Being born as a woman, is a blessing. We are the privileged ones who have the exceptional capability of producing and nurturing a life but this enhanced feature comes with its own set of complications. Periods, ovarian cysts, fibroids, cervix disorders, endometriosis and then the most dreaded CANCER!
On a regular visit to the gynaecologist for a seemingly minor problem, the doctor did an internal checkup for me. She saw some anomaly described as erosions on the cervix, prescribed some antibiotics and asked me to revisit her after five days. I did so and again on checking, she seemed uncomfortable. There was no improvement in the cervix so apart from taking a pap-smear sample, she suggested that I go for colposcopy.
Colposcopy is a procedure to find cell changes that might be cancerous. Even though my pap smear results were normal, the colposcopy test showed the presence of a considerable amount of abnormal cells. I was suggested to undergo two sessions of cryocautery. This is a therapy in which liquid nitrous oxide is used to freeze the abnormal cells. It is done once a month and then repeated after a month.
After two sessions, I drove down to the gynaecologist. It was a beautiful rainy evening and my favourite tracks played in the car. I chirped and sang along, happy, that finally my two month ordeal was to come to an end. When the doctor examined me, she shook her head. The look on her face was enough to send me into a tizzy....she said, "Ideally these two sessions of cryocautery should have healed your cervix, but this is not so in your case. I'll have to go for biopsy as I suspect cancer."
My perfectly happy life came to a sudden standstill. I somehow collected myself and rushed out of the clinic. Once I sat inside my car, floodgates opened and tears came rolling down my cheeks. I couldn't take in the word, Cancer!
One has to be strong at such times, so I pulled out of the parking lot and started driving home.
I laughed at the irony. Just about an hour ago, I was dancing and singing, happy tunes playing in my head and in just one hour, all sad melodies were clouding my mind.
Got home, spoke with my husband who was at sea (he's the captain of a ship). He too was extremely shaken but comforted me so beautifully that after his call, I knew I had to face whatever lay ahead.
The silver lining in this dark cloud was that I had been vaccinated against cervical cancer long ago. We both hoped for the vaccine to work its wonder.
Days passed, I visited several gynaecologists who saw my reports and confirmed that biopsy was definitely recommended. Few suggested that I should go for a hysterectomy as even if the cancer is not confirmed this time, the abnormal cells might become cancerous at any stage and I shouldn't risk my life. However, my trusted gynaecologist who knows me for a long time now, advised me against it, owing to my young age. (not young literally but still a minimum ten years to go for menopause) She warned me that even if the ovaries are left intact and only the uterus and cervix taken out, still the effects of menopause will start setting it and ruin my body.
Anyways, the biopsy was conducted and ten days passed before the result could come. These days seemed to be the longest in life. I started having sleepless nights and during whatever little sleep I managed, I had recurrent nightmares that the result was positive for cancer. When I woke up all sweaty with tension, I would assure myself that vaccines are after all not useless. I will definitely not have cancer.
The tenth day finally arrived. I made a call to the hospital and they sent me my report. With shivering hands, I opened the link and even though there was some indication of infection yet the line 'no evidence of any malignant lesion' gave me a big relief! YAY!!!! The cervical cancer vaccine had done its wonders! I was relieved beyond words.
The purpose of documenting this incident is to spread the message that CERVICAL CANCER can affect anyone. Those of you who are not yet 25 yrs old and those of you who have girls above age 9, should definitely go for this vaccine. It worked its magic for me and so would work for you. Alo please maintain menstrual hygiene. After all who wants their life to be invaded by the horrific C word?
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