'IT'S TABOO, BUT IT'LL KILL ME' Mum-of-three, 46, with vulval cancer has just months to live after dismissing itchy symptoms as thrush
Emma Robinson, 46, suffered fungal infections from a young age but was stunned when a chronic inflammatory condition developed into terminal cancer.
The mum from Wigston, Leicestershire, spent more than a year undergoing radiotherapy and major surgery to remove her lymph nodes, but the aggressive cancer kept coming back.
Last month doctors told Emma there was nothing more they could do to help her.
She said: “I was devastated. I’d struggled so hard for two years.
“Kyle had driven me to hospital and I told him straight away. We sat in the car and we just sobbed. It was horrible.”
Emma, who has three children Kyle, 26, Katie-Louise, 17 and Jake, 15, is still reeling from the news.
But with the time she has left, the Tesco stock controller is determined to encourage other women to put their health first.
“It’s seen as a taboo subject but it’s going to claim my life,” she said.
“I know of some people who have died from the disease without even seeing a doctor because they were too embarrassed. It’s absolutely crazy, and heart-breaking.”
She said: “I want young women to be more aware of their bodies and intimate areas and if they suspect anything at all could be wrong to have the confidence to get it checked out.
“Your health is the most important thing at the end of the day.”
Emma, who describes herself as the “joker in the pack” who loves having fun with her friends, is stoical.
“I’ve been very lucky in many ways,” she said. “I have a wonderful family and have made some great friends.”
Although divorced from Katie-Louise and Jake’s father, David Oldfield, they remain close.
She said: “He has been so supportive and pops his head in most days to see if I’m okay. We’re like really good mates, and I couldn’t ask for a better father for my kids.”
Emma maintained a healthy lifestyle, taking up running in 2014 and regularly jogging 12 miles a week.
But she says there was always a nagging worry at the back of her mind.
She said: “Ever since I was a girl I was prone to irritation and itching in my nether regions.
“As I grew older I often suffered from what was assumed to be thrush and treated for fungal infections, but I know that’s not uncommon in many women.”
Ten years ago, Emma was diagnosed with Lichen sclerosus after being referred to a gynaecologist.
It is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that affects the vulva which, if left untreated, has the potential to develop into cancer, vulval cancer in Emma’s case.
She said: “It’s an autoimmune condition which I’ve probably had since I was a child to be honest.
“But despite being prescribed steroid creams to treat it, I kept feeling really itchy all the time.”
Emma was also referred to see a dermatologist but, by November 2015, there was no improvement.
She said: “I went back to the doctor and said ‘this is getting worse’ before she was diagnosed with cancer in December 2015.
Emma waited until the start of this month after Katie-Louise and Jake’s exams to tell them the terrible news.
She said: “I know I’m going to die, but sometimes I still can’t believe it. I won’t see my sons and daughter get married and it breaks my heart.”
Comments