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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To find this cashing in disgusting?

228 replies

BitOfFun · 16/09/2008 12:32

I am at work in the bookshop at the moment and we have just had a delivery of an auto-biography of JADE GOODY ffs, complete with fears about losing her hair etc. It seems to have been ghostwritten by some hack from Heat magazine, but even so, wouldn't you want to spend time quietly with your family and concentrate on getting well after a cancer diagnosis? All the sleb mags are full of her "exclusive" interviews and pics though, and it seems like one huge money-making opportunity. What is this - well you've seen my kebab, now pay to read about my internal organs ???? I think it's in very poor taste, AIBU?

OP posts:
nooka · 16/09/2008 18:13

Sorry 2beornot2be, I should say that I found her stupid, ignorant and small minded from the original BB, the bigoted side did indeed come more from the celeb BB news. I am only participating in this thread because I am incredibly bored to be honest. I don't buy dailies or celeb type mags, watch celeb TV or read celeb books, so really don't feel I am contributing to her "fame" other than through this thread, which I imagine is fairly inconsequential as these things go.

I do however think her story could (and I am sure will) be used to promote awareness of cervical cancer, and cannot see that as in any way a bad thing. I think it would be odd if she didn't think the same (both as a cancer sufferer and as a PR hungry Z list celeb).

Guadalupe · 16/09/2008 18:20

Cote - I got a letter at 4pm on a Friday after noon. It said they wanted to discuss my biopsy results further and my appointment was three weeks away. Fuck that. I phoned the doctor and they accessed my hospital notes and I knew by 5.30. Three weeks to wonder if you have cancer??

Mabanana - the treatment is painful and upsetting. I had it twice. But still, the consequences of not going are so bad. I understand wanting to bury your head in the sand but not actually doing it.

TheFallenMadonna · 16/09/2008 18:22

My aunt, not a stupid woman, delayed seeing her doctor for months after finding a lump in her breast. God knows why. She couldn't tell you. Sheer 'lalala it can't happen to me'-ness I guess.

I'll have to tell her that Darwin crack you made though Cote. That'll tickle her...

loobeylou · 16/09/2008 18:23

expat, expat, its the way YOU read what i said that is the problem, not what i said.

I myself made NO assumptions about the cause of Jades cancer,YOU decided this is what I meant and instead of asking me to clarify went OTT in your abuse, instead of engaging in a grown up debate about HOW we should best educate OUR KIDS (male and female)so they are equipped/empowered (I hate that word!) to make their decisions about what they do with their bodies. None of my business how they do it, with whom or at what age, and I never said it was, BUT it is my responsibility and yes, my job, in part, to give them the FACTS, not to brainwash them, not to judge them. I treat this in the same detached way i treat teaching them what smoking can do to your lungs, or fatty foods can do to your heart.

I have had many pupils and parents THANK me for my support/patience/one to one chats on all sorts of matters relating to sex and health - many parents feel ill equipped or embarrassed and are glad to have some help

Life style choices in all sorts of behaviours CAN reduce/increase the risks of various diseases (again please note I am not and have never said X,Y or Z will stop you getting it and A, B and C means you will)

I am not saying that if you are monogamous and delay sex till you are older, you won't get it, anyone who thinks that is deluded, just as if they said you will never get lung cancer if you don't smoke

I did not say Jade should be a poster child, but meant that if she decided use her experience in a positive way, that would be a good thing
And can you guess what all the kids were talking about in school after Jades news broke?? Don't you think they would rather listen to her - a real life sufferer, rather than a "boring old prof"?? (Actually I'm quite hip and trendy LOL)

zippitippitoes · 16/09/2008 18:25

i think how people react to illness in themselves or their family varie enormously people all have different coping mechanisms and youreally cant call somneon on however they behave...it may not be your won idea of how you might behave but its just unpredicatble

i would like to think i would be strong brave and sensible but it is far more likely i would be weak illogical and fall apart

who knows

expatinscotland · 16/09/2008 18:25

i also rang up as soon as i got a letter explaining that my smear test results were abnormal.

yes, having a colpo and biopsy is upsetting and unpleasant, as was loop electroexcision procedure, which is performed under local anaesthetic in some countries.

but my thinking was that invasive uterine cancer and death were worse.

that's why i don't understand so many British womens' reluctance to have a smear test at all.

in some countries, you're not allowed to get the Pill until you have one.

expatinscotland · 16/09/2008 18:26

'expat, expat, its the way YOU read what i said that is the problem, not what i said.'

looby, looby, i wasn't the only person who construed your post in such a fashion, so don't try to say i'm the one with the problem.

get over it.

thread's moved on.

