My best friend dragged me for a joint smear test… and it saved my life
A SINGER who was scared of smear tests has thanked her best friend for saving her life - because she dragged her for a joint examination.
Marianne Nicholson, from Saintfield in Northern Ireland, had been putting off her routine test.
But when the 41-year-old began to bleed between her periods, her best friend Nicola Campbell, 33, took matters into her own hands and booked them both an appointment at a women’s clinic.
Marianne was diagnosed with cervical cancer as a result, but after a radical hysterectomy with lymph node removal she has now been given the all-clear.
“Nicola saved my life,” says Marianne, who sings with a band called The Bizz.
“If she hadn’t dragged me for that joint smear test I wouldn’t have caught the cancer in time and I’d have been a goner.
“Nicola wasn’t even due a smear herself, but she went ahead and had one anyway just so that we could do it together.”
The girls met three years ago when Marianne began working as a legal secretary at the same firm as Nicola - McKenna & Company Solicitors in Belfast.
They bonded immediately, calling each other “work wifey”, taking it in turns to make packed lunches and spending their breaks nattering about their partners and families.
“We told each other everything, so when I got a letter from my GP at the beginning of 2016, inviting me for a routine smear test, I was straight on the phone to Nicola,” explains Marianne.
“I hated smear tests, I’d developed a real phobia of them, but Nicola told me not to be so daft.”
But rather than taking her friend’s advice, Marianne pushed the letter to the back of her kitchen drawer and ignored it.
“They sent her a reminder a few months later but again she refused to go,” Nicola recalls. “I told her not to be so silly.”
Then, in autumn 2016, Marianne started to notice a bit of blood in her knickers. At first it was just a few spots, but as the months went on, it started happening more often.
When Marianne came out of the office loo and told her she was bleeding again, Nicola had had enough.
In May 2017, she booked herself and her pal in for a test - despite Nicola not being due for a smear for another year.
Knowing Marianne needed morale support, she found a women’s health clinic in Belfast open after work and arranged two appointments back-to-back.
In June, Nicola got a letter through the post telling her everything was fine. But when Marianne’s letter arrived a couple of days later, it was a very different story.
She’d been invited for a colposcopy at Belfast’s Ulster Hospital.
“This time there was no question of me backing out,” says Marianne. “I sensed something was wrong and knew I had to face up to it.”
The following week she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, after doctors found a grade 1 tumour of around 3cm to 4cm.
“I was inconsolable,” says Marianne.
“At that moment I really thought I was going to die. And all because I’d been too embarrassed to go for a simple smear.
“I was booked in for an MRI scan to check the cancer hadn’t spread, and thankfully the news was good. It was still contained to my cervix but I’d need a radical hysterectomy to remove it.
“I’d never wanted children, but being wheeled into theatre on September 7, it suddenly felt very final.”
Cervical cancer - a devastating disease with potentially tragic consequences...
Cervical cancer is defined as when the disease starts in the neck of the womb, otherwise known as the cervix, according to Cancer Research UK.
In 2014 there were 3,224 new cases - and 890 deaths, which means its the most common form of the disease in women under 35.
Generally, it's caused by persistent infections with the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is contracted through sex.
As noted on NHS Direct, there are no obvious symptoms during the early stages of cervical cancer.
However, vaginal bleeding can often be a tell-tale sign - especially if it occurs after sex, in between periods or after the menopause.
That said, abnormal bleeding is not a definite sign of the condition - just a possible indicator.
Nevertheless, it should be investigated by your GP as soon as possible.
Cervical screenings, or smear tests, are a preventative swab used to detect abnormal cells on the cervix – the entrance to the womb from the vagina.
Detecting these cells and then removing them can prevent cervical cancer. It’s not a test for cervical cancer itself.
Every woman over the age of 25 who has a GP is invited for screening – and it doesn’t matter if you’re sexually active or not.
It is possible for women of all ages to develop cervical cancer, but it’s extremely rare in women under 25.
Fortunately, the condition is almost completely preventable and can be forecast with regular smear tests.
The type of treatment depends on the stage and severity of each case, but there are several ways to treat cervical cancer.
Often, it's possible to have surgery without undergoing a hysterectomy (the removal of the womb) although this is a rather routine procedure.
Alternatively, radiotherapy is a common option for those with early stages of the disease.
The operation took six hours. Surgeons removed almost all her reproductive organs, leaving only her ovaries to prevent an early menopause.
“When I woke up all groggy and sore, the first thing I did was reach for my phone,” jokes Marianne.
“I had a huge backlog of WhatsApp messages from Nicola, desperate to know how I was. She’d even bought me a new pair of PJs to wear in hospital.
“I typed, ‘I’m alive!’ pulling a funny face and Snapchatting a photo of myself in my blue hospital gown.”
Four days later Marianne was allowed home, and Nicola dashed straight round for tea, sympathy, and to lend a hand with the nightly blood-thinning Clexane injections she’d been given.
Thankfully the cancer was caught before it had chance to spread, so Marianne didn’t need chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Nicola’s determination had saved her friend’s life.
“I’ve always gone for my smear test on time, ever since seeing what happened to Jade Goody,” explains Nicola.
“She was so young when she died, it was such a tragedy and it’s always stuck with me.
“When Marianne was putting off her smear test, I knew she just needed a little push in the right direction. After all, that’s what friends are for.”
Now Marianne is sharing her story to help other women.
“When that smear test letter arrives from your doctor, don’t be like me,” she says. “Don’t put it off or forget about it, just go.
“I sing in a band called The Bizz, we do weddings and functions. But this is a message I want to sing from the rooftops!”
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