Sunday 22 March 2009
Jade Goody
As tributes pour in for the late Jade Goody I stop for a moment to ponder on how this young woman's brave fight against cervical cancer has touched us all. Told four years ago that her symptoms were caused by stress she went about her daily life unaware she would be ravaged by this deadly cancer. As girls become sexually active before they reach their teens there is an urgent need for the Government to review the age at which cervical screening starts. To leave the first screening until 25 as at present is taking too big a chance. Jade has died at 27 leaving her 2 young sons and her husband and her family grieving. She need not have died so young.
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I think there is a bigger issue at play here. "Told four years ago that her symptoms were caused by stress"
ReplyDeleteWhen we know ourselves, when we know our bodies someone telling us "its just stress" is not acceptable and we look elsewhere. Passively accepting anyone - even a trained professional when you know within you something is wrong is what needs to be looked at.
I had a friend who did the same thing - despite knowing something was wrong she listened to a doctor. By the time she sought a second opinion she lost her womb and in her 20s knew she would never have children.
Doctors are human too and not always right. We need to be more assertive in getting our voice heard.
I feel for any child losing a parent at such a young age. I lost a friend of breast cancer when her daughter was 5 - she is nearly 11 now - and it is heartbreaking.