“I really want to raise awareness of cervical cancer by encouraging others to get checked out”

“I was around 23 years old and had three out of the four main symptoms of cervical cancer – pain during sex, irregular discharge and lower back pain. The only one I didn’t have was irregular bleeding, which is why I think my other symptoms were ignored. I went for numerous doctors’ appointments but was told my symptoms could have been down to having an STI. At the time I was in a long-term relationship, and I’m still with him now, 13 years on!

“I ended up just ignoring it and going travelling – I thought everything was fine. When I got back home to the UK, I’d just turned 25 years old, so I was the legal age to have my first smear test. The results came back inconclusive so I went back just before Christmas to have a second one, which came back as showing abnormal cells.  

“In March 2015 I had a colposcopy and a biopsy of my cervix. Within a couple of days I was called into my local hospital to discuss the results. This is when I was told I had cervical cancer.”

Surgery and psychological support at The Royal Marsden

“When I was told I needed to have surgery, I think I just shut off, I was in utter shock the whole time. They told me that after the surgery, I might have difficulty carrying a child as they were removing most of my cervix. I knew I wanted children, so this was more upsetting to me than the cancer diagnosis itself.  

“In June 2015, I had the operation at The Royal Marsden to remove the cancer. It was caught very early and I was very lucky."

“After the surgery, I was told I’d remain under The Royal Marsden’s care for the next five years for monitoring. I had very regular check-ups initially which, as the results remained clear, then moved to every six months. At my four-year check-up, the MRI scan came back clear, so my monitoring moved again to yearly.

"During this time I also benefitted from seeing a counsellor in the Psychological Support team, which is funded by The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. The team supported both me and my husband (who was my fiancé at the time). I think it really helped him understand, from a gynaecological perspective, what I’d actually gone through. He understood – pen to paper – what had happened, but actually listening to me and the counsellor in that forum gave him a bit more perspective to the depth of my experiences and what I’d dealt with. I was so thankful for that service."

Vikki's miracle baby, Florence 

Five-year scan results

“Unfortunately, at my five-year scan, I was called back to the hospital as they’d found something suspicious. I kept thinking if it was something really bad this time, my daughter would be at risk of losing her mum. I cried so much this time round. I had so many MRIs, swabs and smears as the suspicious mass was really hidden in my cervix and difficult to get to for tests. I was told that they were going to do a watch and wait and I continued to have three-monthly scans. By that point, a second mass had appeared on my cervix.  

“In March 2021, I had surgery again to remove both the growths on my cervix. Thankfully this time the growths weren’t cancerous. I was mentally exhausted by this point and asked to have a hysterectomy as a preventative measure for the future.”  

A robotic hysterectomy: "It was mindblowing!"

“In October 2021, I had a hysterectomy at The Royal Marsden which was done robotically. When I walked into the theatre and saw the robot – it was mindblowing! After my March operation to remove the two growths on my cervix, I was in absolute agony. However, when I had the robotic surgery done for my hysterectomy – I was up on my feet within a week, there was hardly any pain post-surgery at all. It’s amazing how different things can be with a robot – how delicate this surgery was. I was blown away by how quickly I recovered from that surgery.

“My recent MRI scans remain clear, which is amazing.”

Taking part in Jog 40 Miles in January  

I decided to take part in the Jog 40 Miles in January to raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity – to do something for the hospital that has done so much for me.