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Beauty influencer Jessica Pettway, 36, was one of thousands of women who die each year from the invasive illness of cervical cancer. Having succumbed to the terminal illness only eight months after her diagnosis, Pettway’s tragic story reflects the narratives of many women who have fallen under the radar of proper screening and early treatment for the disease.
Cervical cancer ultimately begins when healthy cells in the cervix, the lower end of the uterus, convert and become cancerous (malignant). These cells multiply at rapid rates, growing out of control and eventually forming tumors.
Physicians encourage women to see a gynecologist or primary care doctor at least once a year for a full “well-woman check,” particularly to receive PapSmear tests and screenings for Human Papillomavirus Virus (HPV) to identify signs of cancer, increased risk of cervical cancer or precancerous changes.
“Cancer screening is very important because it allows us to detect cancers at an earlier stage before they start causing any symptoms,” said Dr. Jeanine Staples, of John Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital. “The HPV vaccine is important because it prevents [HPV]. There are hundreds of different strains of HPV and a handful of which can cause cancer. Most of the cancers of the cervix are caused by HPV, and so the HPV vaccine offers a chance of prevention of these cancers.”
Before her diagnosis, Pettway initially faced ongoing bouts of “intense” bleeding. Her condition took a turn for the worse when the morning of July 1, 2022, her husband found her passed out in their bathroom at 4 a.m., as she literally almost died from a lack of blood.
After being rushed to the hospital, her gynecologist told her the excessive bleeding was due to fibroids. However, she was not accurately diagnosed with cervical cancer until February 2023.
“My [gynecologist] made it seem like it was so normal and common. I didn’t think much of it, however, I was passing clots the size of a placenta, which was really alarming. They kept me overnight and released me the next day,” Pettway detailed on her social media while keeping followers abreast of her declining health. “On Feb. 8, 2023, he performed an outpatient biopsy on me. When I woke up from the anesthesia, he casually said, ‘Yep you have stage 3 cervical cancer.’ It turns out, it was not a fibroid, but cancer. I was misdiagnosed all this time.”
According to the American Cancer Society, rates of cervical cancer incidence for women ages 30-44 have increased 1.7% each year from 2012 to 2019, while the death rate in Black and Native American women range 65% higher than their white counterparts.
The gradual development into cervical cancer can be mildly unsuspecting before symptoms grow severe. For example, from the initial infection of HPV to developing cervical cancer can be very slow in progression, sometimes taking anywhere from 10 to 20 years.
Similarly, at times medical professionals mistake uterine or cervical cancer for uterine fibroids due to the presentation of similar symptoms, particularly in pelvic pain and atypical bleeding.
Seeing the Signs of Illness
Pettway’s story highlights the various alarms of cervical cancer including: vaginal bleeding after sex, during menopause, or between periods; periods that are heavier than normal; frequent or unexplained pain in the lower back or pelvis; vaginal discharge that is watery and has a strong odor or that contains blood; and pelvic pain or pain during sex.
Various lifestyle patterns can also put women at greater risk for developing the disease including: having sex without condoms, having multiple sexual partners, having a weakened immune system from medications or HIV, or by not getting the HPV vaccine. Likewise, smoking cigarettes, and long-term use of oral birth control can increase the risk of cervical cancer for women; however, a woman’s risk returns to normal after several years off of oral contraceptives.
Similar to fibroid treatment, hysterectomy is a common and effective strategy for managing cervical cancer in people with an early-stage diagnosis. Other surgical treatments to address the cancer include; pelvic lymph node dissection, conization, sentinel lymph node mapping, para-aortic lymphadenectomy, or non-surgical treatments being chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy.
Typically, the five-year survival rate for cervical cancer is 91% when diagnosed at an early stage. However, when the cancer is diagnosed after spreading to nearby organs, tissues, or regional lymph nodes, the five-year relative survival rate drops to 60%.
Pettway diagnosis not only had a major impact on her and her family, but her social media transparency raised awareness about the disease overall.
“Anytime you’re dealing with an illness, it not only affects you, but it changes the lives of those closest to you. This year rocked our world,” Pettway said in a captioned photo of herself with her husband and two children. “Being wheeled into the ambulance and waving goodbye to my kids, only to see them crying for their mommy, broke me. And watching my husband break down in tears was rough.”
