What should've been the happiest time of one mom's life turned into months of suffering and trying to get doctors to listen. Louise Gleadell gave birth to her third child, baby Jude, in 2015, and despite the fact that she brought up troubling symptoms during her postpartum appointments, her concerns were brushed aside until she was diagnosed with cancer nine months later in 2016. Now, after two years of a grueling fight for more time with her kids, 38-year-old Gleadell lost her battle to cervical cancer.
After giving birth to her third baby, Gleadell knew that something was seriously wrong.
Gleadell, who is also a mom to 13-year-old Joseph and 11-year-old Mateo, brought up her symptoms to her doctor on multiple occasions. "It was probably when my little boy was about six months old that I started thinking something’s not right here," she told the Sun in February 2017. "I had a strange dizziness that was there all the time and I started to get this ache in my pelvic area. It was becoming more persistent and gradually getting more painful." However, the mom from England was assured multiple times that the pain and dizziness she was experiencing wasn't anything to worry about.
Her doctor chalked it up to breastfeeding and being hormonal each time she brought it up.
Gleadell told the Sun that she asked about her symptoms more than once but they weren't taken seriously. "The doctors kept saying to me, 'Oh it's because you're breastfeeding. Baby is waking up in the night, you're not getting as much sleep,'" she said. "Eventually they did blood tests and when I rang up to ask if they'd had the results they said it was all fine. They just said my calcium was a bit low."
The doctor eventually offered to give her medicine for the dizziness, but that wasn't good enough for Gleadell — she wanted to know what was causing it. "He said, 'Oh well I don't think we'll ever get to the bottom of what's causing it.' He did say to me that maybe if I stopped thinking about the dizziness I'd stop feeling so dizzy," she added. "He's also looked at my cervix several times and told me that looked normal when there was a great big tumour on it."
By the time she was properly diagnosed with cervical cancer, precious time to fight had already been wasted.
Nine months after baby Jude's birth, doctors finally diagnosed Gleadell with stage 2B cervical cancer. Although she was shocked because she never missed a Pap smear, Gleadell said the diagnosis made sense after looking back at her pregnancy. She believes the symptoms started during her last trimester when she started experiencing aching pelvic pain and thought her water broke at 36 weeks.
Doctors at the hospital reassured her at the time that everything was fine, but she later learned that watery discharge can be a symptom of cervical cancer.
After chemotherapy and radiography, the family thought her treatments had been successful.
Her family was optimistic, but unfortunately she later found out that the cancer spread and at that point was incurable.
"The first thing on my mind was my boys, my poor boys. I was told it was curable with chemo and radiation and I commenced 12 weeks of this harsh treatment. While on my three month wait I noticed a lump in my neck — more tests and I was told the cancer was still there and has spread and was now incurable but they could offer me palliative care," she wrote on her GoFundMe page. "I left the hospital determined to do what I could to fight this and be with my boys for as long as I can be, if you look at the statistics for cervical cancer they are very bleak but I am determined not to be a statistic."
She went through more radiotherapy and was preparing to start chemo in the hopes of buying more time. Unfortunately, she then suffered bleeding complications which made chemo no longer an option.
She tried treatments in Germany and London in hopes of buying back any extra time with her kids.
"We are full of hope that this treatment gives Louise her wish … More time with her three children and family," her family wrote on her GoFundMe page during her time in Germany.
Then, her family rallied to raise funds for an experimental immunotherapy treatment in London, which Gleadell shared at the time as being the only option she had left to get any extra time or "a miracle."
"My children have always been aware that I have cancer but I've had to explain to them that it's very serious and there is a big chance I could die," she told the Sun.
But after two years of fighting, Gleadell passed away on March 31.
"Our beautiful Louise passed away peacefully on Saturday morning surrounded by love. We are eternally grateful for all the love and support you all gave us over the last 2 years," her family wrote on GoFundMe. "Louise never ever gave up the fight — she did everything she possibly could to be here for as long as possible for her three boys. She is at peace now, and free from all the pain and suffering."
As her family cherishes the time they had with Gleadell, her story is reminding new moms to trust their gut and continue speaking up if something doesn't feel right. According to Mayo Clinic, symptoms of cervical cancer include spotting, watery or bloody discharge that may have a foul smell, and pelvic pain.
