NEED TO KNOW
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Melissa Sanders, from Valley City, Ohio, was diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer last year
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The single mom of three has shared how her loved ones told her she was going through perimenopause before her diagnosis after she experienced a nearly three-month-long period
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“I didn’t make a big deal about it. I just put up with it for another two months. But then I started getting contractions,” Sanders said of her symptoms
A mother of three from Ohio thought she was experiencing perimenopause symptoms before receiving a heartbreaking diagnosis.
Melissa Sanders, now 46, from Valley City, experienced an almost three-month-long period in early 2024, and those close to her were quick to dismiss it as her body starting to transition into menopause. However, she ended up being diagnosed with stage 3 cervical cancer.
“Everybody was telling me I’m going through perimenopause,” she told Today.com, adding, “I didn’t make a big deal about it. I just put up with it for another two months. But then I started getting contractions.”
Sanders, who works as a flagger, told the outlet, “My mom was like, ‘Melissa, all of us go through it.’ “
“I was like, ‘I don’t know mom because when you were going through this, I don’t remember you being in this much pain.’ And then I was like, ‘There is no way this is just perimenopause,’ ” she continued.
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A stock photo of a nurse testing for cervical cancer
According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of perimenopause, which “is the time before menopause when your body is getting ready to stop having periods,” can include your periods being longer or shorter, as well as hot flashes, trouble sleeping and vaginal dryness.
After multiple months of non-stop, heavy bleeding, Sanders recalled experiencing contraction-like pains, which led to her making an appointment to get a pap smear in March 2024, per the outlet. It had been 22 years since she had last had one.
“I never worried about me,” Sanders told the outlet. “I was a single mom with three kids, and I worked. So, they did their routines, doctors, dentists, but I just never had the time.”
Sanders’ doctor scheduled a biopsy after her pap smear; however, they stopped performing it “within two minutes of starting it,” Sanders said.
“I had cancerous skin falling off my cervix, just falling off, and there was ooze,” she told the outlet.
Sanders said her doctor could tell she had a mass by feeling it, before a further MRI and PET scan confirmed she had stage 3 cervical cancer. She underwent chemotherapy and radiation for six months, Today.com reported.
Sanders admitted that during that time, she felt “really, really weak,” adding to the outlet, “My son pretty much had to carry (me) around at my last radiation.”
Sanders finished the treatments, which ended up putting her in menopause, in September 2024, and her scans have been clear since last year.
Despite not being able to stand as long as she was able to before, and feeling like she needs to “gain all” her “muscles back,” Sanders is hopeful for the future.
“I got to put me first,” she told the outlet. “I try to do everything healthier. I just walked three miles the other day with my daughter and grandbaby.”
She insisted she wants to start putting her heath first, so she can see her granddaughter, Gracelynn, grow up.
Sanders recalled of the cancer diagnosis, “I was sad. But I didn’t give up.”
“A lot of people have that mindset that life is too busy. But it really isn’t,” she insisted, urging others to get their checks done. “It’s very important to keep up with your pap smears, mammograms. Don’t ignore it.”
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According to the National Cancer Institute, “The goal of screening for cervical cancer is to find precancerous cervical cell changes, when treatment can prevent cervical cancer from developing.”
“Sometimes, cancer is found during cervical screening. Cervical cancer found at an early stage is usually easier to treat. By the time symptoms appear, cervical cancer may have begun to spread, making treatment more difficult,” the site adds.
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The three main ways to screen for cervical cancer are the human papillomavirus (HPV) test — which checks cells for infection with high-risk HPV types that can cause cervical cancer — the Pap test, which collects cervical cells so they can be checked for changes caused by HPV that may turn into cervical cancer if left untreated; and the HPV/Pap cotest, which uses an HPV test and Pap test together to check for both high-risk HPV and cervical cell changes, per the site.
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends those between the ages of 21 and 29 to get a Pap test every three years, while those between 30-65 years old are recommended to get screened using one of the following methods: a HPV test every five years, a HPV/Pap cotest every five years or a Pap test every three years.
For those older than 65 years old, it’s recommended that you “talk with your health care provider to learn if screening is still needed,” the National Cancer Institute states.
PEOPLE has attempted to reach out to Sanders for comment.
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