Katie Storey
I was always up to date with my smear tests and even remember ringing the GP just before turning 25 asking if they could book me in.
All my smears were fine until I turned 31.
My results following this showed as HPV positive – which by all accounts isn’t anything to worry about as this more often than not clears on its own. However standard NHS practice is to get checked again a year later to see if the HPV has gone.
Fast forward to February 2022 when I went for my follow up smear, the results still showed HPV which then meant that they wanted me to go for a Colposcopy ( a test to look at your cervix) followed by a biopsy a few weeks later.
I then got a phone call on 18th July and was asked to go to the hospital first thing the following morning and to bring someone with me. It was at this point that I knew something was wrong.
Me and my mum went to the appointment the following day, where I was told that I had early stages of cervical cancer.
It didn’t register straight away, and it only took until the consultant asked how old my children were that I then burst into tears. They were only four and one at the time, and I couldn’t imagine not being there for them or seeing them grow up.
I then panicked on how I was going to tell Kev and the rest of my family and friends.
I went for an MRI a few weeks later, and the results came back to show that it only appeared to be contained in my cervix, this was such a relief knowing that I should be able to get treatment.
We had our holiday booked and we were determined to go and have the best time. The following morning after landing back home, I went for an appointment with my consultant who confirmed that a week later I was booked in for a radical hysterectomy on the 8th September.
Weeks of having to get Kev to inject me with blood thinners, keeping up with pain medication and not getting to see my babies on a regular basis, I finally got my all clear on 13th October!”
Now Katie is about to start her dream job fundraising at her local hospice, The Prince of Wales in Pontefract and she is keen to give back.
She says: “ If I can persuade just one person to go for their smear test, it will be worthwhile.
Ladies please make sure you’re keeping up to date with your smear tests, for the sake of 10 minutes, it could potentially change your whole life.”
Cervical screening checks a sample of cells from the cervix for certain types of HPV.
HPV (Human papillomavirus) is the name of a very common group of viruses. They do not cause any problems in most people, but some types can cause genital warts or cancer.
These types of HPV can cause abnormal changes to the cells in your cervix and are called ‘high risk’ types of HPV.
If they are found during screening you may need:
- Another cervical screening test in one year
- A different test to look at your cervix ( a colposcopy) which is similar to cervical screening, but is carried out in hospital.