A woman who developed genital warts was convinced she had herpes, only to later discover she was suffering from cancer.
Horse groomer Helen Fox, 43, has undergone 13 operations that involved slicing away large areas of her vagina in an effort to contain her life-threatening tumours.
Although Ms Fox had the cancer-affected skin cut away, repeated procedures have left her with just half a clitoris, with more of her vagina having to be removed in the future as she undergoes annual operations to prevent her cancer from reappearing.
The mother-of-two, from Hertfordshire, even accused her then-boyfriend of being unfaithful when she noticed the abnormal vaginal growths.
She said: ‘Your vulva is such an important part of womanhood and it being sliced away is so hard. But I’m not embarrassed. Why should I be? I’m proud of how well I’ve coped’.
Ms Fox is speaking out to encourage other women to check their intimate areas for abnormal growths.
Helen Fox was convinced she had herpes, only to later discover she was suffering from cancer
Ms Fox has undergone 13 operations that involved slicing away large areas of her vagina in an effort to contain her life-threatening tumours (pictured with her daughter Kristina, 22)
The horse groomer accused her then-boyfriend of cheating when she noticed the growths
‘I went through hell’
Ms Fox, who was in her early 30s when she became ill, said: ‘I went through hell. I really thought I had genital herpes and blamed my then-partner for giving them to me.’
In 2006, Ms Fox was living in Stoke-on-Trent when she noticed an ulcer-like mark on her outer vagina, known as the vulva. She visited a STI clinic where she was diagnosed with suspected genital warts.
Caused by HPV, such warts are usually sexually transmitted, leading her to suspect her then boyfriend of straying.
Yet, when her ‘warts’ did not clear after being frozen off, Ms Fox had the area biopsied at Royal Stoke Hospital in August 2006.
The results revealed that, rather than genital warts, she had a condition known as vulval intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN).
Ms Fox said: ‘This is a skin disease. Abnormal cells develop in the surface layers of the skin covering the vulva.
‘The cells can be precancerous, although not all women with it will develop cancer.
‘I had the skin affected by VIN sliced out under local anaesthetic. It was so painful’.
As well as having hospital check-ups every six months, she must also have surgery once a year to remove further VIN-affected areas of her vulva.
Ms Fox said: ‘Each time, more of my vulva was cut away. It was a constant battle to stop the VIN spreading, developing and progressing into vulval cancer.
‘Your vulva is such an important part of womanhood and it being sliced away is so hard, it could have had a devastating impact on my mental health. Luckily, my job, looking after horses, kept me sane.
‘But I’m not embarrassed. Why should I be? On the contrary, I’m proud of how well I’ve coped. It’s bad luck this happened to me and I now have to deal with it.’
Ms Fox identifies her vagina with part of her womanhood and has struggled with losing it
She must have check ups twice a year and annual operations to stop the cancer
After developing the ‘warts’, a doctor told her she now knows how she is going to pass away
‘I have only half a clitoral hood’
Ms Fox received further devastating news in April 2012 when she was diagnosed with vulval cancer.
She said: ‘I’d half-anticipated it, but I was still horrified. Years earlier, one very unsympathetic medic had actually said to me, “At least you know what you’ll die of.”
‘So, I knew, at some point, it was very possible that cancer might develop.’
Ms Fox, who has only been treated with surgery and never chemo or radiotherapy, had the cancerous skin cut out in April 2013.
Since then, regular check-ups have revealed the cancer has not reappeared, however, the VIN has, which forces Ms Fox to have regular preventative operations.
She said: ‘I must have had 13 procedures now. My perineum [the area between the anus and the vulva] is much smaller than the average woman’s and half of my labia majora [outer lips] have been cut away.
‘And I have only half a clitoral hood. But I am brave and I will keep fighting through.
‘I’m speaking out for other woman. If I can encourage even one woman to check themselves, it has to be worth it.’
Ms Fox says she is ‘brave’ and is ‘speaking out for other women’ (pictured with Kristina)
Ms Fox has never had chemo or radiotherapy, but surgery has left her with half a clitoris
She is encouraging other women to check their intimate areas for abnormal growths