Woman, 39, Learns She Has a Tumor the Size of an Orange After Doctors Insisted She Was ‘Too Young for Cancer’

NEED TO KNOW

• Gemma Doherty experienced severe bleeding and pain for months before doctors discovered a 5cm cervical tumor

• Doctors initially dismissed her concerns, attributing symptoms to stress or hormones and saying she was “too young for cancer”

• The 39-year-old is undergoing intense cancer treatment and raising awareness about advocating for your health and the importance of early detection

A woman is going through grueling treatment for an inoperable tumor that doctors initially dismissed.

In September 2025, Gemma Doherty — a 39-year-old from Derby, England — started experiencing heavy bleeding that was so bad she was regularly ruining her clothes and even furniture.

“I had some really severe bleeding that wasn’t a period or usual for me. It was clotted and it was bad. It was on and off. I could be on the sofa or bed, out and about, it was purely unpredictable,” she told The Sun. “It was like someone had cut me internally. I would pull my underwear down and there would be blood everywhere.”

Doherty said she went to the doctors eight times between October and November about the bleeding, but was repeatedly assured that she was fine.

“I went to the GP, they said I’m too young for cancer and I’m fit and well. They said it was hormonal, stress or perimenopausal. They were having none of it. I kept on going back because I knew something was wrong,” she recalled. “They said my cervix was normal, there weren’t any abnormalities. Then I got more severe pain, I was feeling rough and tired. I was quite bad, I got ill quite quickly.”

“I knew something was off,” she said. “You know your own body.”

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From that point, Doherty said she went weeks confined to her home because of the constant bleeding and worsening pain. The frustration ultimately pushed her to visit a gynecologist in late November and demand testing.

“I sat there for five hours and eventually got seen,” she said. “The doctor had a look and found a mass straight away. He said there is something that they needed to look at.”

Doctors ordered an urgent biopsy and MRI, and Doherty said she “just knew it was going to be bad news” at that point. And on December 19, she was diagnosed with stage 1 B3 cervical cancer.

“The tumour was quite big at 5cm, around the size of a satsuma,” she said.

Due to the size and position of the tumor, near her bladder and bowel, doctors were unable to operate and remove the mass.

The mom of two is now undergoing intense chemotherapy and radiation treatment to shrink the tumor, which have led to complications. She’s required three blood transfusions, and her treatment has damaged her ovaries and caused infertility.

Doherty admitted that it’s frustrating that she had to advocate so hard for her health in order to finally receive proper care.

“It’s just frustrating that you go to a GP and you have faith in them, but you don’t get taken seriously,” she told the outlet. “It’s pigeonholing me into a set of beliefs.”

“I’ve had to do their jobs for them,” she added. “It shouldn’t be like that, I went to them enough times.”

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As she continues treatment, Doherty said she wants to raise awareness about early detection with cervical cancer, and encourage others to push for answers when it comes to their health.

“The type of cancer I’ve been diagnosed with is an HPV cancer that should have shown up on the smear test,” she said, noting that her last pap smear came back normal. “How many women are walking around with cancer after being told their smear test is all clear? I don’t want another woman to ignore symptoms just because they’ve got a clear smear. Early action saves lives.”

“I’d love to raise some awareness about young women and smears. Clear smears don’t mean you haven’t got cancer. If you’ve got symptoms, please go and get them checked out. It’s important to me to get the message out there to as many people as possible. I never thought it’d be me having this, but it is.”

Read the original article on People