THE PATIENT
Having been through the menopause only a year before, I was really surprised when I started bleeding again last year.
It wasn’t painful or heavy, so I wasn’t worried, but I spoke to my GP about it when I had my smear test in March.
Although I felt well, the GP arranged an urgent hospital referral and, two weeks later, an ultrasound and biopsy showed the lining of my womb was thin, something that can happen with age. I was put on a drug called norethisterone, a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone, which stopped the bleeding.
New treatment: Karen Corrigan, 55, a mother-of-four from Colchester, tried brachytherapy
But eight weeks after the smear test, I received a letter saying abnormal cells had been found. A week later, I had a small sample of cervical cells removed for analysis.
I then went to see the consultant with my husband, Dennis. The doctor told me I had stage 2 cervical cancer, which meant the cancer had spread to the tissue just outside the cervix.
In some ways, I wasn’t at all surprised by the diagnosis — from the moment I’d been called back, I’d been expecting it, and I was willing to do whatever it took to get the cancer out.
After my diagnosis, I met with Dr Rana Mahmood, a consultant clinical oncologist at Colchester University Hospital.
A hysterectomy was one option, but Dr Mahmood said an equally effective — but less invasive — treatment would be external radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy to shrink the tumour, followed by a treatment called brachytherapy.
Sometimes also called internal radiotherapy, the cancer is treated with a radioactive material inside your body, rather than from rays projected by a machine from outside.
I had five weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, before beginning brachytherapy.
They performed my brachytherapy using needles, along with the standard mode of delivery, which involves plastic tubes or ‘applicators’. This two-in-one approach would help them reach the cancer that had spread outside my cervix — I was only the second patient at Colchester to have both modes.
Fact: Cervical cancer is typically caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), which is picked up by most people at some time in their life, but it usually clears up on its own
The three sessions were more invasive and drawn out than the usual radiotherapy, which had only taken five minutes per session and didn’t hurt, although it did leave me exhausted.
In contrast, the brachytherapy took up to six hours per session, involved a general anaesthetic and I needed gas and air and painkillers afterwards. I had it over two weeks, with a break of a couple of days between each of the sessions.
After my final session in September, the tears started to flow. It really hit me what I had been through since first speaking to my GP last year.
Dr Mahmood gave me the all-clear at an appointment a couple of weeks ago. He was as pleased as I was! I am due to see him again in three months.
I still get quite tired and have an upset stomach, which could take months to clear up. I’ve not yet gone back to work — even going for a stroll around the shops can wear me out.
I’ve always been very active so I hope I can return to my regular walks with Dennis soon.
THE SPECIALIST
Dr. Rana Mahmood is a consultant clinical oncologist at Colchester University Hospital.
Cervical cancer is very curable when it’s caught early. It’s typically caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), which is picked up by most people at some time in their life, but it usually clears up on its own.
Adolescent girls are now vaccinated against HPV. But, in some women who haven’t been
