Scots nurse's cervical cancer grew to 'size of a lime' after diagnosis delay

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Scots nurse is grieving the loss of her fertility at the age of 28 after she claims she had to fight to convince doctors something was wrong before her cervical cancer diagnosis.

Lauren McNulty is currently receiving treatment for Stage 3C cervical cancer and has demanded for a formal investigation into her care to be opened after begging medics for two years to investigate her symptoms.

The nurse, who works within the surgical department at University Hospital Monklands, is currently undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy after her tumour grew to the size of a lime, 5cm, while she waited for a diagnosis and treatment.

Lauren first had an abnormal smear test result in 2019 and was referred for cold coagulation treatment which destroyed the abnormal cells with a heated probe.Towards the end of 2019 she began to experience heavy, irregular and abnormal bleeding as well as pelvic pain and stomach cramps outwith her menstrual cycle.Lauren also suffered from pain and bleeding after intercourse.She attended her local GP surgery in Cumbernauld and was referred to gynaecology for a laparoscopy to detect endometriosis or PCOS but nothing was found.Over the following months her pain became worse and she began to suffer excruciating headaches.In October 2020 Lauren claims she had to fight for another smear test - which then detected abnormal changes.She alleges she suffered a 'horrendous year of fighting' with her GP into 2021 as none of her symptoms she had been continuing to suffer were resolved.Lauren claims her GP told her she had Irritable Bowel Syndrome and then went on to treat her for recurring pelvic infections but did not investigate her symptoms further.In January 2022 Lauren attended A&E in Glasgow twice with heavy