42-year-old mother details rare cervical cancer symptoms doctors ignored for years

In 2016, two years after the birth of her daughter, Kelly Pendry experienced pain and heavy bleeding during her period. She asked her doctor about it, and she was relieved — at first.

“I was told that it takes up to three years for your body to actually sort itself out after pregnancy.” it improves. And it wasn’t. ”

Over the years, her periods got worse and doctors thought she had fibroids. In 2021, further tests revealed she had stage 4 uterine leiomyosarcoma, a rare cancer of the smooth muscle of the uterus.

“I met a young doctor …[He]wouldn’t even tell me I had cancer at first. It was a word they seemed to refuse to use,” she said. “I was the one who had to say, ‘Do I have cancer?’ And he said, ‘Oh, yes.’

Heavy bleeding and pain associated with menstruation

By 2018, two years after symptoms began, Pendry had gotten worse.

“My periods themselves were actually very debilitating and were changing the course of my life. They were making family outings difficult. I was making things difficult to take for granted,” she says.

Bleeding was confusing. One day she was walking from her house to her children’s school which is less than 10 minutes away.

“Even though I changed my napkins before going to school, by the time I got back to school my feet were dripping with blood and my socks and shoes were in tatters,” she recalls.

Pendry visited her doctor, who suggested she upgrade her contraceptives and try an intrauterine device or a contraceptive implant. When she returned to the doctor because of her increased bleeding, her doctor suggested another solution to her: antidepressants.

“My life was really declining. I wasn’t[I wasn’t]the mother I wanted to be to my children… and I wasn’t the wife I wanted to be to my husband.” she says. .”

Her physical symptoms were affecting her emotions, she added: then she probably had no mental symptoms at all. “

In 2019, her doctor recommended seeing a specialist to better understand what was going on. However, her case was not considered urgent and many bookings were canceled. Ultimately she took her booking in March 2020.

“(Doctors) were like, ‘I’m not happy with this at all. I need a referral urgently,'” recalls Pendry. “He led me down that path of absolute urgency.”

Next she saw a gynecologist. The gynecologist believed Pendry had uterine fibroids. by Johns Hopkins Medicine.

“I was also told that because benign fibroids are so common, I might be making more symptoms than they’re really worth… …don’t worry,” she says. “They apparently don’t get cancer.”

Then the coronavirus lockdown began and Pendry did not see a doctor until December 2020. When she was examined, they suggested her a laparoscopic hysterectomy. Her uterine mass: A fibroid to cut the fibroids to facilitate their removal, or an injection to shrink the fibroids.

Pendry chose an injection over a hysterectomy because personal research found shredding to be “dangerous,” she says. She wanted a traditional hysterectomy with removal of fibroids, but her doctor told her it was “outdated.”

“I was feeling sick and so sick. I was so sick of this bleeding. I started having dizziness and headaches and was vomiting,” she says. was not taken seriously.”

The injection didn’t work and the symptoms got worse. In August 2021, she had her MRI, which she “had wanted for almost a year,” Pendry said. Shortly after, she learned that her uterine mass was cancer.

At first doctors said she was a good candidate for surgery. However, in September 2021, she learned that was not true.

“I actually told this nurse, ‘No, you have uterine sarcoma. You’re terminal. You’re stage 4. We won’t give you treatment.’ He turned to me and said, ‘Don’t make plans with the kids for Christmas.

uterine leiomyosarcoma

Uterine leiomyosarcoma grows in a muscle of the uterus called the myometrium. American Cancer Society“Uterine sarcoma is rare,” the organization says. Uterine leiomyosarcoma can be progressive and grow rapidly.

“Three-quarters[of our members]thought they had a benign fibroid in their uterus that turned out to be a leiomyosarcoma,” says Sharon Anderson. Leiomyosarcoma Support & Direct Research Foundation, tells TODAY.com. “They went through years of sometimes heavy bleeding and cramping before they had a hysterectomy, and then found out they had LMS.”

Anderson is a 21-year survivor of stage 4 uterine leiomyosarcoma.

“I’m abnormal,” she says.

In January 2002, Anderson learned she had uterine leiomyosarcoma after having a hysterectomy, which was “believed to be a benign fibroid.”

“It went straight to my lungs within a year, had surgery, went to lymph nodes in my chest, and had surgery again,” she says.

At that time, Ms. Anderson could find little information about her cancer, so she started the organization. She then had her hunch about her own tumor, which led to part of her treatment.

“I asked my doctor to test the tumor tissue for estrogen receptors, just like breast cancer, because I thought, ‘If breast cancer is estrogen-sensitive, why not the uterus?'” she says. “There were no studies on estrogen receptors in leiomyosarcoma. We had our ovaries removed and were put on breast cancer drugs, aromatase inhibitors that block estrogen.”

Since then, Anderson has been tumor-free and has not needed treatment for 17 years. It’s not a standard method, she says.

“There’s not a lot of research,” she adds. “My doctor said, ‘Of course I’ll try. It’s not very treatable, so you don’t have anything else.

Anderson and her group advocate against shredding fibroids if they are leiomyosarcoma because the cancer spreads, she says. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists ( ACOG) is March 2021 Committee Opinion:

“Before considering uterine resection, women should be evaluated to determine if they are at increased risk for uterine corpus malignancy. Removal of malignant tumors is contraindicated.”

The Leiomyosarcoma Support and Direct Research Foundation funds a variety of researchers investigating cancer. Anderson appreciates being able to help others.

“People who have never heard of this get diagnosed and somehow find our support groups and are overwhelmed,” she says. “They are crying with relief that they have information as well as finding someone else.”

Living with stage 4 cancer

Immediately after the diagnosis, Pendry felt as if he was being “sent home to die.”

“I have two children, ages 7 and 9. I can’t stop crying watching them. (I) have been in a wonderful marriage for 10 years,” she says. “I was sitting there thinking this wasn’t true.”

Her friend advised her to get a second opinion from a sarcoma specialist. (Anderson also recommends that people with uterine leiomyosarcoma see a sarcoma specialist.) Doctors said it was “incurable,” but “it’s not completely incurable.” recalls Pendry.

In October 2021, she had six rounds of chemotherapy, ending in February 2022.

“At that point, I was convinced that if[the tumor’s size]was reasonably stable, we might consider surgery to remove the primary tumor, even if no further shrinkage was achieved.” She says. But Pendry is still having trouble finding someone to play it in the UK.

She also hopes to have her uterus and ovaries removed in an open incision to cut off the estrogen supply to the cancer, but was unable to schedule this procedure.

Since April of last year, Pendry has taken hormone inhibitors to stop estrogen production. This gave her some stability and time to enjoy her life.

“I was able to get on with my life,” she says. “I still walk to and from school. Her husband and I climbed Snowden not too long ago, so I’m still living a fit and healthy lifestyle.”

Concerns about her prognosis remain. Pendry sometimes wonders if doctors misunderstand how serious her cancer is, and thinks that’s why no one does the surgery. I want to go to the United States for Since connecting with Anderson’s nonprofit, Pendry said he has met many people with stage 4 uterine leiomyosarcoma who are “thriving” thanks to her surgery. increase.

She’s keeping people updated as Pendry and her husband try to raise money for treatment. her facebook page.

“We can bring this cancer awareness to other women because when the cancer is caught in the very early stages, there are more shots. Survived this from stage 4 There are women out there and I really want to be one of them,” she says. “I wish I had someone to save my life.”