A young woman told how she was "living her best life" on holiday only to return to urgent letters from the NHS.
Sarah Waters was due to have a smear test in 2020 but it was postponed due to the pandemic. On April 1 this year, she managed to book another appointment and attended the routine cervical screening.
Sarah, now 30, didn't hear anything for a few weeks and assumed "everything was normal" when, at the end of May, she jetted off to Spain where she had "best time". But upon her return home to Prescot on June 2, "urgent letters" were waiting saying she needed to be referred to hospital following her results.
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On June 22, the singer received a devastating diagnosis - a rare type of cervical cancer called Poorly-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma that was "aggressive and fast growing". The diagnosis came as "a complete shock" to Sarah who now needs to have a full hysterectomy meaning the chances having her own child have been "taken away" leaving her "broken".
Bravely speaking to the ECHO, she said: "I was told I had high grade abnormal cells and went to Whiston for a biopsy and got the diagnosis on June 22. Since then I've had an MRI scan to check if it's spread and now I have to have a hysterectomy and can't carry my own child.
"I've not got my own family and it's been terrible. But then, after the hysterectomy, there's the real possibilities of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I had my very first smear at 25 so I knew what to expect but you kind of put it off in your mind. But you can't, it's so important.
"I was on holiday having the best time, the time of my life, in Majorca and got back to that. It was worrying coming back to letters, handwritten with urgent in capitals. It's really scary."
Before her smear test, Sarah said she had been experiencing slight symptoms which she put down to something else, including severe lower back pain and lower stomach pain. She added: "Make sure you go regularly, it shouldn't get to that. Please just don't put it off, it can save your life.
"I do think the minimum age should be lowered too, some can get cancer at 24, you just don't know what is happening. I'm still in shock. I only found out last month and it's been a whirlwind. As well though, the HPV virus, Many parents don't let their kids get the vaccine and HPV can develop in cervical cancer.
"Everything can look normal but you don't know what's happening inside. I'm hoping that the consultant says we have just caught it and everything will be fine."
Bravely sharing her story on her Instagram page in the hopes of spreading awareness, hundreds of messages of support poured in.
Sarah wrote: "On the 22nd of June, a few months after a routine smear test, I was diagnosed with a rare type of cervical cancer. I was told it was fast-growing and aggressive. It was recently decided that the plan to try and get rid of the tumour is to have a radical hysterectomy.
"The option for chemo and radiotherapy after surgery is still uncertain, so who knows what the future holds at this point. One thing I know for certain is that my chances to carry my own baby has been taken away from me, which has left me feeling broken.
"Hopefully having this smear test has saved my life and I hope this can encourage other women to NEVER miss their smear test. I did not know the symptoms for cervical cancer and only realised now that I have had some of them for a couple of years but had put them down to other things.
"This photo is me just a few weeks before I found out, living my best life on holiday in Spain. I would never have guessed I was going to come home to this. This has completely turned my life and my family’s lives upside down. At the moment, cancer is a very heartbreaking and lonely place for me. Life goes on for everybody else whilst my life is on hold with uncertainty. It is such a scary thing to go through at 30 and will change my life forever and impact my future."
Cervical cancer
According to the NHS, cervical cancer is a cancer that's found anywhere in the cervix and can often be prevented by attending cervical screening. Main symptoms can include:
- Unusual vaginal bleeding
- Changes to vaginal discharge
- Pain during sex
- Pain in your lower stomach, back or hip bones
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