NorthernLurker · 16/09/2008 18:44

Does anybody know why the UK guidance is now 25 for a first test? I'm sure a decade ago it was 18 or when you became sexually active. Somebody I was at school with would have racked up 12 years of sexual activity by age 25 and surely it isn't a good idea for someone to wait that long?

zippitippitoes · 16/09/2008 18:45

it definitely did used to be younger

expatinscotland · 16/09/2008 18:47

IIRC the age 25 thing came in last year.

the guidelines also changed from every 3 to every 5 years after a certain number of normal smear tests.

expatinscotland · 16/09/2008 18:48

doesn't make much sense because smear tests are by and large very cheap to administer and process.

and even most treatments for precancerous cells on the cervix - provided they are done in a timely fashion - are quite effective and relatively inexpensive.

wannaBe · 16/09/2008 18:53

I think some people just don't think about it.

I haven't had a smeer test for years. Maybe a deckade even.

I don't really know why. If I'm honest I just don't do doctors. I know I should go and I know that I'm stupid not to.

but I always say I'll go and then never get round to it.

You may all shoot me now.

Guadalupe · 16/09/2008 18:55

get thine arse to that couch, wannabe.

expatinscotland · 16/09/2008 18:57

it's usually a nurse who does the smear test.

no doc required for that part, usually.

NorthernLurker · 16/09/2008 18:59

It's not top of my list of fun things to do but it's not that bad - and the feeling of getting out and thinking 'that's done for another 3 years' is lovely! I'm pleased to find I've not gone mad and the advice has changed - but the starting so late does concern me a bit. I assume there is a research based position behind this?

nooka · 16/09/2008 19:00

I think it is to do with the amount of false positives, leading to unnecessary procedures and stress, whilst not raising the amount of people diagnosed and treated for cancer. So if there are lots of changes happening anyway in your cervix you will get lots of abnormal results, recalls etc for what is actually a natural process. This might well put people off going back for further smears, which would be counter productive.

CoteDAzur · 16/09/2008 19:35

"she had found previous treatment very painful and upsetting and also ineffective"

'Previous treatment' was apparently burning the affected area on cervix. This is indeed a very ineffective way of treating cervical dysplasia, because you cannot tell at the end if you have killed/taken out all abnormal cells. It is the cheapest treatment but has a high rate of recurrence.

What they are supposed to do is a LEEP (loop electrosurgical excision procedure), otherwise known as 'cone biopsy' because it involves cutting out a cone shaped piece out of the cervix. This can then be sent to biopsy and make sure all bad cells were taken out (when all external surface of cone is clear). Rate of recurrence is under 5%.

CoteDAzur · 16/09/2008 19:46

Oh and about treatment being 'very painful'

Cervix has very few nerve endings and is not sensitive to normal touch. It is not even tender when inflamed.

Those of us who have had a colposcopy & biopsy can safely say that you can barely feel it when doctor chips out pieces of your cervix to be analysed.

During LEEP, I had a chunk about the size of the first digit of my index finger cut out of my cervix, and didn't feel a thing afterwards except a dull ache for a day or two. I took a paracetamol and it was gone.

So in short, sorry, I don't know what she is talking about re "very painful" previous treatment for abnormal cells.

Claire236 · 16/09/2008 20:04

I've had a colposcopy, biopsy & loop excision & would have to agree that whilst not exactly pleasant & a bit uncomfortable none of it was what I could call painful.

I find it odd that Jade Goody would go for smears then ignore the results, surely if you didn't want to know you just wouldn't have a smear. I've always felt sorry for her as she's obviously not very intelligent & seems like she'd be very easy to manipulate by the likes of Max Clifford.

Whatever else she is she's a mum to 2 young children so I hope for their sake that she recovers.

expatinscotland · 16/09/2008 20:07

the most painful part of my LEEP was the local anaesthetic injection!

expatinscotland · 16/09/2008 20:12

also, it would be nice if the British press they stopped being so ridiculously coy about things.

i mean, the gal just now on Sex Education is there getting an STI screening and making all these daft faces at the camera and acting like it's oh such a big deal to have your legs up in stirrups for a 30 second swab.

just look at all those people on 'Embarrassing Illnesses' who have lived for years with conditions that were rather easily sorted out. because they were 'too embarrassed'.

seriously, take a leaf from sharon osbourne, a colon cancer survivor: don't die of embarrassment.

when i taught sex ed for university freshers, it was shocking how much ignorance there was and giggling and laughing when it came time to teach condom usage. and my supervisor saying, 'if you're too immature to do this, you're too immature to be having sex.'

TwoIfBySea · 16/09/2008 20:14

So there is a book now too. And a tv show. Talk about timing.

Guadalupe · 16/09/2008 20:20

I was in agony after my first loop, real rolling on the bed in pain and painkillers wouldn't touch it. The second one I took paracetomol immediately and barely felt a thing though the needle was excruciating and the doctor was an arse.

expatinscotland · 16/09/2008 20:22

yeah, i didn't enjoy the anaesthetic needle, but i had a fab doctor.

i also gave permission for some OB/GYN residents to observe.

they gotta learn somewhere!

zippitippitoes · 16/09/2008 20:27

if someone says something is painful then iwould give them sufficient respect and acknowledge they did find it painful

i dont find sex painful but people do

it depends on ypour own physiology and psychology

after all some people dont finf periods painful but others do etc

not to speak of different accounts of childbirth pain