Wexford woman Nadia Dempsey is continuing her fight against extremely rare cancer. The 30 year old recently underwent hysterectomy surgery following abnormalities in cells found in her cervix.
Nadia spoke to South East Radio recently and explained her story “I have not missed any smears, the labs missed my tests. A similar situation happened a few years ago in Ireland and it was absolutely terrible. Thankfully I can still be treated. However this has happened in Thailand, the lab missed my test twice and it was caught in Ireland while getting an IUD inserted.”
Following her surgery Nadia explained what happens next “The hysterectomy was super scary. There is lymph node involvement and nerve involvement. Hopefully I can get some fertility treatment if my eggs are viable enough to freeze. ”
Nadia has a rare case of cervical cancer called small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. Less than 3% of women with cervical cancer have this type there’s lymph node involvement, nerve involvement. In a recent update she said “I have just been given news that I now require a longer treatment plan requiring radiotherapy.”
The journey ahead of Nadia may be long but her family and friends have been there every step along the way. Her sister Natalie has set up a go fund me to help pay for Nadia’s treatments which are not covered by insurance.
The go fund me page can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/nadia-dempsey-kicking-cancer
It’s unclear what the next few months for Nadia look like other than a month of radiation and scans. The price is also unclear as it depends on the results and where she will get the treatment.
Nadia is now speaking out about raising awareness for getting smears and being tested for HPV “Please, I urge all of you, family, friends, strangers, sisters to spread the word to get tested, ask for a HPV when getting a smear and getting an STI test.”
Nadia asked the doctor why was this not picked up sooner, had all smears, was not even due one and she said that 50% of Pap smears do not detect HPV which is the main cause. “Ask for a HPV when getting your smear some countries it’s routine some it’s not”
