Don't ignore symptoms, woman with womb cancer urges

Phillippa Hentsch said she overlooked symptoms she should have had checked out

A woman diagnosed with cancer said she had been so eager to have a baby she put unusual bleeding down to previous miscarriages.

Phillippa Hentsch discovered she had womb cancer as she and husband Matt, from Birmingham, tried for a baby in February 2023.

Mrs Hentsch, 36 at the time of her diagnosis, urged other people not to ignore any unusual symptoms or changes to their bodies.

She is now aiming to raise money for two charities who have helped her - gynaecological research supporter Eve Appeal and Peaches Womb Cancer Trust to raise awareness of the issues.

Phillippa Hentsch underwent chemo-radiation, and will now receive immunotherapy treatment

"The last thing you expect to get when you're trying for a baby is womb cancer. A womb is crucial to having children, so it was a blow," she said.

A full hysterectomy was carried out but doctors found the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes and back.

She has undergone chemo-radiation and will receive immunotherapy treatment for the next two to three years.

Tests also revealed she was living with lynch syndrome, a rare genetic condition which increases the risk of a number of cancers.

She urged other women to double check any unusual symptoms, and said there were signs she should have acted on.

"It's kind of any changes, if you've still got your period, to your period," she said.

"I started to get mid-cycle spotting which I'd never had before, and I started to have really heavy periods which, for me, wasn't normal."

Mrs Hentsch says being a mum is still a huge motivation for her

Being a mum is still on her mind whether that be through adoption or surrogacy.

"I think right now we’re just focusing on rebuilding our lives, me getting healthy and fit again," she said.

"Being a mum was a motivation through treatment, it still is a huge motivation of mine, and I guess we'll just have to see what happens in the future."

On 21 and 22 September, she and her husband will be joined by more than 40 friends and family in the Peak District, with the aim of collectively walking a total of 1,000km (621.3 miles) between them across the two days.

"Both of them have helped in very different ways," she said.