A Cwmbran woman who has stage 3C1 cervical cancer is urging people to have a conversation about cervical screening (smear test).
Jackie Hamilton-Gray wants men to nudge their partners, women to bring it up among their female friends, and teenagers to ask their mums.
We know it’s easy to scroll and not read every word in a story- so you’re a woman and this is as far as you get, please do one thing: ring up your GP now and check if you’re overdue for a smear.
This interview began with something I’ve never had anyone say to me before. Jackie said I could share as much detail of her story as possible, whatever I think will have the most impact.
Anything she said was on the record, regardless of its personal nature.
Jackie, who lives in Pontnewydd, has recently been told that her treatment will start after doing what she jokingly called “hospital bingo” around Gwent and Cardiff, having tests and scans.
She told Cwmbran Life: “The care I’ve had has been like private care. Every single person I’ve come into contact with, nurses, radiotherapists, auxiliary staff, anaesthetists. The care and the way these people do their job is exemplary. I’m in awe of them and what they do every day.”
‘Bit of a tummy ache’
Stomach cramps and a “bit of a tummy ache” that continued every day without a break, along with irregular bleeding, led to her booking a check-up three months ago.
She was taking Mounjaro (totally unconnected with her cancer diagnosis) and wasn’t sure if her symptoms were a side effect of the weight-loss injections.
“That’s just normal for us [women having periods]. I wasn’t doubled over in pain.”
They planned to do a smear and a “tummy check” during the same appointment.
But the nurse couldn’t reach her cervix to take a sample. Jackie said it like a doughnut, and the “hole in the middle had closed up.
Another failed test led to her being told she’d have to go under general anaesthetic. The NHS marked her as “urgent”.
MRI and PET scan
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of trips to hospitals for things including radiotherapy, an MRI, a PET scan [where a small amount of radiation is first put inside your body], a biopsy, X-rays, and blood tests.
The 44-year-old said: “I had a call from the nurse. You get three keyworker nurses, so you can always get hold of one. She said she had the result. It’s a 4cm tumour and went into the wall of the cervix. So instead of stage 2, it’s stage 3. The cancer has reached the walls of my cervix, and three lymph nodes in my abdomen are also affected.”
The team at Velindre Cancer Centre has given her the timetable of treatment coming up, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Jackie said: “They think it’s curative and they can get rid of it. They can’t guarantee but I’m confident by what they’re saying.”
She admitted that she’s missed her last few smear appointments, saying: “I wasn’t avoiding it. I just didn’t make the time. If I was actively avoiding it, it would be a different conversation. Too many women don’t prioritise their own health. We push through. We’re busy. We tell ourselves, ‘It’s probably nothing.’ And tragically, sometimes it’s not nothing.
Take advantage of these checks
She wants to allay women’s worries about “hairy legs” and other private issues that lead some women to avoiding the test.
She added: “They [nurses] don’t care [about what you look like]. We have these checks in place in our health service, if we take advantage of them.
I told Jackie that I knew my wife wasn’t overdue for a smear as we were in a local pub a year or two ago, and she pointed at a woman standing by the bar, saying that she was the nurse who did her last test. Hi Amanda 👋🏻😊
This is Jackie’s point, that we can all have conversations with our female friends and family, just to make sure these vital tests every few years aren’t being missed.
Jackie’s message at the end of the interview is the same as at the start. Please get in touch with your GP and make sure you’re not overdue for a smear.
“If you are worried about a smear, trust me, this is worse, more invasive, and more medical examinations,” she said.