I was saddened to see the news this week that some people are waiting years to have a hysterectomy in Tayside and Fife.

As someone who underwent that particular procedure I know how daunting the wait is.

In fact, today (Saturday March 14) is the four year anniversary of me getting the operation, which I had as a result of early stage cervical cancer.

I’m still unsure if it is something to celebrate.

Why cancer led to my hysterectomy

I’ve told the story of my cancer in The Courier before, so I won’t retread old ground too much.

The important bit just now is that following a number of procedures to remove the “invasion” (the word used when I was told I had cancer; I’d had to ask them to just tell me if I had it or not and stop with the euphemisms) I was facing six-monthly check ups for the next five years.

If any of those appointments showed any sign of the cancer coming back, the doctors told me I would probably have to have the hysterectomy because given how much of my cervix they’d already removed they would probably just have to take it all.

The weeks leading up to my first six month........

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