When St. Martin-born business manager Judith (not her real name) went in to see her doctor for a regular check-up two years ago, she was not expecting to leave with a cervical cancer diagnosis. Luckily, the now 35-year-old mother of one is happy that she had the check-up at the time she did because she managed to catch the condition in its very early stages and was able to undergo an immediate medical procedure to remove the cancerous cells and be declared cancer-free.
Using her own experience as the backdrop, the cancer survivor now calls on all women, irrespective of their age, to get checked for the sake of their health. “Don’t delay visiting the doctor, get checked early” is her primary message to women. Rewinding the clock in history, Judith recalls that July 2014 visit to her doctor: her tests included undergoing a pap smear (also called a pap test) which is a screening procedure for cervical cancer. It tests for the presence of precancerous or cancerous cells on the cervix, the opening of the uterus. It's named after Georgios Papanikolaou, the doctor who determined that this was a useful way to detect signs of cervical cancer.
Two weeks after the check-up, Judith’s doctor called her back into the office and told her there was a bit of a problem and that he had to do another test to be sure. “I went back in, but this time the doctor did a biopsy and extracted some samples from my cervix. It was almost the same procedure as the pap test but it was a bit more painful. The results were sent to France and so it took two to three weeks before I got back the results. By this time I was rather nervous because I knew there was a problem; but I had no clue how serious it was until you get those test results.”
Prior to her medical check-up and the pap smear, Judith said she had had absolutely no symptoms – no pain, no bleeding, no discharge, nothing to raise an alarm or give her an indication that something was amiss with the health of her cervix. “The doctor called me back in August and told me that I had to undergo an operation. Cervical cancer comes in stages and I was told that I was at stage 1B, which meant that it had only spread through the first layer of my cervix. It had not had a chance to attack my uterus or get to the lymph nodes. At this point, I was emotional, scared, confused and asking myself: ‘Why me?’” she said.
“None of us ever thinks it can happen to us and I think this is the problem. My family was worried of course, but very, very supportive and I was very lucky that my treatment was simple enough, though it was nerve wracking. I had never in my life had any type of surgery before this one.” In October 2014, Judith underwent a cervical conisation procedure, also referred to as cold knife and loop excision, which is an excision of a cone-shaped sample of tissue from the mucous membrane of the cervix. Conization may be used either for diagnostic purposes as part of a biopsy or for therapeutic purposes to remove pre-cancerous cells. Judith said the operation lasted for about 40 minutes under general anaesthesia.
“Due to the fact that I caught it in time, no chemo or radiotherapy was needed and I was able to return to work about a week after the surgery. I could not do any heavy lifting and could not harass myself. I received pain killers, but it was not painful for me. The cervical fragment that they removed was tested to see if they had gotten all of the cancerous cells and the results were good. At the age of 32, I was actually thinking about a hysterectomy if the cancer had spread further than expected, but I thank God this was not the case. However, with the conization procedure and the fact that an important part of my cervix was removed, other issues arose – a major concern being the fertility issue. After this procedure, the size of the cervix is different and yes you can have children, but sometimes it makes pregnancy more difficult and you might not be able to carry a child full term and it can lead to miscarriage. When my doctor explained all of this to me, I was very depressed. I cried about it, prayed about it and stayed strong in my faith – that and my strong family bond got me through this whole ordeal.”
Judith has some positive advice for other women, who might be going through the same experience: “I am not going to sugar coat it. Mentally, emotionally and physically, such a procedure takes a lot out of you, but the main thing is to remain positive, never give up. Avoid stress as this only makes it worse. I also changed my eating habits and now exercise more. If given a second chance, I would have been to the doctor sooner. Prior to this whole ordeal, I did not have a check-up in two years. I caught it in time, but it still was a close call.”
Judith underscores the importance of frequent check-ups for women. “The key advice I can give to any woman is to get checked regularly. Too many women have died from this disease when a simple test could have saved their lives. None of us like these types of tests. They are not an enjoyable experience, but they are a must. Had I stayed or waited even a few months more before my check-up, I might not be here today. We need to take this seriously and get checked. It’s the only way to diagnose this disease.”
