A mum with cervical cancer was told she 'wouldn't be here today' if she'd postponed her smear test by just six months.
Elizabeth Ham had experienced no symptoms before she went for her usual routine screening in November 2020, aged 34.
Despite feeling there was 'nothing wrong' and that she was fit and healthy, just a few days later she was given a devastating diagnosis of cervical cancer.
Now a survivor at 37, Elizabeth is urging all women to get tested - and says her story shows that 'those five minutes can save your life'.
Two weeks after going for the test, she received a phone call from the hospital asking her to go in for further tests, reports Manchester Evening News.
This included a colposcopy, which gives a closer examination of the cervix, and a cervical biopsy, where a small sample of cells is taken for testing. She was then called in for blood tests, a pelvic MRI scan and a chest x-ray.
One day later, on December 8, she received the devastating news that she had stage 1B2 cervical cancer.
Because this form of cancer spreads rapidly, her consultant advised her that a radical hysterectomy – a surgical procedure to remove the womb – would be the best course of treatment.
But it would mean she would go into surgical menopause, and leave her unable to conceive.
Though this was a 'hard decision' to make, Elizabeth admits: "You just want to survive, you'll do whatever it takes."
Elizabeth, a settlements manager who lives in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, said she "wanted to be here" to watch her now six-year-old daughter Izzy "live and grow up", and so she opted for the invasive surgery in January.
Going into early menopause at 34 has been "the most difficult" part of her whole experience, she said, but today she is cancer-free and she "counts herself lucky" that the disease was caught early despite her lack of symptoms.
It could have been very different if she'd left the test any later, she admits.
Elizabeth said: "It's amazing I’m still here,"
"My surgeon said to me, 'had you gone for your smear six months later, you wouldn’t be here now, as by the time you would have noticed symptoms, it would have been too late'.
Elizabeth added that it "really frustrates me" that many people miss their tests, and stressed that "cervical cancer can be so silent, but that five-minute test can save your life."
Symptoms of cervical cancer include unusual vaginal bleeding, changes to vaginal discharge, pain during sex or pain in your lower back, the NHS says.
Cervical Screening Awareness Week is taking place between June 19 and June 24. Information is available on the Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust website.
