Invisible cancers

Irregular bleeding, even when you’re approaching menopause, isn’t always normal, writes Marie Murray.

I have a hunch something is wrong. But the young doctor is dismissive and tells me that I am fine. I am in my mid-fifties and therefore my wonky periods are normal. I hear that word a lot: normal.It is only after a routine Pap smear cervical screen-ing that my concerns are taken seriously. Endometrial cancer is one of the five main gynae-cological cancers. Frankly, prior to my diagnosis, I was oblivious to all of them. Just 11 months previously, I had volunteered at the Breast Cancer Foundation’s pink ribbon street appeal. Women are urged to watch out for breast cancer. We all know someone with a breast cancer story. To this day, I have yet to meet another woman who has had endometrial cancer.

I received my diagnosis three years ago this month, but the experience remains seared into my brain.

A follow-up procedure discovers polyps. It’s such a sweet, soft-sounding word, yet abnormal growths of tissue are anything but sweet and soft. That my polyps shed atypical cells is what saves my life – although Pap smears are not meant to detect endometrial cancer, results can suggest an endometrial pathology.