Photo: Midwife Sarah is still here with her family thanks to having her smear test
You are 25 years old and a qualified nurse with a young child. You receive a letter from your GP inviting you to attend your first cervical screening. What do you do?
Sarah Johnson found herself in this position in 2010. But thankfully she made what ended up being the life-saving decision to book the appointment.
Sarah, now a midwife at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, is urging people to take up the invite for cervical screening as part of Cervical Cancer Awareness Week. Here she tells her story:
“I booked and attended my smear even though I assumed everything was going to be fine. I had no reason to think otherwise. It was far from the most pleasant experience of my life, but after a couple of minutes it was over and done with.
“I received a letter saying that some abnormal cells had been found. Being a nurse I was confident that this was quite a common occurrence.
“I attended for further tests, receiving a phone call on a Friday three weeks later asking me to attend an appointment with my consultant on the Monday.
“I still didn’t think it could be cancer. Not until I heard the words come out of her mouth, the words you could never envisage someone saying to you “I’m sorry to tell you this Sarah but you have cancer.”
“I couldn’t have. I’m a nurse. I am the one who sits with the doctor and supports patients when they hear shattering news. It can’t be the other way around.
“From this point on things went foggy. I was sent for x-rays and an MRI. I remember the radiographer asking me if I was ok. I erupted into tears and sobbed on her shoulder. I didn’t even remember her name but I will never forget that woman, still numb from the news, she was there when I needed her. The hardest thing though was telling my husband. He knew I was going for tests but the diagnosis still hits you like a sledgehammer.
“Oddly, my main worry wasn’t that I would die, it was that I couldn’t have another baby. Yes we were blessed to have our daughter Libby, but I desperately wanted to have at least one more child. However, I was positive that whatever stage this disease was at I would fight it, head on. Who did this disease think it was invading my body?
“The scans and x-rays came back confirming that thanks to early detection, the cancer hadn’t spread. This meant it was contained to my cervix. I was offered a cone biopsy as we wanted fertility saving treatment. On my husband’s birthday I had the best phone call of my life. Bev, the specialist cancer nurse called me and told me they got it all. I didn’t have cancer anymore! I could not possibly express into words how wonderful it felt.
“My smear saved my life and I quite possibly wouldn’t be here to tell my story if I’d have put it off or waited. So, I beg you, keep up to date with your smears. We are so lucky to have the system we do in the UK. So many lives have been saved, including mine. Ask every female you know if they are up to date too.
“11 months later we had another baby girl. The pregnancy was complicated due to treatment, but Evie was born and our family was complete. At the age of 28, I had a total abdominal hysterectomy to ensure that the cancer could not return. It was completely the right decision for me but it was a difficult one. I can never have any more children, but I am here to stay, to enjoy my beautiful children and watch them grow up.
“Whilst what I have experienced was extremely difficult, I would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant that my little girls will grow up with a mummy.”