Stephanie

The year was 1987, and I was 15. I’d decided to live with my grandmother in SC while my mother relocated to Virginia. My mother mandated that if I was to remain in SC with my grandmother, I would start taking the pill. This was her way of keeping me out of the teenage pregnancy stats. After a year of taking the Pill, I decided to stop because I wasn’t having sex. My grandmother agreed, but insisted that I still visit the gynecologist for an annual pap smear since I was becoming a young woman.

Continuing to see the gynecologist saved my life. That next year, I had a pap smear done, and the results were abnormal. My doctor scheduled me for a colposcopy. This is a procedure where the gynecologist examines the cervix, takes cell samples and sends them to a lab for further testing.

When the doctor told me I had cancer, I thought I was going to die. I asked, “Why and how this could happen”. He gave me all sorts of “whys” -- family history, pills, sexually transmitted diseases, etc. To this day I still don’t know the real “why.” My doctor was just not that informative. He told me not to worry and be thankful that I’d found the problem at such an early stage. But he said CANCER. How could I not worry? He kept explaining the condition and told me that my cancer was stage 1. I had 6 abnormal cells on my cervix. He explained my options. He could either freeze or burn them off. At this point I didn’t know what he was talking about, but essentially, I could have either laser therapy or cryotherapy. Laser therapy uses heat to destroy abnormal cells and cryotherapy involves freezing abnormal cells. I stepped out of the examination room scared and confused.

My doctor introduced me to another patient, a woman in her early 30s. He asked me to talk to her about cervical cancer. She told me that my early detection was a blessing. She too had cervical cancer, and her cancer had spread to various organs in her body. I remember her saying “be not afraid of the procedures that you can have done now to save your life, but be afraid of NOT having those procedures done which could be detrimental to your life.”

The visit immediately after my results came back. A local anesthetic was injected into my cervix. On that day, a TEAM of about 5 of doctors came in, some were in training and just there to watch. I experienced mild cramps, but in only 9 minutes, my surgery was over and I was soon on my way home.

I have taken for granted that I have a “survival story”. But when I read Tamika’s story something rose up in me. What I have recently learned about cervical cancer - its cause and cures - have been eye openers. I honestly think God sent me Tamika’s story. She and I have a lot in common. We’re both from SC. We both attend the same church, and she and I are both members of the same sorority. Finally, like me, she is a cervical cancer survivor. Thanks to Tamika and her creation of Tamika & Friends, I can now proudly share my story.