I’m no stranger to those NHS letters dropping onto my mat; over the years I’ve had more than my fair share of “invitations for cervical screening.” Not the most popular of invites, admittedly; I’d much rather it was a wedding invitation – or at least a birthday party. But cervical screening, or  the ‘smear test‘ as it’s otherwise known, is a necessary procedure. There’s not that much I take seriously in life; I’m a fun-loving kinda gal with a strong sense of humour, but I know that medical investigations are to be ignored at your peril – and I never have.Despite my diligence in attending these appointments I had stage 3 CIN and subsequent treatment around 16 years ago, when I was 24 years old. I went on to develop an infection which saw me later have a partial hysterectomy and 3 failed cycles of IVF. It’s taken time to accept that I will never be a mother. But do I regret attending the screening that diagnosed the pre-cancerous cells in the first place? Of course not. Had I not attended and simply carried on with my life in blissful ignorance, there’s a high likelihood I wouldn’t be here now. I had no symptoms, and the chances are that by the time I did, the cancer would have been fully established and may even have spread to the surrounding organs.I have a filing cabinet stuffed full of correspondence relating to my ongoing treatment: the six-monthly screens and colposcopies…gradually moving to annual check-ups and eventually three-yearly smears. Occasionally I’d have an abnormal result again and need closer monitoring, but I’ve never had to have more cells removed; since my loop cone biopsy, they’ve returned to normal by themselves. As you can imagine, 16 years’ worth of such treatment has resulted in quite a lot of paperwork.

So when my latest invitation arrived a few days ago I knew instantly what it was and tore it open eagerly (which may sound surprising, but no checks for three years has left me feeling anxious – like walking a tightrope between skyscrapers without a safety net).

Since I know the wording of these letters off by heart, I instantly saw the difference. My heart sank. Instead of being told clearly that my cervical screening test is due being (politely but encouragingly) asked to attend and given the telephone number to call, the new version of the letter takes an altogether more casual tone: Your choice. It’s upto you whether or not to have cervical screening.

Wait, what?! No encouragement, no advice? The new letter has also been made completely impersonal with no signatory, no date of last smear or due date (as there was on the bottom of my 2012 letter) – not even a mention of the telephone number you need to call to make your appointment…

 

Over the years I’ve been vocal in my support of the screening. In recent months I have written about my experience on my blog (which got over 6k hits in the first week), had the article published on the front page of Huffington Post UK, and campaigned via social media to encourage women to attend. My campaigning has been picked up by several cervical cancer and gynae charities and women’s health groups.

I recently attended an event organised by The Eve Appeal during Gynae Cancer Awareness Month. It’s common knowledge that attendance rates for screening are in decline, yet not once has anyone mentioned this change in the way women are invited for testing as a possible contributory factor. I had no idea the letter had changed until I received my own a few days ago.

I’m all for freedom of choice, but during my campaigning I’ve discovered that most women know very little about their own bodies, cervical cancer causes and symptoms – or even how important the screening really is. Even some of my own friends – intelligent 40-something mothers who have witnessed my own traumatic experiences first-hand – admitted to me that they were clueless until they read my article. It seems that women are not attending mainly due to fear, ignorance or embarrassment:

Amending the letter in this way to dilute the message and imply that it’s something that you can simply decide to ignore if you like, is at best irresponsible and at worst, negligent. We should be encouraging women to attend more, not less.

I intend to take this further. I need to find out why the wording has been changed at a time when diagnoses are up and attendance down. If the answer is not satisfactory, I will campaign to have the wording amended. The government may be willing to accept these women’s deaths, the hundreds of heartbroken families left in their wake…but I’m not.

And to the 3.7million women in the UK who haven’t attended their smear appointment in the last 5 years: do you really want to be next?

This article has also appeared in The Huffington Post UK.

Please SIGN MY PETITION to get the cervical screening letter amended and support my #AtYourCervix campaign…

The post Cancer Isn’t Soft, So Why Is This New Approach? appeared first on Life: A Birds Eye View.

My regular blog readers will know that women’s reproductive health and gynae cancers are matters close to my heart, having shared my cervical cancer experience and subsequent infertility with you here on my blog and also via the Huffington Post. So I was particularly proud and excited when the invitation to attend an event at The Detox Kitchen in association with The Eve Appeal pinged into my inbox recently. The Eve Appeal is a charity whose main aim is raising awareness and funding research in the five gynaecological cancers – ovarian, womb, cervical, vaginal and vulval.

Athena Lamnisos, CEO of The Eve Appeal charity, had read my article via Twitter and subsequent tweets around raising awareness, and so invited me along to the event. Of course I immediately accepted and attended last night, accompanied by one of my besties, Kez Wells.

The evening was fantastic from start to finish: we were warmly welcomed with a glass of bubbly and some delicious healthy canapes, before mingling with fellow supporters of the charity and actress/comediennes Jane Horrocks and Helen Lederer.

Athena kicked off with a passionate speech about the vital work of the charity, highlighting the fact that 21000 women are diagnosed with gynae cancer in the UK each year, with 21 dying daily, before handing the floor over to Cherry Healey. 

Cherry, TV presenter and author of Letters to my Fanny, gave a lively talk about the importance of knowing the various parts of our own anatomy as women, and the cringe-factor that we still feel when discussing what goes on “down below.” Despite having had a child and being in her mid-thirties, she still experienced embarrassment when talking to her doctor. This gave her the impetus to confront the stigma and write the book – one which I’ve now added to my ever-increasing reading list.

Next up was Caroline Presho, whose life has been greatly affected by cancer, (despite never having had it herself), due to her family history and being a carrier of the BRCA mutation, giving her and her sister an 87% chance of contracting the disease themselves. She told her moving story – culminating in a preventative double mastectomy and partial hysterectomy – with humour and grace. Fortunately she was able to have 4 children prior to the surgery, but spoke of her obvious concerns for her own 2 daughters; full credit to her for sharing her story and campaigning to educate and protect others. Find further information and support over at The BRCA Umbrella.

There was just time to have a gorgeous manicure (I opted for brick red polish complete with tiny heart-shaped diamantes) by mobile beauty specialists Perfect 10 using Essie products before the raffle was drawn…which I won!

I was presented with a gift voucher for a pampering home visit by Perfect 10. I can’t wait to get it booked into my diary – I’m off to Ibiza at the weekend so am eagerly eyeing up the full-body massage, which will be very gratefully received after an exhausting weekend’s clubbing.

There was just time for a informative chat with a few of the Eve Appeal’s staff about the essential work they do before it was time for us to head out into the autumn evening, carrying our ‘Stop Ovary Acting’ tote bags filled with period-related supplies and a host of goodies courtesy of Pinkparcel.

  

A huge thank you to all at The Detox Kitchen and The Eve Appeal for an inspiring and memorable evening, full of invaluable information which I will definitely be using in the future in my ongoing mission to help other women avoid gynae cancers.

You can support the valuable work of The Eve Appeal by donating here 

Sam x


Fancy reading my back-story before you go any further? You can find my other blogs at:

www.costaricachica1.blogspot.com
www.samgoessolo.blogspot.com
www.mummymission.blogspot.com
www.worldwidewalsh.blogspot.com

Follow me:

Twitter: @SamanthaWalsh76 (Life:ABird’sEyeView)
Facebook: @lifeabirdseyeview
Instagram: @lifeabirdseyeview

The post An Evening with The Eve Appeal appeared first on Life: A Birds Eye View.