A woman who missed abdominal cancer for menopause has asked others to control any new symptoms as soon as possible.
Dawn Willis, 58, had experienced vaginal bleeding for about a year, but thought it was a symptom of menopause.
When her stomach swollen, however, her family persuaded her to go the doctor – and she discovered that she actually had advanced abdominal cancer.
The former teaching assistant is now without cancer and is talking in the hope of raising awareness and hopeful “to save one’s life”.
Menopause bleeding is not usually serious, but it can be a sign of cancer.
The main symptoms of uterine cancer can include bleeding or stain from the vagina after menopause, severe periods that are unusual, vaginal bleeding between periods, and a change in vaginal discharge.
“I was so angry with myself when I got the diagnosis after ignoring the symptoms,” said Willis, from Canterbury, Great Britain.
“So much happened to your body during menopause that I thought the bleeding was normal. But then my belly was swollen and my family told me to check.
“I’m really happy they did because I was diagnosed with advanced abdominal cancer. If I had expected a few more months, I don’t think I would be here today.
“I’m always the first to advise people to see a doctor, so I don’t know why I left it for so long. I was just so angry with myself for ignoring these signs.”
After the initial shock of the diagnosis, the full attention of the dawn returned to improve.
“When they told me it wasn’t a terminal, I thought,” right, I’ll beat that. “I love my life. I love my husband Mark, with whom I was 16 years old,” she said .
“I wasn’t ready to go anywhere. Cancer won’t beat me.”
After the initial diagnosis of Willis’s cancer in March 2017, she underwent a year of treatment.
She was told she was in pardon in March 2018 and was officially classified without cancer in March 2022.
After its treatment, Willis suffered a pierced intestine due to serious radiation damage and now lives with a stoma.
But she’s still making her life the most – and is talking to encourage others to be checked faster than later.
“I’m fine with my stomach after saving my life. “So I really want to spread that message. If something is not right, don’t leave it!
“Even if you feel good. I only had that symptom and otherwise I felt healthy. So visit your doctor and check yourself.
“If anyone can see what I’m saying and thinking,” I have it, I’ll be checked “… if I could save a person’s life, that’s what this is.”
Willis added that she was extremely grateful for the care she received from the East Kent Hospital University.
“I had a fear of hospitals before I had cancer, so I was really worried about needing to go regularly, but very soon I crossed it,” she said.
“The only thing I felt was sure and confident they would fix me. I am very grateful for the team that saved me and making my cancer journey a positive.”
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