Oh it's ok if she dies, the REAL tragedy is that she can't have any more chyyyyyldren!
Posted by Anonymous User
|
Oh it's ok if she dies, the REAL tragedy is that she can't have any more chyyyyyldren! March 19, 2009 |
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1162524/I-asked-GP-smear-test-SIX-times--told-I-young-cancer-It-nearly-cost-life.html
From the moment she met her partner Craig, Laura Craft had a very clear idea of what their family would one day look like.
‘I’ve always been maternal and I knew straight away that I wanted children with Craig,’ says Laura. ‘I used to imagine the life we would have. In my mind we’d have, at the very least, a boy and a girl.’
While she enjoyed her job as a customer account manager, Laura had always felt family was the most important thing, so when she and Craig, 26, a builder, became parents for the first time, she says it was one of the happiest moments of her life. But within 18 months, her plans for a large family and her future were in tatters.
After suffering unexplained bleeding, Laura, then 20, was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer and rapidly underwent intensive radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which has left her infertile.
For five months, Laura, who is thought to be one of the youngest women in the country to suffer from this form of cancer, expected she would die. Now, at just 23, she is going through the menopause.
For someone so young, Laura talks about her ordeal with stoicism, but there is no mistaking her frustration - for in the year and a half following her son Mason’s birth, Laura went to her GP, she estimates, on six occasions, fearing something was terribly wrong and asking for a smear test.
Laura saw the first tell-tale signs of her cancer - which is most often caused by the HPV virus, a sexually transmitted disease which infects the cervical tissue - within two months of having had Mason.
'I knew you bled after having a baby, but after a couple of months it still hadn’t stopped and seemed to be worsened by sex,’ she says. ‘I went to see my doctor, but she said my hormones hadn’t settled down yet and it would get better with time.’
However, after six months there was still no change and Laura was growing increasingly frustrated. ‘I knew something was wrong,’ she says. ‘I went back every month and asked for a smear test to be on the safe side. On one occasion, I even said I wasn’t moving from the waiting room until I’d had one.’
I felt as though I was talking to a brick wall
On each visit, Laura was refused on the grounds that at the age of 20, she was too young as, at that age, the risk of cervical cancer, which affects 2,800 British women every year, is considered negligible.
‘I had read about cervical cancer online, and although I knew at my age it was unlikely, I didn’t see why I couldn’t have a smear test to eliminate the possibility. All my GP did was test me for sexually transmitted disease. I felt as though I was talking to a brick wall.’
There seems to be little doubt that Laura had fallen foul of a controversial change in Government health policy which, in 2004, saw the screening age for cervical cancer in England raised from 20 to 25.
In October 2007, after a heated debate, Laura was finally referred to a gynaecologist, who carried out a smear test at the local hospital.
‘Even though I had been worried, I knew that cervical cancer was only a remote possibility as I was young, and I thought it was more likely that the bleeding was due to a complication from giving birth by Caesarean section,’ recalls Laura.
‘So what happened next came as a horrendous shock.’
‘The following month I was at work when I received a phone call asking me to collect my results, so I went to see the specialist. I took one look at his face and knew it was bad news.’
She was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer, one stage away from terminal.
‘I just sat there with my mouth open as the consultant explained I had a tumour the size of a golf ball on my cervix. Over the next ten minutes, I was given so much information that I couldn’t think straight. The consultant said that although cervical cancer could be caused by the HPV virus, in my case he couldn’t be sure it wasn’t genetic or simply bad luck.
‘When it is caused by the HPV virus, it usually takes ten years for the cancer to develop, and the doctor said he thought my tumour had been growing for just two years.
‘It had been accelerated, he said, by pregnancy and labour.’
I stormed into the waiting room, blind with rage
She needed immediate chemotherapy and radiotherapy. ‘As I drove away from the hospital, I could barely see the road for my tears. All I could think was: “Am I going to die? Will I see Mason grow up?â€â€™ Laura was also furious that her situation could have been avoided if she had been allowed the smear test she had begged for.
Before going home she drove to her local surgery to confront her GP. She recalls: ‘I was blind with rage, I stormed into the waiting room crying, telling everyone what had happened. They must have thought I was some sort of lunatic, but I didn’t care.
‘My GP was on leave so I couldn’t see her. The receptionist tried to calm me down, but I just pushed her away. I was beyond furious.
‘I then went home and saw Craig and Mason, which upset me even more. Craig tried to reassure me but I burst into tears again the second I laid eyes on Mason, and just held him in a tight hug.’
‘I’d been told treatment would most likely destroy my fertility.
'I’d asked about the possibility of having eggs frozen, but the cancer was so advanced that there just wasn’t time, as it could take months to harvest a decent egg.
