MANILA, Philippines—No woman has to go through the horrors of cervical cancer, now the second leading cause of death among Filipino women. A vaccination against cervical cancer is now available from MSD for girls and women ages 9 to 45 years old.

Seven years ago she had her own funeral ceremony arranged. Not only was she prepared to meet her Maker, but she was so sure death was inevitable.

Josefina de la Cruz, then 40 years old, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in August 2001, exactly 10 years after her mother succumbed to the same disease. She witnessed her mother’s painful demise, and braced herself and her family for the worse.

“There were no symptoms at all. I always had an annual pap smear, especially since my mother died from the same type of cancer. I knew I was labeled high-risk,” De la Cruz said.

(Pap smear, it turned out, is only 50 percent accurate in detecting cervical cancer, she said.)

Other than her menstrual period taking much longer than usual—sometimes it goes on for a full 10 days—De la Cruz was feeling fine. Worried that something might be amiss, she sought out the advice of a doctor who had her undergo transvaginal ultrasound. The results showed multiple myoma, a benign tumor of the muscle in the wall of the uterus.

Biopsy result

Although myoma is not a life-threatening condition, De la Cruz, having gone through the trauma of losing her mother to cancer, was not content and sought another doctor’s opinion. This time the biopsy showed she had Stage 1B2 cervical cancer. Immediate operation was recommended, she said, as the cancer cells had already metastasized to the posterior part of her cervix.

Hysterectomy was not an option, but De la Cruz hesitated because she didn’t want any of the chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy that follow the operation. She already saw far too much of these treatments’ deadly effects during her mother’s battle with cancer she’d much rather have nothing to do with them.

It was only when she got a third opinion from another doctor that sealed her decision.

“I had four children; all were still in school. I knew God would take care of them if He decides to take me home with Him, but I had to give myself a chance even if I believed I would never survive,” she said.

De la Cruz had six chemotherapy sessions, 26 sessions of radiotherapy plus the very radical procedure of brachytherapy, where she was under anesthesia and not allowed to move for 72 hours.

Today, with all four children grownup professionals, De la Cruz is grateful to be alive and has become a spokesperson for cervical cancer. And while she thought the cancer was passed on to her from her mother, it was only last year that De la Cruz learned cervical cancer is caused by a human papillomavirus (HPV).

HPV, affecting both men and women, can be acquired only through skin contact. Men are generally spared from the deadly virus and only serve as carriers. (Condoms do not protect a woman from contacting HPV since the scrotum is still exposed.) The revelation shocked De la Cruz that it took her awhile to come to terms that her husband had, in fact, caused her to get cervical cancer.

“I was very, very angry at my husband. Over time though you just learn to forgive,” she said.

Advocacy

De la Cruz is among the few to survive cervical cancer. Part of her advocacy is to encourage women with the disease to come out. Early detection is still the best solution.

The worse part of cervical cancer, and the most painful way of dying, she continued, is when your family cannot stand the foul smell of the disease.

“My mother died crying because her siblings cannot stay long by her side without feeling nauseous from the stench. It is a painful way to go when those you love thinks you’re too repugnant to be touched. Only my father and I held her hand until her last breath,” she said.

The vaccine, MSD’s quadrivalent human papillomavirus recombinant vaccine, comes in three injectable doses. This is a preventive medication, not a cure; effective for at least five years after the last dose.

“Women should get vaccination right away. All my daughters have been vaccinated so I can now relax, knowing they will never have to go what my mother and I went through,” she said.