My quest to raise awareness of cervical screening continues.

On August 16th 2020 I challenged myself to run a marathon by myself, no crowd, no entertainment, for Jo's Trust. I found out I was aneamic two days before the run, I'd kept getting poorly during my training. It was tough and I couldn't have done it without my friends and family.

• I will also be doing a Via Ferrata at BF Adventure on 12th May 2021 - eeeek! In my Cervix Pants of course.
• I will be walking 220000 steps in June to mark the 220000 people with a cervix who are told every year they have Cervical Cell Changes.
• I have fallen out of love with running but will be doing the Great South Run in October 2021.

• I am looking for other challenges that I can wear my Cervix Pants on. Any suggestions?

Early in summer 2019 I went to the GP about painful periods and abnormal bleeding. After various appointments and tests it was discovered I had abnormal cells in my cervix. This resulted in having to have a colposcopy and later a LLETZ, a very intimate and unpleasant experience to remove them.

Around this, conversations around fertility, difficulties with future pregnancies, possibility of needing a hysterectomy and the chances of anything developing into cancer were had. This added anxiety to my existing doubts around fertility issues. Everything was very unknown.

There was an 8 week wait for results with a 6 week recovery period with no real exercise or swimming allowed other than gentle walks. My main coping strategies taken away from me, and in the Summer too!

I found support on Jo's online forum, a safe space to connect with people in similar situations and at various stages of cell changes and cervical cancer treatments. I chose not to tell family what was going on as everything was unknown until the results came back. So other than the few people I chose to tell, noone knew. This was my choice and was what I wanted.

In 2020, I had planned to do various running events and a solo hike and wild camp around the Isle of Man to raise funds for Jo's. Needless to say I everything was cancelled or postponed.

Like many charities, Jo's has felt the impact of Covid19, losing out on funding opportunities when their support is needed most by those affected by cell changes or cervical cancer. 

I am happy to share my story if you are going through similar. If you are worried about cervical screening (smear tests) you are not alone. You can take a friend, wear a skirt and ask for a female to do it.