‘The doctor said that to wait even one day could mean the difference between life and death.’
Laura swiftly underwent a regime of blood tests and scans in preparations for treatment.
Determined to prepare for the worst, Laura made her will and discussed with Craig what sort of life she would like for Mason if she died. ‘What made it harder was that I wanted to hold Mason and cuddle him a lot, but he was such a boy’s boy he would fidget and run off. I’d sit and cry as I didn’t know how much time I had left with him.’
Laura started daily radiotherapy and weekly chemotherapy in January 2008. The cancer did not respond as well as the doctors hoped and on her 22nd birthday in February, she was told she needed further internal radiotherapy.
I’m heartbroken I can't have another baby
Unlike conventional radiotherapy which uses X-rays to irradiate cancerous cells, internal radiotherapy involves implanting pieces of radioactive metal close to the tumour for more intense effect.
‘As the treatment wore on I felt increasingly ill,’ she says. ‘I didn’t lose my hair, but it was a small consolation as I was otherwise too weak to do anything. At one point, I was so low, I didn’t feel I could take further treatment, even if it would save my life.’
Then, in April last year, Laura received the news that her cancer had gone into remission. ‘When I was told the treatment had worked, everyone was expecting me to be doing headstands. But cancer still rules my life. I know it might return and every ache leaves me in a panic.’
Laura’s treatment has also changed her life irrevocably. The radiotherapy has affected her hips; walking is painful and she needs a disabled badge on her car. She has also entered the menopause, as the treatment destroyed her ovaries.
‘It’s not lost on me that I’m in menopause before my mother,’ says Laura. ‘Every hot flush reminds me what I’ve lost. All my friends are having children, and although I’m happy for them, I’m heartbroken that I will never be able to have another baby.’
Laura has considered legal action, but was advised by a solicitor that the situation could take years to resolve.
‘To be honest, I would rather live my life than spend it locked in a court battle. I’ve since seen the GP who failed to diagnose my cancer. She was apologetic and said I had made her more aware as a result.
‘I could tell she was genuinely upset, but nothing she could say could change what I have had to go through as a result of her refusing to let me have a smear test.
‘Now, I make it my mission to warn all young women about what happened to me, and to insist their GPs give them a smear test.
‘Without doubt, the age at which smears are available needs to be lowered. If I had been allowed a smear test when I first asked for one, then my life could have been so different.’
Stories like this really piss me off, the cancer could very well come back and she could DIE but fuck that, the absolute worst part is that she can't sprog anymore!
From the moment she met her partner Craig, Laura Craft had a very clear idea of what their family would one day look like.
‘I’ve always been maternal and I knew straight away that I wanted children with Craig,’ says Laura. ‘I used to imagine the life we would have. In my mind we’d have, at the very least, a boy and a girl.’
While she enjoyed her job as a customer account manager, Laura had always felt family was the most important thing, so when she and Craig, 26, a builder, became parents for the first time, she says it was one of the happiest moments of her life. But within 18 months, her plans for a large family and her future were in tatters.
After suffering unexplained bleeding, Laura, then 20, was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer and rapidly underwent intensive radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which has left her infertile.
For five months, Laura, who is thought to be one of the youngest women in the country to suffer from this form of cancer, expected she would die. Now, at just 23, she is going through the menopause.
For someone so young, Laura talks about her ordeal with stoicism, but there is no mistaking her frustration - for in the year and a half following her son Mason’s birth, Laura went to her GP, she estimates, on six occasions, fearing something was terribly wrong and asking for a smear test.
Laura saw the first tell-tale signs of her cancer - which is most often caused by the HPV virus, a sexually transmitted disease which infects the cervical tissue - within two months of having had Mason.
'I knew you bled after having a baby, but after a couple of months it still hadn’t stopped and seemed to be worsened by sex,’ she says. ‘I went to see my doctor, but she said my hormones hadn’t settled down yet and it would get better with time.’
However, after six months there was still no change and Laura was growing increasingly frustrated. ‘I knew something was wrong,’ she says. ‘I went back every month and asked for a smear test to be on the safe side. On one occasion, I even said I wasn’t moving from the waiting room until I’d had one.’
I felt as though I was talking to a brick wall
On each visit, Laura was refused on the grounds that at the age of 20, she was too young as, at that age, the risk of cervical cancer, which affects 2,800 British women every year, is considered negligible.
‘I had read about cervical cancer online, and although I knew at my age it was unlikely, I didn’t see why I couldn’t have a smear test to eliminate the possibility. All my GP did was test me for sexually transmitted disease. I felt as though I was talking to a brick wall.’
