Brave Lisa Rogers read Jade Goody’s autobiography Fighting to the End as she underwent chemotherapy at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, realising the first few chapters could have been her very own story.
At the age of just 25 Lisa is battling cervical cancer but she is determined the end of her story will be very different as she continues her determined and inspirational fight against the disease.
Lisa, from Broseley, had fulfilled her dream of running her own dance school – LAR School of Dance in Woodside, Telford – was a popular teacher at Oswestry’s Stagecoach and had fallen in love with her boyfriend Paul just weeks before her symptoms started.
Two years ago, at the age of 23, the talented dancer went to the doctors with worrying symptoms. She was told they were due to her contraceptive injection, was internally examined and told there was no problem, tested twice for chlamydia – which was clear – and was refused a smear test due to her age.
Three months after she had reached the age of 25, she had her smear and needed further tests, which showed she had cervical cancer. The brave young woman will find out later this month if her gruelling, intense treatment has worked and if she has won the battle against the disease.
But she has also been forced to face many other challenges in the last few months – she has had her eggs frozen for future fertility treatment; is going through the menopause as a side-effect of her treatment and has realised she may never dance again.
“I asked for a smear but the doctor said I was not allowed because I wasn’t 25. I went for a check-up and was examined and told everything was fine but have since found out my cervix is so high that they couldn’t see it, so couldn’t have known if it was abnormal at all.
“After I reached 25 I went for a smear and was called back for further tests. They told me I’d need laser treatment on the affected area but it turned out the area was so large I needed specialist treatment under general anaesthetic,” Lisa said.
“From those results I was told over the phone that it was cancer and needed an MRI scan to see if it had spread. I was then told it had spread to my lymph nodes and would need fertility treatment. I’ve got 10 eggs frozen for the next ten years.”
Asked how she reacted when she was told she was battling cervical cancer, she said: “I wasn’t too shocked because my friend’s friend had been diagnosed and all of the symptoms were the same – at the back of my mind I knew.
“Obviously it was a shock and you don’t want to hear it. I went back the day before Christmas Eve last year, and that was the first time they had actually told me – we didn’t know how bad it was.”
On February 23, Lisa started her chemotherapy sessions at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital – where she is treated like a celebrity as one of the few people battling cervical cancer and most certainly the youngest – and she also underwent 28 days of intense radiotherapy and internal radiation treatment at Stoke.
“I read Jade Goody’s autobiography during the treatment – it wasn’t like I didn’t know what happened at the end, I knew she died. All of the bits at the start were exactly the same as me but hers had spread to her womb. I felt the same as Jade, because it feels like there isn’t anyone else out there with it.
“I think her book did help because as wrong as it sounds she was worse than me. I was sat in chemo reading about her going to chemo so it was nice that I could relate to that but at the same time knowing what happened to her was a bit scary,” Lisa said.
“I was in chemo for 28 days, for two hours each time, and I only saw one other woman with the same cancer as me. I was the talk of chemo because I was so young. I was 30 years younger than most of them – it was scary.
“I never thought about the cancer killing me then but think more about it now because I’ve got nothing to focus on, and I might not be scanned until January to see if it has gone,” Lisa said.
“Breast cancer is out there everywhere and everyone goes for a mammogram when they should, but people don’t worry when they don’t go for a smear.
“I’m now going through the menopause at 25 – the hot flushes are horrific. I’ve started on Hormone Replacement Therapy like an old woman. They said it could start within 12 months of treatment but I didn’t think it would be quite so soon,” Lisa said.
“It’s freaky – I’m 25 but my body is like a 40-year-old woman. I can’t dance like I used to, I remind myself of when my mum used to come to my dance classes with no rhythm or routine. “I forget where I am. They say your body ages due to the treatment and it’s true.
“I can’t dance and it depresses me. I bought zumba for the Wii and can’t even do that now.”
But Lisa is determined she will beat her cancer and says it has now made her see life in a very different way.
“My vision of life has changed. I used to think I would have children one day but now I know I’ve only got 10 years because that’s the maximum they can freeze the eggs for.
“Before the cancer, everything I wanted to do was for my career but now I just want to cruise through life and chill out. The treatment has been exhausting and I don’t want the stress I had before.
“I feel like I’ve lost 10 or 20 years of my life - it’s scary. It feels like it’s a time bomb - just ticking every day.”
Lisa says her boyfriend and family, especially her mum, Jill, and sister Leanne have been amazing but added it has had a huge effect on everyone.
Lisa is now facing the future knowing she may never be able to carry her own baby.
“I desperately want children. My ovaries are dead, but everything is still there – they don’t know if I’ll be strong enough to carry. I’ve got my eggs frozen so I’m not heartbroken because some people don’t even get that. I can always look into getting a surrogate,” she said.
While still anxiously waiting for her results to see if the cancer has gone, Lisa has launched her own fundraising campaign for Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, the only UK-based cervical cancer charity.
The charity runs an on-line forum which Lisa said she used for support and find other people who was going through the same battle.
She has already raised nearly £1,000 and is now preparing for a host of other fundraising events.
Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust has recently helped EastEnders producers with a storyline which includes character Tanya Jessop being told that she has cervical cancer after a routine screening test.
For more information on the charity visit www.jostrust.org.uk or anybody with any concerns can call 0808 802 8000.
Leanne Roche (Lisa’s sister), in the centre is Lisa Rogers who is battling cervical cancer and her mum Jill Rogers (bottom).