The story of G. M., 54, teacher
Two years ago, I had just turned 52, years of periodic cancer screening at my gynaecologist’s office found its purpose. Unfortunately, the cancer smear showed positive. After another three months, a second check was carried out by means of a biopsy with the same result – high-grade dysplasia, CIN 3. Now it was a question of acting quickly, organizing an operation on the uterus and hoping that this would remove any precancerous or cancerous cells. Emotionally a huge stress…
I am all the more grateful to my gynaecologist that she identified the cervical cancer at a very early stage by means of regular check-ups and then initiated further treatment in a hospital.
In a joint process, we decided to have the uterus and ovaries removed. This was because I was already in the menopause anyway and did not want to and could not have any more children.
If a woman with the same findings as me is younger and still wants to have children, the decision to remove the entire uterus is of course much more difficult than with me.
After the operation, the laboratory examination of the removed uterus showed that the cancer had not spread and was therefore completely caught – what a relief after the long months of anxiety.
According to the BAG , 70 to 80% of women contract the HPV virus at some point in their lives. This means that almost every woman is affected. The HPV vaccination has been available since 2007. For me as a teenager in the 80s, vaccination was not yet available. I have now been lucky with the early detection of cancer, even though I have been going for cancer screening every year for 20 years. Young women today have the opportunity to be vaccinated against HPV so that the risk of cancer can be reduced.
That’s why I recommend that all young women – and men too – get vaccinated.