A mother has been given months to live after being diagnosed with cervical cancer – which doctors initially thought was an STI.
When Aisha McClellan started bleeding after sex, she was initially told her symptoms were caused by a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
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Battling exhaustion, back pain and continuous bleeding despite receiving antibiotics, Aisha was certain there must be something else going on.
After repeatedly demanding a pelvic exam, the mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
Despite being told the disease was treatable, Aisha’s world came crashing down when she was told the cancer had spread to her lungs and liver.
However, she defied the odds and proved doctors wrong by pulling off a miraculous turnaround to beat the disease – despite believing she had just three months to live.
Aisha, project manager at Snow Camp, North Carolina, said: “Initially I was angry because I didn’t understand how this could have happened when I had been in their care for all this time.
“My anger quickly turned into a degree of sadness I had never experienced.
“I was devastated. I don’t have much of a family and I was scared about who would take care of my children if I passed away.
“The thought of leaving them left me inconsolable.”
The mother of three began noticing symptoms of cervical cancer in early 2016 when she bled for 10 minutes shortly after having sex.
She visited a local clinic when this kept happening and she received a 10-day course of antibiotics — despite no positive results for an STD, she said. Glam.
Generally high energythe mother continued to feel tired and had back pain.
She returned to the clinic after bleeding again after sex and demanded a pelvic exam.
A nurse said her cervix felt “angry and inflamed,” but it was probably some kind of STD.
A second said there may be a mass on Aisha’s cervix.
Eventually, the mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer – when cells in the cervix grow uncontrollably and form a tumor, which usually grows very slowly.
Around 2,700 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year in England, according to the NHS.
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A second blow
Aisha was reportedly told by healthcare professionals that the cancer was treatable and went through several rounds.
But months later, the man, now 40, discovered the cancer had reappeared and grown.
After hearing the news that the cancer had spread to her lungs and liver, Aisha was told she only had three months left with her loved ones.
She worked hard to get rid of her early cervical cancer, undergoing six rounds of chemotherapy, 25 doses of external radiation, and five doses of internal radiation.
The mother was unable to understand how he had resurfaced again.
During her cervical cancer treatment, according to Aisha, the medical team only examined her from the waist down as the cancer spread to her upper body – leaving her feeling “defeated.”
The scariest thing was simply not being here to take care of my children. I had no one to take care of them, that was the thought that got me out of bed every morning and allowed me to move forward.
Aisha McClellan
She was reportedly told that “once the cancer spreads, there is nothing they can do to control it.”
She said: “Initially diagnosed with cervical cancer, I was told at first it was very treatable.
“I finished the treatment three months later and they told me that I had a good response, which next step was to return for a follow-up in November.
“When I came back from my follow-up, I discovered that my cancer had spread to my lungs and liver, and they didn’t know it was because they were only examining me from the waist down.”
One of the single mother’s biggest concerns throughout her cancer journey has been her children – Lia, Tyler and Arianna, who are now 19, 18 and 17, respectively.
During treatment, Aisha lost her job, meaning she had no income, leaving her to clean houses with her mother in order to earn a living.
A second chance
Aisha refused to give up hope and fought for a second opinion.
She received several new rounds of treatments and incorporated vitamins and supplements into her diet, with the intention of trying to feel better.
At a follow-up exam, Aisha was ecstatic to hear the news that she had responded well to treatment.
On August 10, 2017, her doctor called to say she had responded completely to treatment.
The mother said she felt “extremely grateful” for her second chance at life.
Everything you need to know about the HPV vaccine
The HPV vaccine protects against some of the risky types of HPV that can cause genital warts and cancer.
Gardasil is the HPV vaccine used in the NHS vaccination program since 2012. It protects against nine types of HPV.
For example, it is effective against types 16 and 18, which cause around 80 per cent of cervical cancers in the UK.
This is why it is important that people who have a cervix still have a smear test when invited by the NHS.
Cervical cancer currently claims the lives of 854 people a year – but this number is expected to continue to decline thanks to the vaccine.
There are around 3,200 new cases of this devastating cancer each year, with incidence peaking in women in their 30s.
But the HPV vaccine doesn’t just prevent cervical cancer – it prevents some anal, genital (vaginal and penile), mouth and throat (head and neck) cancers.
These affect both men and women.
Who should accept?
The first dose of the HPV vaccine is routinely offered to 12 and 13 year old girls and boys in the 8th year of school.
The second dose is offered 6 to 24 months after the 1st dose.
If a school-age child misses doses, you can speak to the
school vaccination team or doctor’s office to schedule as soon as possible.
Anyone who missed their shot can receive it until their 25th birthday.
But people who receive their first dose of the HPV vaccine at age 15 or older will need three doses of the vaccine because they don’t respond as well to two doses as younger people.
The HPV vaccine used to only be given to girls at risk of cervical cancer when they were older.
But in 2018, it was announced that boys – who can get HPV-related head, neck, anal and genital cancers – would also receive a shot.
Girls indirectly protect boys from HPV-related cancers and genital warts because girls will not transmit HPV to them.
But the program has been expanded to further eliminate the risk of the virus spreading in the future.
Men who have sex with men (gay and bisexual) do not benefit from this indirect protection, so they can also take the HPV vaccine up to the age of 45.
Some trans people can also get the vaccine.
Females assigned at birth would have received one as children. But those assigned male at birth can receive a vaccine if they transition to female and have sex with men.
Reflecting on her cancer journey, Aisha said: “Despite only having three months to live, I fought hard to try and beat my cancer so I could be here for my children.
“My whole goal in life has always been to want to protect my children and make them happy and give them everything they want and need.
“I felt like I was letting them down, but it also made me fight a lot harder.
“The scariest thing was just not being here to take care of my children. I wouldn’t have anyone to take care of them if I wasn’t here and that was the thought that got me out of bed every morning and allowed me to move forward.
“I was never really afraid of how cancer would affect my body, or what it would do to me personally, it always came down to what I was doing to my children.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
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