AFTER five months of pain and multiple visits to the doctors and A&E, a 27-year-old woman has been diagnosed with bladder cancer.

Back in October, Abbie Jarvis had a number of symptoms that were linked to urinary tract infections (UTIs).

This included needing to urinate regularly, and it hurting her when doing so, and having blood in her wee.

Abbie, from Latchford, was also experiencing such excruciating pain in her pelvis that she was unable to walk on some days.

She had suffered from UTIs for a number of years, so she knew this time that something was different.

Abbie attended the doctors four times in October as a result of her symptoms, and here it was confirmed that she did not have a UTI. They told her that they didn’t know what was up with her.

In November, Abbie, who is a probation officer, then attended A&E three times due to the pain she was in.

“I just knew that something wasn’t right,” she said.

“I knew I didn’t have a UTI and I knew that I shouldn’t be seeing blood in my urine, especially at my age.”

Abbie was told she had an ‘overactive bladder’, but she still wasn’t happy with this so continued to push specialists for an answer.

In December, she was eventually referred back to the original consultant she had seen for a previous bladder operation a number of years ago. She was then booked in for a cystoscopy, a test used to look inside the bladder, but the waiting list was months long.

By this point, Abbie had been suffering for more than two months.

There was an opportunity for Abbie to be examined with a camera, however she was classed as not being as high risk for bladder cancer due to her young age.

But due to the pain she was in, Abbie pushed to have the procedure done. It revealed she had a tumour.

“They put the camera in and I was watching it on the screen,” Abbie explained.

Warrington Guardian:

“It was going around my bladder and everything was smooth, but then it just got to this point and when it came on the screen it was obvious it was a tumour.

“As soon as I saw it, I just knew what it was straight away because you just know what is going on inside your body.

“I remember I left the hospital that day in December and I called my friend and said I think I’ve got cancer.

“I don’t know what it was, I just had a feeling.”

Six weeks later in January, Abbie went into hospital to have a biopsy taken. By this point, she was told it may be painful bladder syndrome.

Three weeks after the biopsy, Abbie attended hospital for what she thought would be a catheter, relating to painful bladder syndrome.

Due to the time that had passed and assuming that no news was good news, Abbie was not prepared for what she was about hear.

After five months of waiting, Abbie was told she has bladder cancer, specifically grade three carcinoma in situ.

Abbie said: “It was weird because the thought of having cancer had flashed into my head so many times right up until the point where I had waited three weeks after my biopsy because it had kind of gone out of my head by then, I just thought it mustn’t be that.

“I just felt so numb, I didn’t even know what to say.

“I think when you are young and you go to the doctors with a problem in that area, bladder cancer is definitely not the first port of call, there are a million other things that you would go to first.”

Abbie was told how rare it was for someone of her age to have bladder cancer.

“They said because I had frequent UTIs, it changed the cells in my bladder which resulted in me getting a tumour,” she added.

Abbie has now started BCG treatment for the cancer which she will receive weekly for six weeks.

The next steps after this well depend how Abbie’s body takes to the treatment.

She is hoping to raise awareness of bladder cancer and the symptoms around it, especially due to the rarity of someone her age actually being diagnosed with it. Most new cases are diagnosed in those aged 60 and above.

Following Abbie’s diagnosis, her friends have rallied together to support her. They have also organised a number of fundraising challenges, with money raised going to Action Bladder Cancer UK and also to Abbie herself to help her through the challenging period.

In May, Abbie's friendship group will be running a 10k in Manchester to support her.

For more information and to donate, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/5ep7c-kicking-cancers-ass?cdn-cache=0

Symptoms

Blood in your urine is the most common symptom of bladder cancer.

The medical name for blood in your urine is haematuria and it's usually painless. You may notice streaks of blood in your urine or the blood may turn your urine brown. The blood isn't always noticeable and it may come and go.

Less common symptoms of bladder cancer include:

  • a need to urinate on a more frequent basis
  • sudden urges to urinate
  • a burning sensation when passing urine

If bladder cancer reaches an advanced stage and has spread, symptoms can include:

  • pelvic pain
  • bone pain
  • unintentional weight loss
  • swelling of the legs

When to seek medical advice

If you have blood in your urine – even if it comes and goes – you should visit your GP, so the cause can be investigated.

Having blood in your urine doesn't mean you definitely have bladder cancer. There are other, more common, causes including:

  • a urinary tract infections (UTIs), such as cystitis
  • a kidney infection
  • kidney stones
  • non-gonococcal urethritis
  • an enlarged prostate gland, in men