'Doctors told me I had six months to live - after years of negative tests'

A mum was told she had six months to live after being diagnosed with cervical cancer – despite years of negative smear tests.

Helen Swan, 54, suffered with symptoms such as weight loss, extreme fatigue and vaginal bleeding for two years, from 2017 to 2019.

Despite smear tests that check for cervical abnormalities coming back negative, Helen said her symptoms got "worse and worse" until a GP examination revealed tumours in her vagina.

Following a biopsy, Helen was diagnosed with a rare type of cervical cancer in November 2019.

Called endocervical adenocarcinoma, the cancer originates in the inner lining of the cervix and is not picked up on smear tests.

Helen was told the cancer was "locally advanced" with the "potential" of being curative, but following scans in November 2021 she was given the devastating news that 16 tumours were found in her lungs – and she was given six months to live.

Mum-of-three Helen, a former primary school teacher and artist, from Aberdeen, Scotland, said: "I was concerned I might have cervical cancer because I was bleeding so much.

"I have never had a positive smear test.

"The cancer I have was not picked up on the smears because it tests for cancerous cells on the outside of the cervix. My cancer originated on the inside of my cervix.

She added: "I was eventually diagnosed after I had gone to the GP and said I felt like I was dying because I was bleeding so much.

"They examined me and gave me a biopsy as well of what they could, but they said they struggled taking it because I was bleeding so much. The tumours were so vascular if they had cut into them, I would have bled a lot.

"The whole thing was really hard and traumatic."

Helen chose to look into alternative treatments like