Early detection is key

September has always had a special place in my heart. Not only is it my birth month, but it is also the start of spring in South Africa.

I am a winter person in my heart of hearts, but I adore the fresh beauty that comes with spring time. Nature is rebooted. Everything that lay dormant over the winter months wakes up. Crisp greenery and pretty flower buds start slowly taking over that which looked dead.

From this year, September carries another significant meaning as it is also gynecological cancer awareness month. I had in the past been vaguely aware of it, but I’m ashamed to say that I probably hadn’t given it as much conscious thought as it deserves until I became part of those statistics.

With cancer, and most other serious illnesses, early detection is so important. If it is caught early enough it can be treated timeously and destroyed to prevent it from spreading. In my case, we found it too late to save my reproductive system, but early enough that it hadn’t spread to other areas or organs.

I used to drag my feet about going to the lady doctor. I still find it incredibly awkward – even though I knew that for medical professionals it’s not. It was just one of those inconveniences where you think, I’ll just put it off since there won’t be anything wrong anyway.

And then I went to the doc for something else, we decided sporadically to do an exam and a pap… and it changed EVERYTHING…

According to all the doctors involved, my cancer case is one of the strangest since it is very rare for someone of my age to have this type: vaginal adenosarcoma.

Adenosarcoma makes up like 4% of vaginal cancer cases. Overall, vaginal cancer makes up a very small percentage of overall cancer cases. The odds of anyone getting it is super slim, and yet here I am.

So my honest advice, as someone who thought it would never happen, is this:

1. Listen to your body. The fatigue and out of the ordinary bleeding that I wrote off to stress was actually my body trying to warn me, for months, that something wasn’t right.

2. Go for those pap smears and/or physical exams, as well as those annual checkups. If you can’t do it for yourself, then do it for those that love you. Trust me, they would rather carry you through the treatments and recovery than lose you too soon.

3. Treat all medical professionals with respect and kindness. If you do your part, they can do their part so much easier. It is for our benefit that they do what they do. I was thankful to have been in the hands of some amazing doctors, sisters, nurses, and technicians along the way.

And as a footnote: if you are not 100% comfortable with a doctor or someone, don’t be afraid of getting a second opinion. It’s your life and your health, and it is important that you feel you can trust the person on the other end of the table/bed.

4. Also DO NOT let your internet browser become your doctor. It will freak you the heck out before you even know what is really going on.

We only have one life. Let’s do right by ourselves and the ones we love by going for those checkups, making sure we get those vitamins and some exercise. And also spread awareness that might save someone else.