Doctors found my cancer during abdominal surgery - just like Kate Middleton: ... trends now
Becky Black hoped abdominal surgery would finally put an end to the agonizing menstrual bleeding she'd suffered since she was a teenager.
But what was supposed to be a routine operation to remove benign growths from her womb led to a cancer diagnosis that turned her life upside down.
Ms Black said: 'I had known something was wrong for years, but I kept putting it off. The cancer diagnosis just confirmed all this.'
Becky is sharing her story with DailyMail.com after being inspired by Princess Kate Middleton's similar cancer battle.
Like Ms Black, who was 39 when she was diagnosed, Princess Kate, 42, was told she had cancer after having unrelated abdominal surgery in January.
Until the last decade, both women would not have been your typical cancer patient - but their journeys are becoming a familiar tale.
Jessie Sanders, who was diagnosed with cancer at 21, struggled with abdominal pain for years before receiving her ovarian cancer diagnosis
Becky Black, 44, from Texas, was told she had cancer after surgery to remove fibroids
Cancers have now risen among under-50s - who are considered early-onset patients - in a phenomenon that has baffled scientists.
Ms Black had been struggling with an irregular period since she was 14.
The cycles became even more erratic and she began bleeding between periods, which is when she decided to seek help.
Scans revealed she had more than half a dozen fibroids — small growths in the wall of the uterus that are usually benign — and she was referred for surgery to have them removed.
Fibroids can cause irregular menstrual bleeding because they distort the shape of the uterus, disrupting the normal shedding.
But because they occur in up to 77 percent of women — and fewer than one in 1,000 cases are cancerous — she was thought to be unlikely to have cancer.
During the operation, however, doctors found 'problematic' cells which were sent for testing — and later diagnosed as stage one uterine cancer.
She was then scheduled to have a hysterectomy — or uterus removal — to remove the cancer before it spread to other areas of the body.
Doctors say it is common to have a hysterectomy once this cancer is detected in order to remove it before it spreads.
This was successful, with doctors saying she didn't need chemotherapy because there was no sign the cancer had spread.
Kate Middleton posted a video online where she revealed her cancer diagnosis and that she was receiving preventative chemotherapy
Ms Black said: 'I wouldn't say it was a shock as much as it was a feeling of unwanted confirmation, if that makes sense.
'My advice is to loved ones of those with cancer — though you're well meaning, let your loved one with cancer have the space (emotional and physical) they may need during this time.
'And to the rest of us, let Kate process her own and without our interference, curiosity, or concern, no matter how well-meaning we may be.'
Uterine cancer is the most common cancer of the female reproductive