There seems to be little doubt that Laura had fallen foul of a controversial change in Government health policy which, in 2004, saw the screening age for cervical cancer in England raised from 20 to 25.
In October 2007, after a heated debate, Laura was finally referred to a gynaecologist, who carried out a smear test at the local hospital.
‘Even though I had been worried, I knew that cervical cancer was only a remote possibility as I was young, and I thought it was more likely that the bleeding was due to a complication from giving birth by Caesarean section,’ recalls Laura.
‘So what happened next came as a horrendous shock.’
‘The following month I was at work when I received a phone call asking me to collect my results, so I went to see the specialist. I took one look at his face and knew it was bad news.’
She was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer, one stage away from terminal.
‘I just sat there with my mouth open as the consultant explained I had a tumour the size of a golf ball on my cervix. Over the next ten minutes, I was given so much information that I couldn’t think straight. The consultant said that although cervical cancer could be caused by the HPV virus, in my case he couldn’t be sure it wasn’t genetic or simply bad luck.
‘When it is caused by the HPV virus, it usually takes ten years for the cancer to develop, and the doctor said he thought my tumour had been growing for just two years.
‘It had been accelerated, he said, by pregnancy and labour.’
I stormed into the waiting room, blind with rage
She needed immediate chemotherapy and radiotherapy. ‘As I drove away from the hospital, I could barely see the road for my tears. All I could think was: “Am I going to die? Will I see Mason grow up?â€â€™ Laura was also furious that her situation could have been avoided if she had been allowed the smear test she had begged for.
Before going home she drove to her local surgery to confront her GP. She recalls: ‘I was blind with rage, I stormed into the waiting room crying, telling everyone what had happened. They must have thought I was some sort of lunatic, but I didn’t care.
‘My GP was on leave so I couldn’t see her. The receptionist tried to calm me down, but I just pushed her away. I was beyond furious.
‘I then went home and saw Craig and Mason, which upset me even more. Craig tried to reassure me but I burst into tears again the second I laid eyes on Mason, and just held him in a tight hug.’
‘I’d been told treatment would most likely destroy my fertility.
'I’d asked about the possibility of having eggs frozen, but the cancer was so advanced that there just wasn’t time, as it could take months to harvest a decent egg.
‘The doctor said that to wait even one day could mean the difference between life and death.’
Laura swiftly underwent a regime of blood tests and scans in preparations for treatment.
Determined to prepare for the worst, Laura made her will and discussed with Craig what sort of life she would like for Mason if she died. ‘What made it harder was that I wanted to hold Mason and cuddle him a lot, but he was such a boy’s boy he would fidget and run off. I’d sit and cry as I didn’t know how much time I had left with him.’
Laura started daily radiotherapy and weekly chemotherapy in January 2008. The cancer did not respond as well as the doctors hoped and on her 22nd birthday in February, she was told she needed further internal radiotherapy.
I’m heartbroken I can't have another baby
Unlike conventional radiotherapy which uses X-rays to irradiate cancerous cells, internal radiotherapy involves implanting pieces of radioactive metal close to the tumour for more intense effect.
‘As the treatment wore on I felt increasingly ill,’ she says. ‘I didn’t lose my hair, but it was a small consolation as I was otherwise too weak to do anything. At one point, I was so low, I didn’t feel I could take further treatment, even if it would save my life.’
Then, in April last year, Laura received the news that her cancer had gone into remission. ‘When I was told the treatment had worked, everyone was expecting me to be doing headstands. But cancer still rules my life. I know it might return and every ache leaves me in a panic.’
Laura’s treatment has also changed her life irrevocably. The radiotherapy has affected her hips; walking is painful and she needs a disabled badge on her car. She has also entered the menopause, as the treatment destroyed her ovaries.
‘It’s not lost on me that I’m in menopause before my mother,’ says Laura. ‘Every hot flush reminds me what I’ve lost. All my friends are having children, and although I’m happy for them, I’m heartbroken that I will never be able to have another baby.’
Laura has considered legal action, but was advised by a solicitor that the situation could take years to resolve.
‘To be honest, I would rather live my life than spend it locked in a court battle. I’ve since seen the GP who failed to diagnose my cancer. She was apologetic and said I had made her more aware as a result.
‘I could tell she was genuinely upset, but nothing she could say could change what I have had to go through as a result of her refusing to let me have a smear test.
‘Now, I make it my mission to warn all young women about what happened to me, and to insist their GPs give them a smear test.
‘Without doubt, the age at which smears are available needs to be lowered. If I had been allowed a smear test when I first asked for one, then my life could have been so different.’
Stories like this really piss me off, the cancer could very well come back and she could DIE but fuck that, the absolute worst part is that she can't sprog anymore!
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.