“We go for our smear tests every three years like we are supposed to and then we will be fine, right?”
For 30-year-old mum-of-two Gemma Patten who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in May this year and forced to undergo life-saving surgery, regularly having pap-smears throughout her life didn’t mean she was immune from the disease.
Upon hearing the news, Patten underwent surgery to remove part of her cervix and her pelvic lymph nodes in one of the most rare cases of cervical cancer the UK has seen.
In fact, doctors at Patten’s London hospital Doctors said the cancer is so rare they only see one case every two years, and only about 20 people a year are diagnosed with this cancer in the UK.
Since both her diagnosis and the surgery, Patten has spent much of her recovery writing about her illness in a bid to raise awareness and encourage other women to check themselves out.
Via her own Facebook page, and another page she has set up as a means of addressing each stage of her recovery, Patten has drawn a legion of followers who are also now committed the cause.
In an interview with The Sun/Press Association, Patten said the surgery was a tough experience, but one she understood was necessary.
“It’s like a part of me has been taken away," she said.
“To not have that any more is strange, but I know I have to look at the positive side that it’s helped to save my life.”
More than that, Patten wrote on her Facebook page that nothing was harder than thinking about how her children would survive without her.
"The thought of not being there for them as they grew up absolutely killed me. I am their mother and they need me. They were my inspiration, they made me fight, they made me stronger," she wrote.
