KELLY Pendry began experiencing heavy periods and pain in 2016.
But it wasn’t until 2021 that she was diagnosed with a rare and an aggressive form of uterine cancer, after her symptoms were dismissed by doctors.
WNSA brave mum-of-two whose cancer was mistaken for heavy periods has died at the age of 42[/caption]
GofundmeKelly Pendry fought to save other women from misdiagnosis after initially being told bleeding and tummy pain was a result of her periods returning following pregnancy[/caption]
WNSHer husband Michael said Kelly fought till the very end[/caption]
The mum, 42, from Ewloe, Flintshire, succumbed to the disease on December 3, her husband shared in Facebook post.
He described Kelly as an “amazing and beautiful wife” who “fought to the very end”.
“Her spirit and strength was incredible as always,” Michael added.
Kelly’s first symptoms included “heavy, prolonged periods” and “a lot of pain”.
But when the mum-of-two spoke to her doctor about them in 2016, she was that “your body does take a while to normalise [after pregnancy]”, the BBC reported.
Kelly was advised by her doctor to go on the contraceptive pill or get a coil fitted. In another visit, she was prescribed antidepressants.
The mum recalled being made to feel like a ‘drama queen’ and began to believe she was ‘overthinking her symptoms’.
All the while, Kelly spent some days in excruciating pain, had bleeding most days and began gaining weight without explanation, developing a ‘really swollen tummy‘.
A long-awaited diagnosis
Four years in, a locum GP finally agreed that her symptoms needed further investigation after feeling lumps in her abdomen.
Kelly was diagnosed with benign fibroids in November 2020 and advised to get a hysterectomy – a surgical procedure to remove the uterus.
But the surgery never happened after her follow-up appointments were pushed back due to the pandemic.
By June 2021, Kelly said she was bleeding every day and “looked nine months pregnant”.
She finally received a diagnosis of uterine leiomyosarcoma in November that year – this is a rare type of cancer which affects 600 people in the UK each year, according to Macmillan Cancer Support.
She was told her cancer was stage four and terminal, meaning she would die from it soon.
Kelly went through six gruelling rounds of chemotherapy and her husband Michael raised £76,491 by running from Ewloe to Bristol, to pay for her to have surgery in the US.
At the time, the mum said: “We just want the children to know we tried everything we possibly could.”
Kelly eventually had the surgery in the UK in June but her health continued to deteriorate.
Mum hoped to inspire others
Kelly was outspoken about her experience of being dismissed in the hopes that other women would feel confident to demand doctors investigate their symptoms.
In a post announcing her passing, Michael said: “Words cannot describe how broken I feel, but also so proud to be her husband.”
Symptoms of leiomyosarcoma
Leiomyosarcoma usually develops in adults over the age of 50, but it can affect younger people too, according to Macmillan.
The main symptom of leiomyosarcoma is a lump or swelling that is:
getting bigger
bigger than two inches – about the size of a golf ball
painful or tender
Other symptoms may include:
bleeding from the vagina, in people who have been through the menopause
a change in periods, for people who have not yet been through the menopause
discomfort or bloating in the tummy
blood in or on your poo
bleeding from the back passage
Macmillan said most soft tissue lumps are not cancer but that you should still get these symptoms checked by your GP.
WNSKelly was diagnosed with uterine leiomyosarcoma in November 2021 and went through chemo and surgery[/caption]
WNSMichael said: “Words cannot describe how broken I feel, but also so proud to be her husband.”[/caption]