Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Being a surrogate mum saved my life
Rebecca calls for more smears in bid to raise awareness of disease
WHEN Rebecca Davidson became a surrogate for her aunt and uncle who could not have children it turned out to be an act of kindness that saved her life.
But when she came to give birth to the baby boy on October 13 last year, doctors realised there was something wrong.
The mum of two was rushed for an emergency caesarean and during this, surgeons took a biopsy from her cervix and later her worst fears were confirmed – she had cervical cancer.
Now, as she embarks on gruelling chemotherapy and radiation treatment, Rebecca is speaking out to raise awareness and urge young women to have regular smear tests.
She said: “Without him [the baby] it would not have been discovered. I had no symptoms and as much as it was a good thing having him, he saved me.”
After a number of tests Rebecca, who lives with husband Paul, nine-year-old son James and daughter Daliah, two, was told in November she had stage 2b cervical cancer and last week she started treatment.
The 26-year-old said: “It means it is still contained to my cervix and has not spread to my lymph nodes so they are hoping by the end of treatment it will be completely gone.
“It is scary because I had not one symptom and if I had not been a surrogate for my aunt and uncle it would not have been picked up as quickly.
“I always had my smear test on time. I had one after I had my little boy and I had him when I was 17 and I have had it every three years since.
TESTS
“It is awful how hard it can be to get an appointment when you are under 25, without that test there’s no way of knowing if everything is OK.
“It is frightening to think if I had not had that baby it would have been September before my next smear test.
“It had been two years since my last smear when I had him. I think it should be an annual thing.
“Compared to treating a cancer patient, surely a smear test is cheaper in the long run. More regular smear tests means more early detection and that can save lives.
“I was diagnosed after no symptoms, this was growing inside me and I knew nothing, felt nothing.
“It scared me so much, you always think it is never going to happen to you, you never think it could be you lying in bed getting chemotherapy.”
Rebecca said she wanted to speak out about her ordeal to get more women talking about smear tests and to stop them putting off something many can view as uncomfortable and embarrassing.
She added: “I would take those few minutes of discomfort compared to what I am going through now.
“Doctors can be quick to tell women who are on the contraceptive pill they may have irregular bleeding, but it’s also a symptom of cervical cancer.
“If you do have any irregular bleeding please get checked out.”
The day Rebecca gave birth as a surrogate, doctors took a biopsy but did not say what it could be.
She revealed: “They said they were concerned and did not know what it was. When I asked what else it could be they didn’t answer, so part of me knew.
“On my last day in hospital a doctor came round and I asked what he thought and he told me he thought it was cancer and said I should look at the positives, at least I had my family quite young.
“As a result of my treatment I will no longer be able to have children and I will go through the menopause.
“This I have accepted as I have been blessed with two beautiful children but for any other young woman who has not yet started a family this would be a devastating part of treatment. From that point I knew I had cancer but it was not officially concerned until November 20.
NUMB
“Deep down I knew but I always had this thought, ‘No, they have got it wrong’. Actually hearing the word cancer, you go a bit numb, my husband and I were in a daze and didn’t really speak.
“The hardest bit was telling everyone, you feel you are the one making the family upset, it was really hard and I just wanted to get it over with quickly.
“I asked my husband to ring everyone I wanted to know personally from me, it was like ripping the plaster off quickly.”
Rebecca, who had hoped to embark on further education in January, is facing months of chemotherapy and radiation.
She underwent surgery on December 21 to remove lymph nodes to ensure the cancer had not spread, which thankfully it had not, and went to Dublin for a PET scan – a more advanced MRI.
Treatment started on January 9 and
will entail six rounds of chemotherapy and daily radiation, 28 external and three interal.
In a final message to other women, Rebecca said: “Do not listen to the guidelines if you believe there’s something not right or if you have been sexually active or had a baby quite young.
“Keep asking until someone gives you your smear test. It is not necessarily something that comes with symptoms. My tumour is 3.7cm and I had no notion of that inside me, it just shows you do not feel it. There was no pain, no bleeding at all.”
Rebecca has been writing about her experiences in a blog to help raise awareness and to help her understand what she is going through and you can follow her journey on www.trying2findthemeaningoflife.com.
You always think it will never happen to you. It scared me so much REBECCA DAVIDSON ON CANCER DIAGNOSIS