A nurse who had her smear test cancelled due to coronavirus has now been diagnosed with a cancerous tumour the size of a tennis ball.
Destiny Wade, 28, an oncology nurse from Crayford, southeast London, was supposed to have a smear test in March, which was cancelled because of the virus.
She had started having some mild symptoms such as bleeding after sex but was told it was probably a popped cyst.
Destiny, who has also had coronavirus, took herself to A&E after a night of heavy bleeding and after three weeks of tests she was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
She has now set up a GoFundMe page and an Instagram account to raise awareness about the importance of smear tests.
She said: "I started having some symptoms in February such as bleeding after sex but I didn't think anything of it.
"In March I was supposed to have a smear test which I do every three years but my GP called me and told me it was cancelled due to Covid-19.
"When I raised that I had some mild symptoms, I was told, 'you are only 27, you have low risk of having cervical cancer so you are not a priority'. I was told I could get an appointment in the next six months."
She went on: "By May the bleeding was every day. One night I had very extreme bleeding and I had a gut feeling, I thought, 'I can't sit on this any longer' so I took myself to A&E.
"I remember sitting in the car and thinking they are going to laugh in my face because who takes themselves to A&E for bleeding but I just felt I wanted someone to take a look.
"I was on the bed and the consultant did an internal examination - as soon as I saw her face I knew that something was wrong. She said I had a tumour the size of a tennis ball.
"I am a fit active girl, I work with cancer I thought I'd know if I had it but it turns out you can never know. If I had the smear test I would have caught it in March."
Destiny says her last smear test was in April 2017 and was '100% normal'. Now she has started her first round of chemo for six weeks, followed by another six weeks along with radiotherapy.
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She was also devastated to learn the radiotherapy will weaken her womb and she won't be able to carry children.
However she underwent an ovarian transposition - an operation where the ovaries are moved higher up in the body, to minimise the radiotherapy's effect and potentially allow Destiny to have a baby via IVF.
The bodybuilder is determined to beat cancer and is keen on raising awareness for smear tests. She added: "I was told I am on grade three now - if it had been picked up earlier it could have potentially still been at grade one and they could have just removed it."
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You can visit Destiny's fundraising page here.
Featured Image Credit: CatersTopics: UK News, News, Coronavirus, UK, Health