The mother of three was diagnosed with stage IIIB cervical cancer in February – nine months after she approached doctors with concern.

It all started in May 2016. Ms White was due for a pap smear and was experiencing abnormal bleeding.

She was referred onto a specialist, who was booked out until November.

The specialist conducted an ultrasound and believed the problem was either hormonal or Varicose veins.

Ms White was put onto hormone tablets, which did not seem to help. The specialist put her onto two lots of hormones, which eventually stopped the bleeding.

But then the symptoms changed.

“I could feel something growing,” Ms White said.

The fatigue she had been suffering for months had also intensified – which was put down to blood loss.

Ms White urged her specialist to investigate further, but to no avail.

She went back to the GP and explained her symptoms. She was referred onto a new specialist who performed a hysteroscopy.

It was then that Ms White found out that a tumour the size of a large orange was growing on her cervix.

It didn’t come as a huge surprise to Ms White, but rather a relief that she had some direction and could commence treatment.

“I expected a tumour,” she said. “It was the size that shocked me.

“My family were quite devastated.”

The survival rate of someone at Ms White’s stage after five years is 35 per cent.

“I plan on being in that 35 per cent but its obviously not a very good statistic,” she said.

Treatment began three weeks after the diagnosis, including chemotherapy and radiation.

The intense treatment caused Ms White to drop from 55 kilograms to 41. She went from having four days off work a month to working four days a month.

“I was a shell of myself,” she said.

She pushed through until the treatment finished this month. She now has to wait a few weeks to find out if she is cancer-free.

Ms White gets stronger each day and believes staying positive will help her.

“The mind is an extra strong tool,” she said. “I’ve always been determined to try and beat it. I’m not going anywhere.”

Ms White hopes her story encourages others to listen to their bodies and push for answers if they know something is not right.

A trivia night will be held this Saturday at Maitland City Bowling Club to assist Ms White through the financially difficult time. See the Facebook event page Bek White’s trivia night for details.