'I mistook cancer signs for the menopause'

Dawn Willis, from Canterbury, mistook signs of womb cancer for the menopause

A Kent woman who mistook signs of cancer for the menopause is calling on others to get checked if they spot signs of ill-health.

Dawn Willis, from Canterbury, had been experiencing vaginal bleeding for about a year before her family advised her to contact her GP after her belly became swollen.

Little did she know, the bleeding was a symptom of cancer and she was later diagnosed with advanced womb cancer.

She said: "I'm so angry with myself for ignoring it. If I had waited even just a couple more months, I don't think I'd be here today."

Ms Willis said she was "angry" with herself for ignoring the bleeding

Ms Willis said she believed the bleeding was one of many changes her body was going through during the menopause.

"I'm always the first one to advise people to see a doctor, so I don't know why I left it for so long," she said.

"My advice to everyone is that if something isn't right, don't leave it. Visit your GP and get yourself checked out."

'Do not wait'

After a year of various treatments, Ms Willis is now cancer free.

She had a perforated bowel due to the radiation damage and now lives with a stoma, which she hopes will soon get reversed.

Ms Willis said she previously had a fear of hospitals, but the staff at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust changed that.

"After my diagnosis, all I could say to the staff was to keep me alive, do whatever it takes," she said.

"I love my life, so I wasn't ready to go anywhere. And the only thing I felt was safe and reassured that they were going to fix me."

She added: "Cancer wasn't going to beat me."

According to the NHS, the main symptoms of womb cancer include bleeding or spotting from the vagina after the menopause, heavy periods, vaginal bleeding between periods and a change in vaginal discharge.

Having these symptoms does not definitely mean you have womb cancer, but it is important to get the symptoms checked by a GP, the NHS says.

"Do not wait to contact a GP. This is because if they're caused by cancer, finding it early can mean it's easier to treat," a spokesperson said.

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