Amy Heatman, a 17-year-old teen from Liverpool, began experiencing intense stomach pains and decided to go to her doctor for medical help. At her appointment, however, her doctor simply brushed her off, claiming these pains were simply related to her period.
The pain, however, persisted, and Heatman spent the next three weeks going back and forth with her doctors. When heavy bleeding gradually started accompanying these pains, Heatman’s mother stepped in and demanded her daughter receive a referral to a more specialized doctor.
It was with this doctor that Heatman was finally able to have an ultrasound completed, revealing that she had a large, orange-sized tumor on her cervix. Heatman was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
By this point, the doctors could see no other possibility of treating this tumor aside from having it surgically removed. Heatman would have to undergo a full hysterectomy (have her entire uterus removed), and then follow up with chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment.
When Heatman received the news, she was heartbroken. For years, she’d known that she wanted to have children. She'd even been working as a nurse at a nursery so she could work with children each day. “I love children,” she admitted, “…it’s so lovely working with [children] every day.”
But Heatman had no choice. She underwent the prescribed surgery and treatment, and is now speaking out about her own experiences to raise awareness of cervical cancer in women under 25. She hopes that other women, after hearing about her story, will be more cognizant of this danger and get themselves tested regularly.
“I never imagined I would be facing cancer as a teenager but I’m proud that I made it through treatment,” Heatman said. It’s “incredibly important because if you find out you have cancer sooner, it can help with treatment and significantly increase chances of survival.”
