A 27-year-old woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer just three weeks before tying the knot said she wants to "scream about it" to raise awareness of the importance of screenings.
Leanne Newton, from Longton, got the terrifying news she had cancer three months after going for a smear test.
Leanne, who is also known as Lily, admitted that she only went as she happened to be free on the day it was on offer, but would have otherwise waited till after her wedding to do it.
After having to undergo medication and treatment while getting married to her husband Adam, Leanne has now called on other women to take on the offer of a smear test as soon as they get one.
Recollecting her ordeal, Leanne, whose wedding thrice had to be put off due to Covid, said she went for her first smear test in April.
After waiting for six weeks she was told she had HPV, and the following month she underwent a colposcopy where it was confirmed that she had adenocarcinoma of the cervix - a less common type of cervical cancer, StokeonTrentLive reports.
The 27-year-old said: “I had no symptoms whatsoever before the smear test and that’s the most shocking thing for me. There was no pain or bleeding.
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“I was with my mum who had come to the appointment with me. The consultant said that from the biopsy it was cancer. I didn’t cry at first. It didn't sink in. It’s the word that you don’t expect to hear when you’re 27.
“I was silent for two minutes before I reacted and it was my mum who reacted first. It was like the world had stopped spinning. It was one of the most horrible things I’ve ever had to go through. It felt like the world was closing in on me.
“The plan was to get married and start a family. Covid meant we had to rearrange our wedding three times and then this happened.
“When they originally said it was cancer the first thing I said was ‘I’m due to get married in three weeks. I don’t care what happens, I still want to get married’. I needed something to hold on to. At this point I didn’t know how far it had spread or anything.
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“It was heartbreaking because we had been trying to get married for so long and then for this to happen it was just awful.”
Lily, who works at Vision Express, is now off for at least six weeks as she recovers from an operation at Birmingham and Sandwell City Hospital on September 2.
She added: “I was asleep for around six hours. The operation is called a radical trachelectomy and a pelvic lymph node dissection.
“I’ve been quite fortunate in the sense that the stage of my cancer hadn’t spread further than my cervix. They have removed my cervix and I’m hoping it’s saved my fertility.
“Hopefully due to the operation I’m hoping they’ve managed to get it all. At the moment I’m very sore and bruised. I’m on a lot of pain medication.
“I feel grateful more than anything that it got picked up and from the moment they said it was cancer, even though we are still in the middle of the pandemic, that the NHS has been able to look after me.
“Because I’ve had to have my lymph nodes removed to make sure it hasn't spread; they're confident it hasn’t spread further than my cervix. My scans seemed to be promising that it hasn’t. I’m awaiting the biopsy results.
“I’m hoping with every fibre of my being that this is it now and it’s just the recovery. I’ve got the scars to prove that I’ve beaten something.
“If I do manage to get pregnant in the future I will be a high-risk pregnancy. I won’t be able to have a natural birth because I have no cervix. It’s something I am going to be monitored for, for the rest of my life.”
As she recuperates at home, Lily is urging other women to get their smear tests done - and not delay it.
She said: “I was going to go for my first smear before Covid happened because I’d been putting it off.
“I was waiting for a phone call from somebody else and my doctors rang me offering my smear and I knew I was off work so that was the only reason I went for my smear. Originally I was going to wait until after I was married.
“It could have been far worse if I had left it even longer which is why I want to scream about it saying 'look, smear tests are going ahead again. Please don’t put it off any longer'.
“I’m only young and just about to start my family and essentially my life. I want to make sure other young women don’t go through what I’ve just gone through.
“Please go and get your smear done. It’s far better to have five minutes worth of discomfort than potentially ruin the rest of your life. Whether you are having symptoms or not please get it done. It’s not worth the risk.”
A smear test can only be done once a woman turns 25.
