What cancer were you diagnosed with?

cervical cancer

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What age were you diagnosed?

37

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What has helped you to thrive?

Having cancer and facing some of the thoughts you go through during that diagnosis has actually helped me thrive as a human. I now put much more time and thought into caring about my body and the life I want to live. I have learned to be more present and aware of what I want and feel whereas before I would always be compromising to ensure everyone else was OK.

I also found being open with my friends and colleagues was an incredible experience. I created a private Facebook group with close people in my life, so I could update people on what was happening as it was too overwhelming to message 10+ people individually. That group grew to about 50 people and was such a huge source of support and love to me, that, along with the incredible support from my husband meant that I felt like I was surrounded by a huge bubble of love for my entire treatment which gave me so much strength when I needed it most.

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Kat's Story

I was diagnosed with cervical cancer in November 2018. Thank goodness I went for a smear test, which led to ultrasound, biopsy and a range of scans and appointments which culminated my final diagnosis of stage 2b node-negative adenocarcinoma cervical cancer.

Everything happened incredibly quickly, from that day I was having conversations about my treatment, impending loss of fertility and medical menopause, it was pretty full-on. Over that Christmas I had a procedure to extract eggs and started my treatment of chemoradiotherapy and brachiotherapy in January, finishing end of February, in the June I was so grateful to get an all clear!

Although I'm incredibly grateful to be cancer-free for over a year now, the ongoing changes in my body can sometimes be a challenge; from hot flashes, or feeling stiff after sitting for too long & when I wake up, to ongoing care I have to take for parts of my body. Sometimes it feels like the treatment was the easy part.