Jessica Dempsey was diagnosed with stage four cervical cancer
A woman who was told she was three-months' pregnant was horrified when doctors informed she was actually suffering from advanced cervical cancer.
Jessica Dempsey, 28, from Liverpool, said she visited doctors 10 times with agonising lower back pain and blood clots but claims medics dismissed her symptoms as heavy periods.
She was eventually diagnosed with stage four cervical cancer and has undergone months of gruelling treatment.
But the tumour has not gone and she has been told she will need to continue her treatment for the rest of her life.
Now she is using her story to encourage other people to go for regular smear tests, with a Facebook post that has been shared more than 6,500 times since Thursday.
Miss Dempsey said she started suffering from the pains in late 2014 but spent six months seeing different doctors at her local surgery, walk-in centre and Accident and Emergency.
She claims one doctor told her she was three months pregnant while others diagnosed period pain, water infections and kidney infections and sent her away with antibiotics.
Miss Dempsey said it was only when she was examined by a different GP in January last year, they immediately sent her for a blood transfusion.
She was rushed to Liverpool Women's Hospital, where she was diagnosed with stage four cervical cancer.
Since then, she has undergone radiotherapy and chemotherapy but it has failed to shrink the tumour.
'I knew something was wrong and that it was more serious than what they had said and I wish I'd stood my ground,' she said.
'When I got my diagnosis my world was turned upside down, it was such a massive shock but I was relieved to finally have an answer.
'My treatment started so quickly that there was no chance of me having children.
'I don't want other people to have to go through everything that I have so I thought if my post saves one person I'll be happy.'
She has had months of radiotherapy and chemotherapy but doctors have so far been unable to destroy the tumour
Miss Dempsey has now shared her experiences on Facebook in the hope of encouraging women to regularly go for smear tests
Miss Dempsey has had five weeks of daily radiotherapy, 11 sessions of weekly chemotherapy and three doses of an advanced cancer treatment called Brachytherapy.
She has undergone seven blood transfusions, which has also led to her calling for more people to donate blood.
Miss Dempsey said she has received messages from people all over the UK who have gone to the doctors to be checked out after reading her story.
'I wrote the post to raise awareness for cervical cancer and to encourage people to get checked out, and not get misdiagnosed by doctors,' she said.
'The response to the post has been absolutely amazing, I never expected it to be shared so many times and I'm so grateful to everyone for spreading the word.
Miss Demspey has lost her hair and been left unable to have children after the gruelling treatment
Her Facebook post warning others to get tested has been shared more than 6,500 times since Thursday
'It took me six months to get a diagnosis which is awful, I'd given up hope by then and only went to see my mum's GP to get some more painkillers.
'It was so frustrating not having an answer, I wanted to encourage people to get regular check ups and if they think something's wrong to push for an examination.
'I also just wanted to say that without people donating blood I wouldn't be here today, I want to encourage people to give blood because it really does save lives.'
A spokesman for NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group said: 'We would urge any Liverpool patient with a concern about their treatment to speak to the organisation concerned, or contact us as the local commissioner of health services, so that it can be fully investigated.'
WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF CERVICAL CANCER?
Cancer of the cervix - the neck of the womb - affects women of all ages, but is most common in those aged 30 to 45 years old.
The disease is largely preventable, with screening programmes where women have regular smear tests, detecting pre-cancerous cell, which indicate an increased risk of cancer if they remain untreated.
In the future the HPV vaccine will prevent most forms of cervical cancer, but until a time when all women have had the vaccination, screening will remain to play a vitally important role.
Cervical cancer affects women of all ages
As with all gynaecological cancers, the sooner cervical cancer is diagnosed, the better a woman's chances of survival.
Important early symptoms are:
Nearly all cervical cancers are caused by the common, sexually transmitted infection, the human papillomavirus (HPV).
Most women will have HPV at some point in their lives, though for most the virus clears up of its own accord.
But, where the virus doesn't go away, there is a risk of abnormal cells developing, which could morph into cancer over time.
To lessen the risk of developing the disease, experts recommend:
go for cervical screening when invited
have the HPV vaccine, if offered
if you smoke, try to quit
use a condom to reduce the risk of contracting HPV
Even if you have had the HPV vaccine and have a normal cervical smear result, it is vital you raise symptoms with a doctor.
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