“It was as if someone had turned on a tap inside me,” recalls Joanne Painter, in her 40s from Northampton, north London. One fine day, this mother notices abnormal vaginal discharge. Then, for several months, she bleeds profusely.
Cervical cancer: “Don’t give up, get checked out”
At the time, this cemetery director was 38 years old. She goes to see several doctors, who tell her that the situation is nothing to worry about. At first, Joanne was diagnosed with cervical ectropion, an eversion of the endocervical mucosa, most often not serious. So she fights for more information, because she knows something is wrong. In February 2018, the verdict finally falls: Joanne suffers from cancer of the cervix. She is “stunned”, in her own words. Today, the mother of the family is in remission, at 43 years old. And she doesn’t want her misfortune to happen to other women.
“No one knows your body better than yourself. If something is wrong, don’t let yourself be turned away by a doctor or caregiver, or anyone who tells you it’s okay. Don’t give up, get checked out, get vaccinated as much as possible, and don’t accept being told no,” the now 40-year-old told the British newspaper. The Independent.
“Cervical cancer is a malignant tumor developed from the lining of the cervix (85% of cancers are squamous cell carcinomas and 15% are adenocarcinomas). The main risk factor is the prolonged presence of the papillomavirus (HPV) in the cervix”, explains Ameli. Nearly 3,000 cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed each year in France, more than 1,100 women die from it each year and 3/4 of women are under 65 at the time of diagnosis.
What are the warning signs? Medisite takes stock.