Rachael’s Story
This time last year, some abnormal bleeding in between periods prompted me to book an appointment with my GP. Although I was overdue for my pap smear, I’d had the Gardasil vaccination 10 years earlier and no issues since. So I had the blood test and cervical screening test as ordered by my doctor and […]
Bec’s Story
Where do I even start… A brief stint living in New Zealand, could have cost me my life! I was in the middle of packing up our house in NZ when I still remember my letter from my GP stated I was due for my next Pap Smear. I placed it in the draw and […]
Amanda P’s Story
I had always had issues with my monthly cycle and had once been told I had an abnormal pap smear result. I did not follow this up as the doctor had said “it was nothing to worry about”. Having been sexually assaulted in the past I was quite happy to let the follow up pap […]
Katrina C’s Story
My cervical cancer journey began in December 2018 with my first symptom – to say it was terrifying would be an understatement. After visiting my doctor several times with this non-stop symptom I was sent for ultrasounds which came back clear. At first it was all put down to me coming off a contraceptive, but […]
Serena’s Story
I want to share with you a chapter of my life where at the age of 29 I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Backtrack a year and a half to when I was 27 and experiencing a lot of abnormal and irregular bleeding. As with many mothers with four young children and a husband, our […]
Maria G’s Story
My name is Maria and about 8 to 9 years ago after going to get a pap smear I was told that my blood cells were white and cancerous. I had never gone for a pap smear in my life and didn’t know that every woman should be getting this done on a regular basis. […]
Tracy J’s Story
I was first diagnosed with cervical cancer (adenocarcinoma) in March 2008, exactly 1 month before our wedding. My doctor told us to postpone the wedding but we were determined to go ahead with it. We were married on a Sunday and the next Thursday I was having surgery. I started chemo/radiation the next Tuesday. I […]
Danielle’s Story
I was 31 when I was diagnosed with Adenocarcinoma of the cervix. It had started years ago but I never picked it up. It had been 7 years since my last Pap smear. I thought I was young and fit, that I was okay and I would be fine. When I had my children I […]
Christa’s Story
March 21, 2018 was just an ordinary day. I headed to the doctor to get a regular Pap smear. During the Pap smear, the doctor asked a few questions, which began to make me wonder something was wrong. “Come back in 2 weeks for the results” she said. Two weeks, of stress, and worry that […]
Lauren M’s Story
I was diagnosed with Stage 1b1 cervical cancer at the age of 30. It came out of the blue and hit me, and my family and friends for six. A pap smear, a colposcopy, a biopsy and a LLETZ confirmed my diagnosis and set a treatment plan in motion. Having always had regular pap smears, […]
Sarah’s Story
I went for my cervical screening on the 19th February, 2018. Prior to that, I hadn’t been for about 5 years, since having my daughter. The results indicated that I had HPV18 but that there were no abnormal cells or malignancy detected. Regardless, because I had had a procedure when I was 18 to remove […]
Tania’s Story
July 2017 I went for my regular 2 year Pap smear which came back abnormal. So I went for my second in December as directed by my GP, this also came back abnormal with high risk HPV 16. January 9th a day after my 31st birthday I went for a colposcopy and biopsy and results […]
Kelly’s Story
Kelly’s story, as told by Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation CerviCAN Support Program Coordinator Fiona, using Kelly’s own words: Kelly had always been a fighter. At just six weeks old she was made a ward of the state. Later, she became a single mother. Kelly fought to clean her life up, inspired to be a strong […]
Kristeena’s Story
I was 35, happily married with 3 kids aged 15, 9 & 7. I hadn’t had a Pap smear since my last baby. It’s something I knew I should do but like all mums, we always put everyone else first and I kept putting it off. Years passed and I finally went to see my […]
Nanette’s Story
My specialist, very compassionately, told me I had a cervical cancer that had invaded outside the cervical wall. Stage 2B. What a shock. I had been vigilant with my smears and ultrasounds but sadly, for me, the cancer was in a position where it was not able to be accessed – high up in the […]
Sheryl’s Story
I was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1983. For 72 hours I was treated with internal radiation rods (brachytherapy), and then a full hysterectomy after 6 weeks. I was 34 years old. Fortunately, I already had my son. I was having regular Pap smears, and everything was normal. Two weeks after my last Pap test, […]
Beth’s Story
After months of abnormal bleeding and lower back pain my doctor sent me for an ultrasound and referred me to a gynaecologist. At 24 years old I didn’t think it would be anything serious as I had always kept up with regular Pap smears. My gynaecologist did an examination and told me he would be […]
Jessica M’s Story
I am a 31 year old mother of 4. My children are aged 5-12 years and are my world. I found out I had stage 1b cervical cancer around 3 months ago. It was the scariest day of my life, if the world could have stopped spinning, it would have been at that moment. The […]
Maresa’s Story
I was a single parent to three teenage boys. My life was busy juggling full time work and the needs of the boys. I always put myself last. This included medical check-ups. A new medical centre opened across the road from my work so one day I popped in there to grab a script. They […]
Kimberley’s Story
My first baby was 4 months old when I was diagnosed with cervical cancer and I had just turned 31. A follow up pap to a low-grade abnormality showed some possible high grade changes. A colposcopy by the same obstetrician who delivered my baby showed adenocarcinoma in situ. I was sent off for a cone […]