“They told me that my terminal cancer is heavy menstrual bleeding”

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 “profuse and prolonged periods” and “severe 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 have been previously diagnosed with the disease.

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. In Great Britain, they affect around 600 people every 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 get back to normal”. [después del embarazo]”.

The woman says she was advised to consider taking birth control pills or 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 possessed and I thought it was all in my mindI wondered if this was all stupid.”

But Kelly’s illness was debilitating.

“There were days when I doubled over in pain,” he says.

“I spent more days bleeding than not bleeding. I gained weight without explanation. My tummy was very, very swollen.”

“How can you bear it?”

In April 2020, the GP, who Kelly describes as a “hero”, agreed something was wrong after she felt a lump in her stomach.

“For the first time, someone confirmed something”, he says. “The doctor said, ‘how can you take it?’ I said, ‘I won’t take it.'”

In November 2020, Kelly was diagnosed with benign fibroids.

She was told that a hysterectomy was the best course of action, but the pandemic meant that her doctor’s appointments kept changing, and the operation 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 the doctor first mentioned the possibility of sarcoma, but the tumor was not diagnosed until November 2021 after a lung biopsy.

At this stage Kelly was told she had cancer was the fourth stage and the terminal.

“The nurse told me not to plan for Christmas,” she says.

Kelly claims her oncologist told her he would do anything to cure her cancer, even though it was incurable.

“He asked us what we wanted. and we told him the time. As long as humanly possible,” he says.

“Exhaustive” chemotherapy

“I said, ‘I can’t bear the thought of not being there for milestones. [de los niños]’ Silly things like first boyfriends, girlfriends, degrees.”

“At that point, I thought, I won’t even see them live 10 years.”

Six aggressive and “exhausting” cycles of chemotherapy bought Kelly more time.

Almost a year after the end of the treatment, she still has side effects from the hormone inhibitors, such as fatigue, hot flashes, pain.

But it says that “are nothing compared” to the pain which I had before.

However, the reality is that Kelly still has terminal stage four cancer.

“We had stability for a year,” he says, “but we know that can change, and very quickly.”

Kelly wants a hysterectomy but says that option – It 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, is now hoping to raise $60,000 to pay for the operation in the United States.

“There, surgery is treatment,” he says.

Kelly does not want to be critical of Britain’s “wonderful NHS” but believes it is “cut off from the pathways that seem available in other countries”.

Michael will soon embark on a 290km race to try and raise the necessary funds.

He notes that training for the fundraising mission is “cathartic.”

“I cried while running”

“If things shake me up … I start running and I feel better,” says Michael.

“It hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday,” he says. “I cried while running. I felt better afterwards.”

Kelly is realistic about what the future might hold, even with surgery.

“We know they could take everything out and It could come back, we know that.” provides.

“We just want the kids to know that we tried everything we could. I think that would bring them great comfort.”

Kelly hopes so sharing 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 want a referral to a specialist.'”

“We start talking about women’s health, menopause, menstruation,” he adds. “I hope this gets better.”

In a statement, the Betsi Cadwaladr University of Wales Health Board said: “We are very sorry to hear of Ms Pendry’s experience and encourage her to contact her GP… so that her concerns can be investigated.”

Clatterbridge Cancer Center in Birkenhead, Wales, where Kelly was treated for the disease, declined to comment.