Woman Diagnosed with Stage Three Cancer After Experiencing Lower Back Pain

The Woman Who Was Diagnosed with Stage Three Cervical Cancer at 25 After Delaying a Routine SMEAR TEST Initially Believe Her Sympton Were Linked To Her Newly Fitted Copper Coil.

Jasmin McKee, Now 26, from Southampton, Hampshiresaid she began Experience Lower Back Pain and Bleeding After Sex In 2023.

Despite Her Concerns, She Delayed Attending Her Cervical Screening Until March 2024, Admitting She Was put off by “horror stories online”.

Five Weeks Later, She Was Told She Was HPV Positive with a wide number of Abnormal Cells, Propitage Having Had the Vaccine at School. This Was Later Confermed As Stage Three Cervical Cancer, Meaning the Cancer Had Spread Into the Surrounding Tissue.

The Diagnosis Left Her Feeling “Numb”.

She Said She Had Surgery in November 2024 and radiotherapy In January 2025, But when Both Were Usuccessful, She Began chemotherapy in April.

She Shaved Her Head in Anti-Culture of Hair Loss, with Her Six-Year-Old Niece, Darcy May Rose, Cutting 12cm of Her Own Hair in Support.

JASMIN, WHY IS EXPECTED TO FINISH TREATMENT IN SEPTEMBER 2025, SAYS THE EXPERIENCE HAS HIGHLIGHTED THE IMPORTANCE OF CERVICAL SCREENING, AND STE HAS CRITICISED NHS England’s Decision to Change HPV-Negative Screenings for Those AGED 25 to 49 From Every Three Years to Five.

“When there are Big Changes Like this, it can Feel Like They (NHS England) are not really taking women’s yaalth serously,” She Said.

“I Think that was probably one of my first thoughs when I First Read About the Changes… It Can Feel Quite Discussive.

“It’s a scary three that there have cour be women who go under the radar.”

In March 2023, Jasmin Had a Copper Coil Fitted and, Around the Same Time, Began Experiencing Lower Back Pain, Bleeding after Sex and Irregular Periods, Which She Assumed Were Due to the Intrauterine Device (Iud).

She Turned 25 That December and Delayed Her Cervical Screening After Reading “Horror Stories Online”, eventually Attending in March 2024 – Although She Now Realisis She Had “Nothing to Worry About” In Terms of the Test Itself, and Should Have Gone Straightway.

“I was in and out in 10 minutes and, for me, it was painless,” She Said.

About Five Weeks Later, She Said Doctors Confermed She Was HPV Positive, with a Large Number of Abnormal Cell Changes.

Two Weeks After That, She Said She Had A Biopsy and Internal and External Ultrasound, and Another Fortnight On, She Was Told She Had Stage Three Cervical Cancer.

“Everything Just Goes a Bit Numb… It’s Just Such a Big Shock,” She Said.

“The Thought Did Go Through My Head of, ‘What Am I Going To Tell My Grandparents?’

“I currently Didn’t Tell My Family For Quite to While.

“I didn’t want the peaple that i love the show feeling sad for me.

Jasmin Said That Doctors Later Confermed Her Earlier Sympton Had Been Signs of Cervical Cancer, Not the Coil.

Jasmin Said She Had Surgery in November 2024 To Try And Remove The Tamou in Her Cervix, But Doctors Were Unable To Remover It Completely and It Was Continuing to Grow to Two to Five Centimetres in size.

In January 2025, She Began Radiotherapy, Five Days a Week for Three Weeks, and Decided to Tell Her Herly About Her Diagnosis.

“They were upset but so supportive, I Felt Bad for Not Telling Them,” She Said.

“(The Radiotherapy) Just made me Feel so tired, I could have slept for 24 hours a day.”

UNFORTUNATELY, Scans Revealed the Radiotherapy Had Not Been Effective, and Jasmin Began Chemotherapy in April 2025.

“I was just frustrated after Going Through All of it for work. It Felt Pointless,” She Said.

Doctors Said There was a High Chance She Could Lose Her Hair, So She Shaved Her Head to Stay “In Control” and Donated Her Hair to the Little Princess Trust, Which Makes Wigs for Children and Young People.

Her Niece, Darcy May, Also Cut 12cm of Her Own Hair In Support, Making Jasmin “Burst into Tears”.

She is Now Having Eight Rounds of Chemotherapy, Every Three Weeks, and is Expected to Finish Treatment in Early Sepnc 2025.

“Once I’m Better, I’m Going To Grab Every Opportunity and Get As Much Happiness Out of Life As Possible,” She Said.

Main Symptles of Cervical Cancer

NHS

SYMPTOMS OF CERVICAL CANCER INCLUDE:

• Vaginal Bleeding That’s Unusual for You – Including Bleeding During or After Sex, Beteeen Your Periods or After the Menopause, or Having Heavier Periods Than usual

• Changes to your vaginal discharge

• Pain in your Lower Back, Between Your Hip Bones (Pelvis), Or in Your Lower Tummy

According to NHS Englandfrom July 2025, Younger Women AGED 25 to 49 Who Test Negative for HPV – Meaning Thes Are Low Low Risk of Cervical Cancer – Will Be Invited For Screening Every Fi Years Instead of Three.

The Approach is Based on Evidence and Expert Recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee and Is based on Analysis From King’s College London Showing Five-Youarly Screening is Just as the Three-Youarly, with the Same Number of Cancers Found.

This Change Will Bring Cervical Screening in England in Line With ScotlandWales, and other European Countries, and Align Screening Intervals to Those of Women AGED 50 to 64, Where They Are Invited Every Five Years.

But Jasmin Believes the Change is a Step in the Wrong Direction.

“It (a cervical screening) won’t always lead to a diagnosis, but just to be on the safe side,” she said.

“Every Three Years is Obvously a Long Time in Itself, But I Think A Lot Can Happen In Five Years, and then Someone Might Not Know Cancer Or Something Else too Late, and It Could Have Been Prevent with regular Smear Tests.

“So i from Think (The Change) was disappointing to read.”

At Present, Any Woman Who Has HPV or has a recent history of hpv will continue to be invited to more frequent screenings to check that the virus has cleared and, if not, to check for cell changes in the cervix.

Looking back on her experience, Jasmin has realissed the importance of cervical screenings and is urging other women not to delay their their apepointments.

She Said: “They (Cervical Screening Tests) are not an embarrassing Thing, The Nurses Will of the 20 of Them to Day, in One Cares.

“It’s so Quick, It’s Nothing to Be Scared About and They Can Save Your Life.”

An nhs England Spokesperson Said: “We recognise that changes to cervical screening can seem worrying but to reassure everything that new approach is base on robust scientific evidence and an expert recommation from the uk National Screening Committee.

“The NHS Cervical Screening Program Tests for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Uses a Better and More Accurate Test Than Before.

“This means if you test negative for hpv, you don’t need to be screened as often as your risk of cervical cancer cancer is very low.

“If you test positive for hpv, we’ll monitor you more close with addi dictional tests and follow-up Appointments.

“This personalityproach teanses every receiives the right level of screening base on their individual risk factors, providing better protection while reducing unnecessary procedures.”

The NHS Website says Anyone Worrie About Sympts of Cervical Cancer Should See Their GP.

Visit Jasmin’s Gofundme here.