I WAS DIAGNOSED with cervical cancer last July. Twenty-eight sessions of radiotherapy, five of chemotherapy and three internal radiotherapy sessions later, I am now starting to plan the rest of my life with my husband and children.
Over the past five months I've had good days and bad, the doctors are very happy with my progress and say I stand a very good chance of a full recovery. My experiences at St Luke's Hospital and St James's were wonderful. All and all I regard myself a very lucky woman.
Before this year, I had never been sick a day in my life. My doctor's file was as thin as an envelope. Then I was diagnosed with cervical cancer and now the file is the size of an encyclopaedia.
In March I got what I thought were kidney infections and when I went to the doctor tests showed up an infection and I went on a course of antibiotics.
Then the irregular bleeding started. Despite undergoing lots of tests in Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe, doctors could find no organic cause for my symptoms. A smear test proved inconclusive because of the bleeding. They were stumped.
The bleeding was very intense by the end of June. I went for more tests under a new team of doctors. At this stage I was terrified that something was very wrong. I had a biopsy and on July 4th I was told that I had cervical cancer. A course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy was recommended.
I was told that it would be a few weeks before my treatment could start. I wanted to get started straight away. I wanted this disgusting tumour that had invaded my body gone immediately.
Within two weeks I was in St Luke's Hospital in Dublin. I saw people who had lost their hair and people with feeding tubes. That was not me. I didn't want to stay there. I hid behind a tree in the grounds and cried for half an hour.
I stayed in St Luke's for the seven weeks of my treatment and travelled home to Edgeworthstown, Co Longford at the weekends.
St Luke's was great. It was like a home away from home for me. I made many good friends there. The sense of community is very strong. Everyone from the doctors and nurses to the cleaning staff and cooks were very supportive.
Everything was done quick smart at St Luke's. There was no fobbing off. I was told exactly what to expect and felt well informed about everything before it happened which helps take the scariness away.
I was very angry to learn when I got home from hospital that there are plans for St Luke's to be closed or relocated. St Luke's is a great model. It is a model that should be copied not something that should be shut down.
I am doing well now. An MRI scan at the start of September showed that the tumour has shrunk by over a half. My doctors were very pleased. Then I started on a course of internal radiotherapy.
I had my last session of internal radiotherapy on September 15th and left hospital the next day. I am still very tired from the radiotherapy, but luckily I am not in very much pain and I didn't lose my hair.
Of course my advice to all women now is to get a regular smear, to practise safe sex and to pay attention to irregular bleeding.
I never had a smear test. Six weeks after my first baby, the hospital wanted me to have a smear test, but I still had stitches and said no. I didn't have a smear after any of my other babies.
I had a feeling that something was not right but I didn't do anything about it.
When I was diagnosed, telling the children was difficult. With the younger two Ava (5) and Jake (8) we just said, "Mammy has a bad pain in her belly". My eldest daughter Shannon is 12 and I sat down with a book we got at St Luke's to explain as much as necessary.
One of her best friend's mother died from cancer and I didn't want her to connect the two. I explained that my sickness was treatable and that I was going to be okay.
Because she is now classed as being at higher risk for developing cervical cancer I tried to explain those risks to her and told her about safe sex.
I have a lot of guilt that I have left this legacy of higher risk to my two girls.
Sometimes I get angry, but I pull myself together. I tell myself that it is better that I got it than someone who could not cope with it. I dealt with cancer with a very positive attitude and I think that helped a lot.
If you have had a health experience - good or bad - that you would like to talk about, contact: healthsupplement@irish-times.ie
Cervical cancer: signs, symptoms and treatment
Cervical cancer is mainly caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV), according to the Irish Cancer Society (ICS).
Cervical cancer symptoms can include abnormal vaginal bleeding (heavier or longer periods, bleeding between periods, bleeding after sex, bleeding after the menopause), blood-stained vaginal discharge that may have a foul odour and discomfort or pain in the pelvis.
Two vaccines to prevent HPV infection have been licensed for use in the EU. These target most of the strains of HPV that are likely to cause cervical cancer and are most suitable for women who have not had sex and is licensed for females aged nine to 26 years. It involves a course of three doses given over six months and is injected into a deep muscle.
Because the cervix is always changing, it is important that all women, even if they do not have sex, get their cervix checked regularly, according to the ICS. The best way to do this is by cervical screening. This is a check-up involving a smear test to see if there are early changes in the cells of the cervix.
Some of these changes are known as precancerous because they might become cancer cells if not found and treated. These early changes have no symptoms so you may be unaware of them.
The earlier a change is found, the easier it is to treat. For most women the test results show that everything is fine, but for one in 20 there may be changes that need to be checked again or treated.
A national cervical screening programme began in the Republic last month. Women aged 25 to 60 are offered free smear tests regularly. Women register with a smeartaker on this programme and are called and recalled every three or five years for a smear test, depending on their age.
For more information contact the national cancer helpline on 1800 200700 or contact the national cervical screening programme on 1800 454555.