Embarrassment About Killed Me

Fiona buried her head in the sand when she found a lump ‘down there’

- Emmie Harrison/Aniesa Mirreh

Fiona Bathgate, 28,

Glasgow

Undressing, I called to my partner Shawn, 28. ‘Just nipping in the shower!’ I shouted. Only, as I washed, I felt an odd lump. 

Down there.

It was pea-shaped, squishy.

Telling myself it was nothing, I tried to forget about it.

I was planning my wedding – I didn’t have time to worry!

But whenever I showered, I felt it. 

And it was getting harder. 

It wasn’t affecting my sex life, and I didn’t tell Shawn, as I thought it was nothing.

And I was too embarrassed to go to the doctors. I couldn’t bear the thought of them searching down there!

Only, after six months, enough was enough. Finally, I went to my GP, who referred me to the sexual health clinic. 

I was desperate to get rid of it.

‘It’s just a fatty lump,’ a doctor said. ‘You’ll need it removed, but it’s nothing to worry about.’ 

Phew! 

Three weeks later, I went in for the op.

I dropped my two boys Lloyd, 4, and Connor, 3, at my mum Toni’s.

‘I’m off for an eye appointment,’ I lied.

She needn’t be worried about a silly lump! 

At the hospital, I went under the knife. It was horrific. 

Suddenly, halfway through, they stopped. 

‘We need to let it heal,’ a doctor said. ‘The rest can be removed in a month.’

After, I was sore, but had my family to look after!

Only, the next week, in August 2015, we were at the cinema when I got a call.