Link to Pre Order: Tackling Gender Bias in The Healthcare System. What Patient stories Teach Us About Implementing Systemic Change: https://www.waterstones.com/book/tackling-gender-bias-in-the-healthcare-system/louise-hockings-thompson/jinty-sheerin/9781805018810
In this episode, we are joined by Fay Peace, a woman whose experience of navigating the healthcare system is both deeply personal and heartbreakingly familiar.
After visiting her GP in 2019 with symptoms she knew felt wrong, Fay spent nearly two years being dismissed, told it was probably the perimenopause, or perhaps a UTI before finally being diagnosed with stage 3 womb cancer in 2021.
Womb cancer, also known as uterine cancer, is the fourth most common cancer in women in the UK, with around 9,800 new cases diagnosed every year.
Incidence rates have risen by nearly 60% since the early 1990s. And yet it remains one of the least talked-about gynaecological cancers which is exactly why conversations like this one matter.
In this conversation, Fay takes us back to the very beginning: what her early symptoms were like, why they were so easy to explain away, and at what point she began to sense something serious was being missed.
She talks honestly about what it felt like to have her instincts dismissed, including the moment her surgeon told her it was stage 1 and \"nothing to worry about\" only for that to change.
She shares what it was really like to go through chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and brachytherapy, and what kept her going.
We list the main symptoms to look our for, the need for early detection diagnostics and the importance of primary care listening to a patients real concerns and symptoms.
Fay didn't stay silent. She channelled her experience into action, launching her campaign #CheckYouOut sheβs on a mission to get the symptoms of all five gynaecological cancers (cervical, womb, ovarian, vaginal, and vulval) onto everyday product packaging. She's already secured a significant win, convincing Bodyform to redirect their QR code to The Eve Appeal and she's just getting started.
We also discover the surprisingly delightful origin of the word \"berk,\" and close, as always, with something beautiful to carry you through the week. β
If you're experiencing symptoms you're worried about, please speak to your GP.
For more information on gynaecological cancers, visit The Eve Appeal at: https://eveappeal.org.uk/information-and-advice/gynaecological-cancers/ovarian-cancer/
You can folow Fay on social media https://www.instagram.com/cancercampaigner?igsh=aXVob3N2YXlzNWpo
β Enjoying the podcast? Subscribe, leave a review, and share with someone who needs to hear this.
π Buy us a coffee at Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/womenkindcollectivepodcast
π¬ Email us: womenkindcollective@gmail.com
π Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenkindcollective?igsh=ZmxmbGs2d3BjcXA1&utm_source=qr
π§ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/womenkind-collective/id1557937820
π§ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/42KniEtc5WGQhNvREsN1WP?si=e14a83c93a304bb3
Available on all your favourite podcast platforms.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.