Cervical cancer symptoms you should never ignore warns a survivor

Stomach pains are common during menstrual days from cramps to uncomfortable bloating, but for 46 year old Jenny Samuel they were something more serious cervical cancer.

Jenny was given a soda for her birthday and she thought that her stomach pains were coming from having too much fizzy water, she didn't go to the doctors straight away, she says that she also experienced spotting between periods which she thought was due to hormonal imbalance.

After Jenny's stomach pains got gradually worse, she went to see the GP who examined her and gave her a Pap smear test. The smear came back with an abnormal result, which led to further investigations.

After her Pap smear result had come out one of the gynaecologist put it down to endometriosis. Before going for further tests, in the meanwhile, they found out what it really was and it was cancer she says.

An MRI confirmed Jenny had cancer stage 3b meaning the cancer had spread from the cervix into the structures around it.

And she had only 50/50 chances of survival. As the tumour was really big and it was attached to her pelvic wall they couldn't operate on it.

Instead, she had chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which thankfully treated it.

Cervical screening saves thousands of lives each year.

Every year in the U.K, 3000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, yet over one in four women are still choosing to avoid their smear test.

Unfortunately, there aren't always obvious signs of cervical cancer in the early stages, and for many women an abnormal result from a routine smear is the first sign that something's off.