternoon the couple attended an appointment with a doctor and Macmillan nurse, who said they were "confident" she could recover.
In the next month Esther was booked in to have a radical hysterectomy to remove her uterus, only to learn the tumour had spread to her lymph nodes.
In her distress she found solace in other cervical cancer survivors she found online.
"It meant I'd need to have chemotherapy, radiotherapy and acutherapy. I was absolutely devastated,” Esther recalled.
“That was when I reached out to Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust," she said. "I was sat in a hospital bed and I wrote on a forum, 'I'm scared and frightened, please help me. I'm drowning and at rock bottom'.
Esther and her husband Wayne (Image: Esther Stevens)
"Within a minute, I had 20 messages from women who had survived cervical cancer reassuring me.
“They had been there and got through it. It was a huge relief and turning point. I was spiralling out of control and they calmed me down instantly."
Esther underwent seven weeks of intensive treatment with radiotherapy five times a week and chemotherapy once a week.
She said: "I had to use my energy and sheer stubbornness to fight because I was determined to live for my boys."
As a result of the chemotherapy, Esther started to haemorrhage, but because she had coronavirus, she couldn't go onto the oncology ward.
"I remember bleeding and feeling like I was going to die in hospital alone, without my children knowing,” she stated. “It was a very lonely and dark place to be.”
Luckily Esther was in a position to pull by way of and went on to have brachytherapy, which makes use of radiation to destroy most cancers cells.
In April 2022 she was lastly given the nice news that there was "no evidence of the disease" and bought to ring the bell on the most cancers ward.
Now Esther is urging others to attend their cervical screenings. “A smear check is the primary indicator that one thing is not proper," she explained.
"In 2017, my outcomes have been fully regular, then three years later, they weren't. So you can't miss a cervical screening."
All individuals with a cervix aged 25 to 64 can be invited by the NHS for normal smear checks by way of a letter.
If you've misplaced your letter or suppose you by no means acquired one you need to name your GP surgical procedure.
Cervical most cancers doesn’t at all times current with signs however it will probably trigger:
If you expertise signs you need to converse to your GP.
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