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Esther Hodges, a mother of two who works two jobs, said her busy life gets in the way of important health checks.

The 49-year-old avoided cervical screening appointments for 13 years and has now shared her grief over being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

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Just over a year ago, the accountant from Barnet, London, was out one night when she suffered a haemorrhage in a club bathroom.

This is blood loss that usually results from a damaged blood vessel.

Shortly after the incident, Esther’s earth collapsed when she was diagnosed with stage two cervical cancer, bordering on stage three.

Esther is now urging others not to make the same mistake as her and to sign up for life-saving swabs.

She said: “I hate myself for missing my appointments and now I have to live with it as long as I stay too.

“I wish I had taken those 20 minutes out of my day to go to my appointment.

“He could have been picked up earlier and he wouldn’t be in that situation now.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t had any since 2009, I kept putting it off.”

Esther, who is also a grandmother, said she would get the occasional letter from her GP asking her to call, but she never made an appointment.

“It breaks my heart to see so much pain on the faces of my family and friends.

“I couldn’t tell my children (at first) and my stepmother was with me when I received the original diagnosis.

“As we were leaving the appointment, he called my family and my children to tell them that they were completely drugged.”

Now Esther said she feels she “did this to herself” and that not being able to see her children Charlotte, 29, and Keyona, 19, and her grandchildren grow up is killing her.

“I can’t help but think that if I had gone to my appointment maybe they would have seen it sooner,” he added.

Esther says that life got in her way when it came to reserving the swab.

In November 2021, she stopped injecting birth control pills and began to experience pain.

She said that the doctors dismissed the symptoms as hormones.

Esther said: “I started to have a very bad back pain. It got to the point where I was rolling on the floor in pain.

“I went to my GP and they said it can take about three months for your hormones to return to normal after you stop taking birth control injections.

“They just told me to take acetaminophen, but it got so bad I started going to the local ER, who basically said the same thing.”

Esther described the pain and said it felt like she was in labor.

During the night of her birthday, she felt severe stomach pains and told her friend that she had to go to the bathroom immediately.

“Then I found huge blood clots falling from me.”

An ambulance was called and Esther was taken to the hospital, who arranged a visit to her local oncologist, soon receiving the devastating news.

She said: “I felt so numb.”

Medical professionals have told Esther that her cancer is treatable but not curable and that she undergoes a variety of treatments including 12 rounds of chemotherapy and 25 rounds of radiation therapy.

I know it will never go away and it will eventually kill me.

Esther Hodges

In addition, he receives six rounds of a test drug.

In September of last year, Esther was told that the cancer had also spread to her lungs.

She said: “I felt so bad I just asked if they could take my lungs out, but that’s not an option.

“I asked my counselor about the survival rate and she told me that half of her patients are still here two years from now and half are sadly gone. It is about how my body reacts to the treatment.

“I know it will never go away and it will eventually kill me.

“But they are trying to contain it and prevent it from spreading elsewhere.”

Esther has been overwhelmed by the support her friends and family have given her during this time of need.

Not knowing how much time she has left, Mom plans to make every moment count with the people who mean the most to her.

She said: “Everyone is devastated and just there to support.

“I don’t want to know how much longer I could have stayed, so I’m just trying to keep being me. She just let nature take its course.

“I want to create many special memories with my loved ones and raise as much funds as I can so they will talk and remember me for the good I have done.”

Esther also focuses her efforts on raising money and awareness for charities like Great Ormond Street Hospital.

She hopes to spread a very clear message: don’t miss your health appointments.

She said: “Please take the time to have a cervical exam.

“You think it won’t happen to you, but it can happen; I am a good example.

“I just try to take each day as it comes and just enjoy the time I have left.”

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