A British mom of three has been diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer after seeking medical care for months only to allegedly have her symptoms dismissed as “just your period.”
Charley Jayne Law’s symptoms began last September, when — according to a GoFundMe set up in Law’s name by a family friend — she began “bleeding clots the size of my palms.” When she went to a local hospital, however, Law, 31, claims she was told “‘it’s just your period’ by multiple male doctors” whom she further alleges didn’t even examine her.
Three months later, the mom to sons Riley, 11, and Arion, 5, and daughter Aryia, 20 months, says she was able to see a gynecologist. During that exam, Law recalled, “I knew there was something seriously wrong.” She shared that when a nurse specializing in cancer was brought in her “heart sank.”
On Jan. 27, Law says she was given the news that “tore my world apart”: “I have stage 4 cervical cancer.”
According to the National Cancer Institute, cervical cancer is very treatable when it’s caught early. However, once it has spread elsewhere in the body — as it has at stage 4 — the survival rate drops to 19%.
“My body was on the verge of giving up as during this entire time I was still mum, I was still doing the school runs, I was still dealing with my toddler Aryia by myself, the housework, the appointments and scans and everything in-between, despite begging for help from social services, the kids school and anyone,” Law explained in her GoFundMe.
As a result, she shared that she had to place her children into emergency foster care, explaining, “the mum guilt was so bad but I knew that if I didn’t go into hospital I wouldn’t have been here the following day or 2 … I had no choice.”
On Wednesday, Feb. 5, she shared that she was “given the soul destroying news that it was incurable.” She further explained that she would need to start chemotherapy to keep the cancer from spreading for as long as she could.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“All through this my kids have been my absolute rocks and light in the dark. They have had their whole world as they know it turned upside down but they have been amazing and I want to be able to make as many memories with them,” said Law, who hopes to take her children on a vacation, explaining she wants to “take as many pictures and videos for them to look back on when I’m not here as possible.”
“I plan on staying around as long as I can but ultimately we don’t have a time scale on that.”
Read the full article here
