I thought I was going through menopause but it was actually cancer

A woman who mistook womb cancer for menopause has urged others to get any new symptoms checked as soon as possible.

Dawn Willis, 58, had been experiencing vaginal bleeding for about a year but thought it was a symptom of the menopause.

When her stomach became swollen, however, her family convinced her to go the the doctor — and she discovered that she actually had advanced womb cancer.

The former teaching assistant is now cancer-free and is speaking out in the hopes of raising awareness and hopefully “saving someone’s life.”

Postmenopausal bleeding is not usually serious, but can be a sign of cancer.

The main symptoms of uterine cancer can include bleeding or spotting from the vagina after menopause, heavy periods that are unusual, vaginal bleeding between periods, and a change to vaginal discharge.

“I was so angry with myself when I got the diagnosis as I had ignored the symptoms,” Willis, from Canterbury, UK, said.

“So much happens to your body during the menopause that I thought the bleeding was normal. But then my belly became swollen and my family told me to get checked out.

“I’m really glad they did because I was diagnosed with advanced womb cancer. If I had waited even just a couple more months, I don’t think I’d be here today.

“I’m always the first one to advise people to see a doctor so I don’t know why I left it for so long. I was just so angry at myself for ignoring these signs.”

After the initial shock of the diagnosis, Dawn’s full attention turned to getting better.

“When they told me that it wasn’t terminal, I thought, ‘Right, I’m going to beat this.’ I love my life. I love my husband Mark, who I have been with since we were 16,” she said.

“I wasn’t ready to go anywhere. Cancer wasn’t going to beat me.”

After Willis’ initial cancer diagnosis in March 2017, she underwent a year of treatment.

She was told she was in remission in March 2018 and was classed as officially cancer-free in March 2022.

Following her treatment, Willis suffered a perforated bowel due to serious radiation damage and now lives with a stoma.

But she is still making the most of life — and is speaking out to encourage others to get checked sooner rather than later.

“I’m fine with my stoma as it saved my life, but I likely wouldn’t need that if I had got checked sooner,” she said. “So I just really want to spread that message. If something isn’t right, don’t leave it!

“Even if you feel fine. I only had that symptom and otherwise felt healthy. So visit your GP and get yourself checked out.

“If someone can see what I’m saying and think, ‘I’ve got that, I’ll get checked’… If I could save one person’s life, that’s what this is for.”

Willis added that she was extremely grateful for the care she received from East Kent Hospitals University.

“I had a fear of hospitals before having cancer so I was really anxious about needing to go regularly, but I very quickly got over it,” she said.

“The only thing I felt was safe and reassured that they were going to fix me. I’m so grateful to the team for saving me and for making my cancer journey a positive one.”