Alexandra Hodson, 28, died in August 2020, two years after being first diagnosed with cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is the most common form of the disease in women under 34, with around 850 deaths per year in the UK.
Nicola Hodson, 37, and Alexandra’s older sister, spoke about her brother’s experience.
She wants to encourage people to take smear tests when invited after Alexandra died last year.
She said, “Don’t ignore the symptoms.
“And if you don’t ignore the symptoms and go to your GP and see a nurse or a doctor, push, push, push.”
Alexandra was treated at Clatterbridge Hospital before her death, along with her family who fundraise for immunotherapy.
Speaking to Lancashire Live, Nicola said Alexandra had spoken “over and over again” to doctors about her symptoms, but had not received the right treatment.
She told the outlet that her sister “had been told it might be normal because of the contraception she was taking.”
Nicola added: “It turned out that all this time he was there and growing.”
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In a call to action for women with symptoms of cervical cancer, Nicola went on to stress that people should “push for a smear”.
She said, “If you don’t get the right answer to the operation, see another nurse, see another doctor.
“If you have the symptoms, you have to, must, must push for a smear.
“It makes me really, really angry and sad because she knew she had it.
“When she passed the flyer for her first showing and saw the list of things, she said she knew because she had them all.”
DO NOT MISS
According to Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, one in three young women invited to their first cervical screening do not respond to this invitation.
They commissioned a survey from Censuswide between October 27 and November 3, 2016, among 3,002 women aged 25 to 29.
The survey found that 26.7 percent of women feel “too embarrassed to attend cervical screening,” and 70 percent “don’t think cervical screenings reduce the burden. risk of cervical cancer in a woman ”.
He also found that 51 percent of women surveyed “said they delayed or did not attend screening.”
Nicola also admitted that she postponed her own smear test this summer because she was nervous about her results on the anniversary of her sister’s death from the ‘cruel illness’.
She told Lancashire Live: “It’s the thought of, ‘Oh what if something comes up? What if I have to take more tests? ‘.
“And I think because it coincided with the anniversary, it was just a little too …
“In the end, it might save your life. And for a minute. It’s really not a long thing to do at all.
“And there really is no need to be embarrassed. I mean, they see a lot and do a lot every day. “
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This notice was published: 2021-09-07 14:34:17
