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image source, Familia Pendry
Kelly Pendry was diagnosed with uterine cancer in November 2021.
Kelly Pendry spent several years with undiagnosed cancer.
The woman, a 42-year-old Welsh woman, had the first symptoms of the disease in 2016. They were “abundant and prolonged periods” and “a lot of pain.”
But it wasn’t until 2021 that she was finally diagnosed with uterine leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that affects smooth muscle cells.
Kelly now wonders if things would have been different. if you had been diagnosed with the disease earlier.
rare tumors
Leiomyosarcoma belongs to a group of tumors that usually occur in the uterus, stomach, small intestine, abdomen, or other soft tissues.
They are very aggressive but rare tumors. EIn the UK they affect around 600 people each year.
Kelly, who has two children, says that when she first described her symptoms to a doctor, she was told that her body “would take time to normalize.” [después del embarazo]”.
The woman says she was advised to consider taking the contraceptive pill or consider having an intrauterine device inserted.
On another occasion, he says, he was prescribed antidepressants.
“I felt it was melodramatic,” she says. “I felt like I was getting obsessed and I thought it was all in my mindI was wondering if this was all stupid.”
But Kelly’s illness was debilitating.
“There were some days when I doubled over in pain,” he says.
“I was spending more days bleeding than not bleeding. I was gaining weight without explanation. My tummy was very, very swollen.”
‘How can you bear it?’
In April 2020, a locum GP, whom Kelly describes as a “hero,” agreed that something wasn’t right following feeling lumps in her abdomen.
“For the first time someone validated something”, it states. “The doctor said, ‘How can you take it?’ I said, ‘I’m not taking it.'”
image source, Getty Images
Uterine leiomyosarcoma is a rare form of cancer that affects smooth muscle cells.
In November 2020, Kelly was diagnosed with benign fibroids.
They told her that a hysterectomy was the best procedure, but the pandemic meant that her office appointments were constantly being changed and the surgery never took place.
By June 2021, Kelly said she was bleeding every day and “She looked nine months pregnant.”
It was around this time that a doctor first mentioned the possibility of a sarcoma, but the tumor was not diagnosed until November 2021 following a lung biopsy.
At this stage, Kelly was told that her cancer it was stage four and terminal.
“A nurse told me not to plan for Christmas,” she says.
Kelly claims that an oncologist told her he would do everything possible to treat her cancer, even though it was incurable.
“He asked us what we wanted. and we told him time. As long as humanly possible,” he says.
“Strength” chemotherapy
“I said, ‘I can’t bear the thought of not being around for milestones [de los niños]’ Silly things like first boyfriends, girlfriends, graduations.”
“At that point, I thought, I’m not even going to see them make it to 10 years old.”
Six aggressive and “grueling” rounds of chemotherapy bought Kelly more time.
Nearly a year following treatment ended, she still has side effects from the hormone inhibitors, such as tiredness, hot flashes, aches and pains.
But it says that “are nothing compared” to the pain that I had before.
However, the reality is that Kelly still has stage four terminal cancer.
“We’ve had stability for a year,” he says, “but we know this can change, and it can change very quickly.”
Kelly wants a hysterectomy, but says the option “is no longer on the table.”
“The message seems to be: my cancer is stage four and surgery is not used to prolong life.”
Kelly’s husband, Michael, now hopes to raise $60,000 to pay for the surgery in the United States.
Kelly’s husband, Michael, hopes to raise enough money to pay for the surgery in the US.
“There surgery is a treatment,” he says.
Kelly doesn’t want to be critical of Britain’s “wonderful NHS” but feels it has been “cut off from avenues that seem to be available in other countries.”
Michael will soon embark on a 290 km race in an attempt to raise the necessary funds.
He notes that training for the fundraising mission is “cathartic.”
“I cried while running”
“If things get me down…I start running and I can feel better,” says Michael.
“It hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday,” he says. “She was crying while running. I felt better followingwards.”
Kelly is realistic regarding what the future might hold, even with surgery.
“We know they might take it all out and might come back, we know it”, ensures.
“We just want the kids to know that we tried everything we might. I think that would be a great comfort to them.”
Kelly hopes that cSharing your experience can help others.
She hopes her story “will reach someone in the early stages of the disease and make them say, ‘I want more tests or I’d like to be referred to a specialist.'”
“We’re starting to talk regarding women’s health, menopause, periods,” she adds. “My hope is that this gets better.”
In a statement, the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in Wales said: “We are very sorry to hear regarding Ms Pendry’s experience and encourage her to contact her GP…so that her concerns can be investigated.”
The Clatterbridge Cancer Center in Birkenhead, Wales, where Kelly has been receiving her treatment for the disease, declined to comment.