Here is my story! September 2017 where it all began.....26 years old, enjoying life, new career, going on holidays, nights out with the girls, family get togethers and I had finally found the love of my life- life is great!...... Wait! So as a new romance had blossomed we do one of the most normal things that couples do and buy a new bed- Nice new kingsize bed with a memory foam mattress...Great! (Memory foam is alot better than spring mattresses apparently) Bit uncomfortable to start with but it's new so will take a few weeks to adjust to it of course...so as the weeks go by I'm starting to get backache which doesn't seem to be improving which I put down to the new mattress and brush it off everytime mother asks if I'm OK. "Yea yea im fine it's the new bed, my bodies still adjusting to it" so weeks go by and I notice iv started spotting (for you men out there, or anyone unaware this is spots of blood from the lady parts) which again I brush off as ya do. We go away to Blackpool, we go on holiday to Wales and the spotting seems to be getting heavier and heavier to the point where what feels like I'm on a constant period. I'm popping painkillers like they are going out of fashion. So mother dearest as our dear mums do suggests I go to doctors. Reluctant too because I hate going doctors she persuades me to go. The doctor asks my symptoms and then asks if I have had a smear test yet. To which I reply no...I had a letter through the post but haven't got round to sorting it yet. (As you do...stuck on the fridge for months) so he advises me to book in for my smear test. Which we do! That's when it all starts....so the test comes back with abnormal results. So I get quickly referred to the hospital to a gynecologist to have further tests. I then have to have a LEEP procedure which basically takes cells from the cervix to test for cancerous cells. And 3 punch biopsys. Still popping painkillers at this point and what feels like my 100th day of being on a period. I get a letter come through for an appointment to discuss my results from my LEEP procedure and biopsies. (Nervous so mother comes with me) waiting anxiously in the waiting room at the hospital all sorts going through my mind. I get called in and with mum sat next too me I get told them dreaded words nobody ever wants to hear. You have cancer! I cant even start to explain even now today that feeling that overwhelming shock that hasn't quite sunk in properly that iv just been told I have the big C! Emotions flying everywhere the doctor tells me it's a rare form of cancer that we haven't ever seen before and we will have to refer you to derby hospital to be seen by more advanced doctors. So I am referred to derby hospital and told I am the first patient in derby hospital to have this form of cancer and it will be the 1st time they will be treating it. So for those curious to the name of the rarity it's name was stage 2b "Basal cell carcinoma" of the cervix. So derby is where the fun starts...MRI scans, CT scans, biopsies, loop excisions, appointments after appointments of discussions of treatments and procedures, different drugs and medicines and every painkiller under the sun being prescribed. I was given the option to have my eggs frozen but the risk of the incision to do that disturbing my cancer tumor and affecting the eggs was far greater risk so it could all be for nothing. So I took the tough decision to not go through with it and faced the hard reality of never being able to have children. Which until you have that choice taken away from you through no choice of your own is a hard pill to swallow. So we had a plan in place finally...First things first a LLETZ sigmoidoscopy where I would be put to sleep. Funnily enough when I came back round onto the ward my 1st words were...wheres the vodka?! Anyone would think I liked a cheeky vodka Lemonade and lime :) so we started to recover and get through that procedure when we hit another problem...where the incision was made, it had decided to tear and cause a huge bleed. So an ambulance was called and I was rushed to a&e where I was then rushed to a ward and was given gas and air and had to be packed (without going into too much detail- a vaginal pack to stem the bleeding) hooked up to IVs I was finally allowed home after a couple of days with another lot of weird and wonderful drugs to my already huge collection of pills. So we finally recover and then the treatment starts so my cancer treatment itself consisted of 5 chemotherapy 25 radiotherapy and 2 bracytherapy. So now I was faced with the hardest 5 weeks of my life. I was not prepared with what was to come. The days and hours spent hooked up to monitors and having drugs pumped through me day in day out, the sickness, the pain, the tiredness, the loss of appetite- living off friji milkshakes for weeks on end. And all I would be able to eat is cup a soups which tasted like ass because I had no taste buds. I would fall asleep sat up talking to someone and be awake all night while the house was silent and everyone else was asleep. The constant blood tests and cannulas being stabbed in me left right and centre (for anyone that knows me- getting blood out of me is like getting blood out of a stone) so Gemma the pin cushion nick name has kinda stuck to this day. The steroids that blew me up like a balloon, radiotherapy having to drink a certain amount of water for the therapy to happen doesn't sound stressful but my god it had to be perfect- 1 sip too little or too much and it was game over- no radiotherapy that day and would have to try again the next day. Lay on that table waiting for the lasers to line up with my 4 little blue dots on my pelvis to be able to administer the radiaton. I do count my lucky stars though that the treatment I had didn't make my hair fall out but just made it thin so for that as a female I am grateful. So finally after 4 weeks we had somehow made it though the chemo and radio. Next up was bracytherapy. Now I had never heard of bracytherapy and wish I never googled what was to come. So for 2 days solid I had to be lay on my back with rods inside me while direct radiation was blasted up to the tumour directly. With this became risks which I was asked at the time...would I rather have a higher dose and it potentially affect my bladder and bowel in the future or have less of a dose and it might not kill the tumour. So I opted to kill that tumour and suffer the consequences after. And honestly I cannot even start to describe the pain...my parents and partner could hear my screams in the waiting room on the ward. Honestly the worst pain I have felt in my life. How I made it through I still don't know. So I was finally wheeled to the ward after what felt like forever with no painkillers and still lay on my back not able to move for another 48 hours. Finally it was over I could go home and rest! Recovery was a battle in itself. The side effects you experience and life changing effects that too this day 3 years later I still suffer. I went through menopause at 27 years old and at 30 years old now I am just coming out the other side. I cant hold my bladder or my bowels. I experience hip pain where the tumour was. My joints are weak. I dont have the energy like I used too. So many side effects I now live with on a daily basis but I am so lucky to be alive and so grateful for the derby royal hospital for their support and work they do. And of course the support of my family and friends, in particular my mum & dad and my partner Mick for standing by my side. This isn't a sob story, this is my story, a story I am proud of and I story I want to share to all you ladies out there. It has taken me a long time to come to terms with what I have been through and it has taken alot of courage to share my whole story publicly. But when i look back on it all and what I have been through and the journey I have took. Facing the unknown, not knowing what the future would hold. I knew i had to share my story. The kind of person I am, my story may come across to you all like I dealt with it well but that is me as a person, I put on a front, I make a laugh and a joke about things, but deep down I still struggle and I still have my bad days but I soilder through and wake up happy that I'm alive another day. I paint that smile on my face and i am thankful to be where I am today. To all you dads, mums, partners and family and friends out there this to remind all your lovley ladies in your lives to go get a smear test. Dont do a me and leave it on the fridge and keep saying "I'll sort it when I get round too it" A smear takes 5 minutes and is not painful- it can save your life! And too anybody who has been on a similar journey or to those who we have lost this is for you. And to willow foundation for their amazing hard work and creating those special moments for incredibley ill people to experience a normal day just for 1 day throughout a whirlwind of treatment. I am thankful. So please please donate to willow foundation and follow myself, Mick, Joe and Phil on our skydive adventure (few years behind schedule due to my side effects) falling from the sky 14,000ft on the 16th October 2021 at Peterborough airfield to raise essential funding so other people can experience a little bit of normal when you feel far from Normal during the hardest battle of your life. Thankyou!