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Rosie's still got her fighting spirit
A STUDENT nurse with a rare form of cervical cancer has received the devastating news that her chemotherapy has not been successful.
The Gazette revealed in January how Rosie Thompson, from South Shields, was told she had the disease after a routine check-up.
Her tumour has grown since the start of her treatment and now the 21-year-old, who has had to put her studies on hold, will have to undergo a course of radiotherapy.
When Rosie found out she had cancer, she started a campaign on Facebook – Rosie's Cancer Story, which has 2,775 members – to raise awareness of the disease among younger women and try to get the screening age lowered from 25.
She has been getting chemotherapy for the last sixth months and after the second of three courses her tumour had shrunk – making the final news harder to bear.
But despite that, Rosie is staying positive, and said: "Although the results are obviously not what I hoped, I was always prepared for this outcome.
"From the start, it was almost a certainty that I was going to have to have radiotherapy. The tumour had only shrunk a tiny bit before, anyway.
"The cancer hasn't spread, so that's good news."
But before the radiotherapy starts, she will have surgery to prevent her body being triggered into an early menopause, and hopefully preserve her ovaries.
Rosie has had one thing to be cheerful about since her chemotherapy finished – her hair has started growing back.
She said: "There are some little fluffy bits sprouting up, which is great.
"It's only been just over a week since my last course of chemotherapy will have left my system. I didn't think it would happen this quickly."
Government health chiefs came under fire last year for refusing to lower the screening age for cervical cancer in England.
Smear tests are only available to women aged 25 and over in this country, but the rest of the UK offers the screening at the age of 20.
Calls were made for the age limit to be reduced after the death of Big Brother star Jade Goody, at 27, in March last year.
Campaigners say the inequality between the screening limits in England and the rest of the UK is "nonsensical".
The screening age was increased from 20 to 25 in 2003 because, on average, only 50 women under 25 are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year – but cervical screening is estimated to save about 4,500 lives a year.
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Weather for South Shields
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South
