Cancer screening results in a lucky escape

Dec 12 2009 by Hannah Davies, The Journal

Since reality star Jade Goody’s death more women are being screened for cervical cancer. Hannah Davies speaks to one whose early cancer detection not only saved her life, but also means she can still have children in the future.

CAROLINE Greener spent much of last year dealing with her diagnosis of cervical cancer. “I couldn’t bear to watch or read anything about Jade Goody’s terminal cancer. She was diagnosed just a few months after me, and I know if I hadn’t been screened, I could’ve met the same fate,” explains Caroline, 33.

Caroline is a quiet, reflective person. With a dry wit and a calm persona it is only possible to get fleeting glimpses of the upset she went through last year.

She says: “I wouldn’t normally dream of doing this but I am speaking to you now because I know speaking out about the issue can save lives.

“Earlier this year I was speaking to a friend of mine about my experiences. It prompted her to get a smear test where she was shown to have pre-cancerous cells.

“Potentially her life has been saved because of that.”

When she was 32, Caroline, marketing manager for Audiences North East, hadn’t thought about cancer. Now she’s 33 she is all too familiar with it.

It is a young age to get cancer but then cervical cancer is the most common cancer for young women to get, something Caroline is keen to highlight.

Luckily cervical cancer is also one of the most easily treatable – but only if it is caught in the early stages.

Caroline didn’t have a clue she had the disease and it was only after signing up with a new doctor near her Gateshead home that she got screened.

She explains: “When I registered they’d seen I hadn’t had a smear test for a number of years so they asked me to come in for one.”

Caroline adds she wasn’t scared of smear tests but booking an appointment for one had “simply dropped off my radar”.

Following her smear test in April 2008, Caroline didn’t give it another thought and simply got on with her life. So it was a bit of a shock when she was called in again.

“They said there was nothing to worry about, but they’d detected some abnormal cells.”

Caroline was referred to Gateshead’s Queen Elizabeth (QE) Hospital which has a specialist gynaecological centre. “It was really quick,” she recalls, “which was great because it gave me less time to worry.

“The letter they sent was reassuring so at that stage I still wasn’t too concerned. By that point all I wanted to do was to get it sorted out as quickly as possible.”