An Aberdeen woman is aiming to raise awareness of a rare cancer following the death of her mum.
Laura Christie’s mum, Isobel Florence, died on July 31 – just six months after being diagnosed with vulval cancer.
The 71-year-old had previously fought cancer on her adrenal gland, which led to the removal of four of her organs, and recovered from a hip replacement.
“She kept saying she knew there was something more wrong,” said Mrs Christie. “She opened up saying she was bleeding from down below and there was a small lump, which she was finding quite itchy.
“We went to A&E and they said it may be a result of her previous surgeries or a side effect of medication. She was sent home and the lump kept growing.
“We just had to keep pushing, we were never off the phone to the doctor.”
‘Wouldn’t wish it on anyone’
Just over 1,400 cases of vulval cancer are diagnosed in the UK each year, according to The Eve Appeal.
The majority of cases are in women over the age of 60, but the number of young people being diagnosed is increasing.
Mrs Florence was diagnosed in January after a gynaecologist referred her to the oncology department at the hospital.
The grandma-of-four started chemotherapy in late February but the following month was told the treatment was not working.
“The next thing they did was an operation, a partial vulvectomy,” Mrs Christie said. “She got through that and we honestly thought she was on the road to recovery.
“But, within five weeks it grew back, and we were told any other treatment would be futile. It was heartbreaking, I wouldn’t wish is on anybody.”
Mrs Christie, from Bucksburn, said her mum “lived life to the full” spending her weekends enjoying live music around Aberdeen and ballroom dancing with her late husband.
“She wasn’t ready to go, that’s for sure,” her daughter added. “And never moaned all throughout her illness, never once.
“She would just take whatever came her way and fight it. A warrior, that’s how I describe her.”
Listen to your body
Mrs Christie has now set up a Go Fund Me page to raise money for the Gynaecology Cancer Research Fund in memory of her mum.
Trading as The Eve Appeal, it is the only UK charity dedicated to funding research for the five gynaecological cancers – cervical, ovarian, vaginal, vulval and womb.
She said it was vital to her that the money went towards raising awareness of vulval cancer specifically.
“I don’t think enough people know that there is such a thing as vulval cancer,” she said. “I’d never heard of it until my mum had it, so I wouldn’t now what to be looking for.”
She hopes sharing her mum’s story will encourage more people to seek medical help if they think something is wrong.
“People are embarrassed, many put off going for their smear because nobody likes to get their bits out,” she said.
“I just stress that people get checked and, if they’re not being seen, to fight and push for it.
“Don’t just accept that it’s OK – you know your own body.”
Conversation