“I was around 23 years old and had three out of the four main symptoms of cervical cancer – pain during sex, irregular discharge and lower back pain. The only one I didn’t have was irregular bleeding, which is why I think my other symptoms were ignored. I went for numerous doctors’ appointments but was told my symptoms could have been down to having an STI. At the time I was in a long-term relationship, and I’m still with him now, 13 years on!
“I ended up just ignoring it and going travelling – I thought everything was fine. When I got back home to the UK, I’d just turned 25 years old, so I was the legal age to have my first smear test. The results came back inconclusive so I went back just before Christmas to have a second one, which came back as showing abnormal cells.
“In March 2015 I had a colposcopy and a biopsy of my cervix. Within a couple of days I was called into my local hospital to discuss the results. This is when I was told I had cervical cancer.”
Surgery and psychological support at The Royal Marsden
“When I was told I needed to have surgery, I think I just shut off, I was in utter shock the whole time. They told me that after the surgery, I might have difficulty carrying a child as they were removing most of my cervix. I knew I wanted children, so this was more upsetting to me than the cancer diagnosis itself.
“In June 2015, I had the operation at The Royal Marsden to remove the cancer. It was caught very early and I was very lucky."
“Since I first came to The Royal Marsden, I’ve been under the care of Ms Marielle Nobbenhuis, who is a is a gynaecological oncology surgeon – she did my surgery. During the surgery she also had to remove some lymph nodes from my stomach, which triggered the large nerve which runs down to my leg. Even now I still have to take pain relief every night for my legs. I think I’m used to the pain now and I always tell myself how lucky and grateful I am that I had a positive outcome with the cancer being removed."
“After the surgery, I was told I’d remain under The Royal Marsden’s care for the next five years for monitoring. I had very regular check-ups initially which, as the results remained clear, then moved to every six months. At my four-year check-up, the MRI scan came back clear, so my monitoring moved again to yearly.
"During this time I also benefitted from seeing a counsellor in the Psychological Support team, which is funded by The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. The team supported both me and my husband (who was my fiancé at the time). I think it really helped him understand, from a gynaecological perspective, what I’d actually gone through. He understood – pen to paper – what had happened, but actually listening to me and the counsellor in that forum gave him a bit more perspective to the depth of my experiences and what I’d dealt with. I was so thankful for that service."
Vikki's miracle baby, Florence
“In 2017 I had my daughter Florence. I was at high risk of losing my baby up until I was 28 weeks pregnant, so I didn’t enjoy my pregnancy at all, I was so worried. What blew my mind was that I was able to even get pregnant in the first place and also that my cancer surgery date was 12 June 2015 and my due date for my daughter was 12 June 2017! When I was told my due date, I thought this must be a positive sign – she was my miracle baby. I was able to have a normal, natural labour and everything was fine and I felt so lucky.”
Five-year scan results
“Unfortunately, at my five-year scan, I was called back to the hospital as they’d found something suspicious. I kept thinking if it was something really bad this time, my daughter would be at risk of losing her mum. I cried so much this time round. I had so many MRIs, swabs and smears as the suspicious mass was really hidden in my cervix and difficult to get to for tests. I was told that they were going to do a watch and wait and I continued to have three-monthly scans. By that point, a second mass had appeared on my cervix.
“In March 2021, I had surgery again to remove both the growths on my cervix. Thankfully this time the growths weren’t cancerous. I was mentally exhausted by this point and asked to have a hysterectomy as a preventative measure for the future.”
“It’s amazing how different things can be with a robot. I was up on my feet within a week, there was hardly any pain at all.”
A robotic hysterectomy: “It was mindblowing!”
“In October 2021, I had a hysterectomy at The Royal Marsden which was done robotically. When I walked into the theatre and saw the robot – it was mindblowing! After my March operation to remove the two growths on my cervix, I was in absolute agony. However, when I had the robotic surgery done for my hysterectomy – I was up on my feet within a week, there was hardly any pain post-surgery at all. It’s amazing how different things can be with a robot – how delicate this surgery was. I was blown away by how quickly I recovered from that surgery.
“My recent MRI scans remain clear, which is amazing.”
Taking part in Jog 40 Miles in January
I decided to take part in the Jog 40 Miles in January to raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity – to do something for the hospital that has done so much for me.
“It was really cold running in January! But I had a goal and could see people physically donating to my fundraising page which kept me motivated.
Vikki has also signed up signed up for her first ever half marathon, London Landmarks, to mark 10 years of being under the care of The Royal Marsden: “The Royal Marsden have been such a huge part of my life. Now I want to help them in any way I can – by sharing my story, and supporting the Charity with fundraising. I really want to raise awareness of cervical cancer by encouraging others to get checked out.”
Feeling inspired?
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